Indian scholar impressed with Vietnam's development achievements

The social progress of the Vietnamese people is extremely commendable. In less than 40 years of implementing the renewal (Doi Moi) process (since 1986), the nation has achieved very impressive results, he went on.

Vietnam’s per capita income increasing from around US$200 to over US$4,000 by 2024 shows remarkable growth.

The country has a strong and resilient economy, which has never seen a major financial crisis. Vietnam has emerged as a very important location for major industries and multinational corporations.

That is why foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnam reached US$ 27.26 billion (data from the General Statistics Office of Vietnam as of October 31) and Vietnam is always among the economies with the highest growth rate in the world.

Vietnam has recently been assessed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank (WB), and the Lowy Institute as one of the countries with an outstanding economy, overcoming many shocks, and demonstrating excellent resilience after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Professor Marwah cited several reasons why Vietnam has maintained its high growth rate, namely that Vietnam has signed a series of free trade agreements with many countries, established comprehensive strategic partnerships with numerous countries, and the process of economic transformation is also very prominent.

Vietnam has also participated in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). Currently, the nation has 8 unicorns (enterprises with a valuation of over US$1 billion).

The Vietnamese economy has performed very well in 2024 and is expected to continue to grow strongly next year.

In addition to a stable economic development foundation, Professor Marwah predicts that Vietnam will face its own challenges in 2025. The first is the large trade deficit with the US and the possibility of the Trump administration increasing import and export taxes.

The second is the removal of the European Commission’s “yellow card” against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

The third challenge is energy security, as Vietnam has been an energy exporter but will now become an energy importer due to the expansion of infrastructure and industries.

Fourth is to improve the skills of the workforce. Vietnam needs to develop its own industries more and therefore needs more skilled workers, especially in the context of the country's advantage in cheap labor.

Finally, according to Professor Marwah, Vietnam needs to improve the quality of agricultural products because it is still heavily dependent on exporting this item, while focusing on sustainable agricultural development.

Regarding foreign affairs, the Indian professor emphasized that Vietnam has established friendly relations and comprehensive strategic partnerships not only with Russia, the US, China, India but also with many other countries.

In recent years, the country has continuously welcomed many top world leaders such as Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping.This once again shows that Vietnam's role is increasingly focused on and enhanced in the international arena.