Illustrative image (Source: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) - The latest quarterly survey from theFinancial Times Confidential Research showed that Vietnamese consumer sentimenttowards the economy is at a three-year high.
The survey of 5,000 consumers across Thailand, Indonesia,the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam indicated that bullish Vietnameseconsumers are spending more as a robust economy fuels growth in householdincomes.
The research found young Vietnamese among the mostoptimistic about their country’s economic outlook, propelling the FTCR VietnamEconomic Sentiment Index to its highest level since the start of 2015.
It expected Vietnam to remain the fastest-growing of theregion’s major developing economies this year. The Southeast Asian economy grew6.8 percent last year, and the local government is expecting a faster pace thisyear.
The report also said a relatively large, young and cheaplabour pool is drawing foreign investors and turning Vietnam into a regionalmanufacturing hub in competition with Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. Itnoted that Samsung is the largest foreign investor, having invested 17 billionUSD in the country since 2009. Last year, around half of all of Samsung’shigh-end smartphones were made in Vietnam before being shipped worldwide.
However, the survey pointed to significant challenges facingthe Vietnamese Government in sustaining economic growth amid increasing publicdebt and tight State budget. The year 2018 is when the country begins torealise its commitments under 16 free trade agreements, which will result inzero tariffs for a range of products, directly affecting its budgetcollection.-VNA
VNA
