Vietnam as the next Asian tiger

Earlier at the Vietnam Summit 2016, an annual conference organized by The Economist, in collaboration with Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh expressed his pride in Vietnam’s achievements over the past three decades of unity efforts. Such achievements as consistently high growth rates from time to time has made it foreseeable and undeniable that Vietnam is indeed en route to become the next Asian tiger.

Open door to new changes

With just over 40 years of total freedom from colonial wars, Vietnam has taken giant steps and left behind the image of a closed and un-adaptive country. The government has now opened itself up and encouraged private business ownership and free market incentives, as well as continually showing efforts in loosening a number of restrictions.

Attract foreign investments

The open-door policy successfully has drawn in a considerable amount of foreign investment. Outsiders have always seen Vietnam as one of the most lucrative piece of the South-East Asia cake for its naturally blessed geographical location. Sharing borders with countries in the area and having a long, beautiful coastline sure grant Vietnam an advantage over the others.

Dynamic work force

Vietnam has one of the youngest demographics in Asia, with nearly 70% of the 90 million population being in the working age group. Additionally, the low basic wage and plenty of undeveloped manufacturing areas to exploit has created lucrative opportunities for many production companies. Early entrance to the game includes big names like Samsung, Nike and Adidas. Thus, the country’s exports have grown dramatically, by as much as 3,000% in the last two decades; much of that growth is from the last few years, make Vietnam the number one export country in the region.

Future development

Back to the recently held summit, the Vice president of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Stephen Groff had a meeting with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in Ho Chi Minh City and announced ADB’s plan to pour approximately 1.5 billion dollars-worth of investment into Vietnam for 2016-2019. The PM emphasized his appreciation and that Vietnam highly values the official development assistance and preferential loans from outside organizations, including ADB funds. He also stressed on the country’s persistent focus on stabilize macroeconomics, improve business climate and protect the environment.

Transformation

“Maintaining a 6.5 – 7 percent growth rate in the next five years and encouraging localities to attract foreign investment, especially in industries using high technology, are all Vietnam’s main foci for the future,” said the Deputy PM Pham Binh Minh.

It’s no doubt that Vietnam is heading to the right direction, aiming to thrive more and more to become the heart of the manufacturing sector and attract further foreign investment. Along with the commitment to build an incorruptible and constructive Government to serve the people and businesses, Vietnam will soon find itself as a whole, “new and improved” nation.

By: Clāra Ly-Le, Managing Director of EloQ Communications (formerly Vero IMC Vietnam). Clāra is a senior public relations consultant who has been involved in multiple national and regional PR campaigns in Vietnam. She is also a PhD candidate at Bond University, Australia. Her research interests include crisis management, intercultural communication, and new media communication.

X-posted on EloQ’s Blog.