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COVER STORY

PHOTO: VIET DUNG
BEYOND THE WOES economic recovery. Natural disasters,
drought, storms, floods, and overall climate
change had serious consequences, and
risks regarding energy security, food secu-
The global economic context continues to be problematic, with Vietnam rity, and cyber security are on the rise.
needing to exert every effort to stay the course, including maintaining Though global inflation has cooled some-
existing growth drivers and creating new ones. what, it is still at a high level. Many major
economies are maintaining tight monetary
| By NGOC LAN policies and high interest rates, trade, con-
sumption, and investment continue to
decline, and rising trade protection and
defenses are affecting exports and imports.
Many countries, including Vietnam’s
he global economy continued to 2024, the three keywords of ‘risk, uncer- major trading partners, have seen slowing
face a raft of difficulties in 2023, tainty, and caution’ remain in place, but growth and rising public debt, presenting
T though Vietnam exhibited some forecasts reveal that Vietnam’s GDP growth the potential for risk, while world aggregate
degree of recovery, with stable macro-eco- rate has improved.” demand has tumbled, which directly affects
nomic factors, inflation staying under con- countries with significant economic open-
trol, major balances guaranteed, and solid 2023 PERFORMANCE ness, including Vietnam.
performance seen in many key economic Global economic growth in 2023 fell For example, Vietnam’s export turnover
indicators, making it an economic bright short of forecasts by international organ- of goods is estimated at $355.5 billion,
spot in both the region and the world. izations. According to the World Bank down 4.4 per cent compared to 2022,
“Despite being under a lot of pressure, (WB), the global economy grew about 2.6 while import turnover is estimated at
Vietnam’s economy in the closing months per cent, while the International Monetary $327.5 billion, down 8.9 per cent.
of 2023 showed positive trends, helping Fund (IMF) put growth at 3 per cent. However, its economy also saw a num-
its annual GDP growth reach 5.05 per A report from the General Statistics ber of bright spots. Dr. Luc pointed out
cent; among the highest in the world,” Office of Vietnam (GSO) noted that strate- that although growth was lower than
Dr. Can Van Luc, Member of the National gic competition between major countries planned, at 5.05 per cent, it was relatively
Financial - Monetary Policy Advisory became more intense and more compre- high regionally-speaking, behind only
Council, told the Vietnam Economic Sce- hensive last year, with rising geopolitical India, with 6.3 per cent, slightly lower
nario Forum 2024, co-hosted by Vietnam tensions such as the Russia - Ukraine than the Philippines, and equal to China
Economic Times (VET) / VnEconomy conflict remaining complex, while the and the average in the Asia-Pacific region.
and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) outbreak of fighting in the Middle East “In particular, the agriculture sector con-
on January 11 in Hanoi. “Entering into has impacted the post-pandemic global tinues to be a foundation for the economy,

18 | VIETNAM ECONOMIC TIMES | FEBRUARY 2024 en.vneconomy.vn