Vietnam is forecast to be one of the most dynamic economies in Asia and the world also in next five years, according to the “Foresight 2020” report published recently by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
The country is expected to register an annual economic growth rate of 7 per cent in the 2006-2010 period, the second highest rate in Asia and twice higher than the world’s average growth rate of 3.5 per cent.
The EIU, with normal calculation methods, predicted that Vietnam’s gross domestic product (GDP) would reach US$85.3 billion in 2010, and its per capita income would be US$970.
Using the purchase power parity (PPP) method, the country’s GDP would increase to US$415 billion by 2010 with its per-capita income mounting to US$4,500.
Vietnam would see $3.4 billion of foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2010, the unit also said.
EIU, the world’s leading provider of country analysis, said that Vietnam would rank second in term of economic growth in the world’s biggest continent, just behind China, which tops the list with 7.8 per cent growth, but would rank before other ASEAN countries such as Indonesia 5.6 per cent, Malaysia 5.3 per cent, the Philippines 5.2 per cent, and Thailand 4.5 per cent in the next five years.
Regarding longer term, the EIU forecast that Vietnam’s GDP growth will slow down, but maintain at a high rate of 5.4 per cent on average in 2006-2020 period.
Vietnam last year announced an economic growth of 8.4 per cent in 2005, ranking second only after China among fastest growing economies in Asia.
The country reported a GDP growth rate of 7.4 per cent in the first half this year with total value of VND426.55 trillion ($26.83 billion). It targets an 8 per cent economic growth rate for the whole year.
VNA, VIR
Vietnamese
