Private sector emerges as Vietnam’s main growth driver

Such a rise could be seen in export and import data, which would suggest the foreign sector is slowing down after years of leading growth, said Nguyen Anh Duong, an economist at CIEM.

He elaborated that export growth recorded by foreign-invested enterprises slowed to a single digit at 5% while domestic firms posted double-digit growth.

Duong noted that the figure is impressive given that support for the domestic private sector has been inadequate.

The economist emphasised that it is necessary to place confidence in the private sector’s strengths in taking advantage of international integration as well as create favourable policies and facilitate their business.

At the workshop, the CIEM also put its economic growth projection for Vietnam at 7.02% in 2019 and 6.72% in 2020. In the meantime, export growth was forecast at 8.13% for 2019 and 7.64% for 2020.