Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)
Berlin (VNA) – Germany’s DW newswire recently ran an article saying thatVietnam still aims for an economic growth of 5 percent this year despite globaleconomic crisis and likely recession in some of its neighbouring countries.
It said the ambitious goal was announced by Vietnamese Prime Minister NguyenXuan Phuc during a recent online conference with thousands of local and foreignbusiness representatives taking part.
The target is significantly higher than the prediction of the InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF), which announced that it is expecting Vietnam's grossdomestic product (GDP) to grow 2.7 percent. Even that prediction puts Vietnamahead of its neighbours and ensures that the country will continue to beSoutheast Asia's fastest growing economy. The forecast growth rate, however, isin stark contrast with the 7 percent expansion of 2019.
By May 23, Vietnam had recorded 324 COVID-19 infections and zero death. Thecountry hasn't seen new communuity infections in weeks. All recent infectionshave been imported cases of Vietnamese who were repatriated from countries thatsuffer from much severe outbreaks of the virus.
Experts believe that Vietnam was able to contain the virus because it actedquickly and decisively. The country decided to close schools, shut down bordersand suspend international travel much earlier than other nations. It also setup quarantine camps, where tens of thousands of travellers arriving fromoverseas were quarantined for 14 days.
Vietnam receives praise from all over the world for how it has handled theoutbreak. With the economy restarting, the country hopes to use this newlygained trust to attract more foreign investors and businesses, it said.
Adam McCarty, the chief economist of research and consultancy firm MekongEconomics, said Vietnam has shown the world that it can manage a complex threatas the coronavirus health crisis.
"They're showing that they can handle it much better than most Europeancountries and the US. That's a signal to foreign investors and to foreigngovernments", he said./.
