Vietnam economy to expand over 6%: OECD

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a group of mainly high-income economies, forecasts Vietnam's growth will exceed 6% this year and the next thanks to its post-pandemic recovery amid global recessions.

Addressing the OECD-Vietnam High-Level Economic Forum in Hanoi Tuesday, the institution's secretary-general Mathias Cormann said Vietnam was one of the few countries in the world that managed to escape from Covid-related recessions.

He noted that the OECD predictions for Vietnam’s growth would help attract more foreign investment to the Southeast Asian country as foreign firms globally are diversifying supply chains.

Cormann advised Vietnam to work harder to ensure sustainable development. He recommended that Vietnam adapt itself to the aging population period and boost productivity.

Vietnam will benefit from the opening of a trade market that goes along with a stronger transfer of knowledge, along with the OECD’s activities to promote high-quality FDI, he added.

Standard Chartered Bank on October 12 revised up its Vietnam GDP growth forecast for this year to 7.5% from the previous 6.7%, and to 7.2% for next year from 7%.

The World Bank said on September 27 Vietnam’s economic expansion can hit 7.2% this year and 6.7% next year, the highest in Southeast Asia.

On September 21, the Asian Development Bank put Vietnam’s growth prediction at 6.5% this year and 6.7% next year on strong economic fundamentals, key to fast recovery. The 2022 figure is the highest in Southeast Asia and equals the Philippines'.

Vietnam’s economic growth of 8.83% year-on-year in the first nine months is the highest recorded in 12 years. The figure for the same period in 2021 and 2020 - both pandemic years, was 1.42% and 2.12%, respectively. The economy expanded 2.58% last year.