Vietnam's 2025 GDP growth target lifted to 'at least 8%'

The National Assembly, Vietnam's legislature, on Wednesday set the 2025 economic expansion target at "8% or more" upon a government proposal, up from the 6.5-7% approved in November last year.

The target is associated with maintaining macroeconomic stability, controlling inflation, and ensuring major balances of the economy, creating a foundation for higher growth in the following years, it stated.

Other targets include a GDP scale of over $500 billion, GDP per capita of over $5,000, and an average CPI hike of 4.5-5%. The country's GDP in 2024 was estimated at $476.3 billion.

The parliament requested the Government to improve institutions and laws and enhance the effectiveness of law enforcement.

Law-making should be made in the way that "management is strict, but innovation is encouraged for development", it noted.

The legislative body also asked the Government to soon draft amendments to the Enterprise Law, the Investment Law, the Public-Private Partnership Law, and the Bidding Law and propose distinctive policies to develop economic zones like Van Don in Quang Ninh province and Van Phong in Khanh Hoa province, in line with Poliburo resolutions.

It said about VND84,300 billion ($3.3 billion) will be added to the public investment sources in 2025 to bolster key projects like expressways and coastal roads.

In 2025, the Long Thanh International Airport and Lach Huyen area ports will be basically completed. The T3 terminal at Tan Son Nhat International Airport and the T2 terminal at Noi Bai International Airport will be put into operation, while construction on Lien Chieu port in Danang city will commence.

Investment procedures for strategic national transport infrastructure projects, including the Can Gio port project in Ho Chi Minh City, will be accelerated, the parliament highlighted.

Solutions will be introduced quickly to remove problems for renewable energy projects, BOT/BT transport projects, and real estate projects, especially in HCMC, Hanoi, Danang and big provinces, with distinctive policies to unleash resources, it added.

Standard Chartered on February 7 predicted that Vietnam’s economy to grow by 6.7% in 2025. In the mid-January edition of its “Global Economic Prospects” report, the World Bank said that Vietnam’s GDP growth can reach 6.6% in 2025.

Singaporean bank UOB on January 9 raised its forecast for Vietnam’s GDP growth in 2025 to 7% from 6.6% last October.

Domestic consumption and public investment will be the primary drivers of Vietnam's GDP growth this year, said Le Anh Tuan, head of investment at Dragon Capital Group, a leading asset management firm in Vietnam.

On the same day, the National Assembly approved the investment policy for the Lao Cai-Hanoi-Hai Phong railway project in the northern region.

The railway's starting point is the mountainous province of Lao Cai, which borders China and is home to resort town Sapa. The ending point is Lach Huyen station in Hai Phong city, an industrial hub.

The main route length is about 390.9 km, while the length of branch routes is about 27.9 km. It will pass through nine cities and provinces.

The project's total investment capital is estimated at VND203,231 billion (nearly $8.4 billion). The government aims to compete it by 2030.