Vietnam achieves five-year high growth

According to a recent report released by the World Bank on Monday, Vietnam's economic growth has continued to improve with gross domestic product increasing nearly 6.3 percent in the first half of this year, the highest rate for the past 5 years. However, it is also predicted that Vietnam will face challenges due to increasing public debt and sluggish state-owned enterprises structural reform.

The bank's semi-annual review of Vietnam's economic performance said the recovery was driven by strong activity in manufacturing and construction sectors. However growth has not been equal among different sectors and SOEs structural reforms have yet to meet expectations. There also remain several concerns in terms of resolving bad debts that continue to dog the banking system.

A main part in the report focused on Vietnam’s labour market. It revealed that there was a significant shift from agriculture to industry, service, domestic and foreign private businesses. This means strong reform vocational training, in order to remain its competitiveness.

The World Bank also cautioned that Vietnam’s public debt has risen rapidly in recent years, posing an increasing burden on the state budget. Despite favourable outlook, Vietnam’s economic growth faces numerous challenges in the coming months, requiring the government and businesses to make further efforts in strengthening its competitiveness.