Positive outlook ahead for economic recovery

Ngo Tuong Vy, deputy director of Chanh Thu Import-Export Co., Ltd., said after the relaxing of social distancing measures against COVID-19, the firm has recently exported a large quantity of durian, longan, dragon fruit, and mangoes to the United States, with an average output of roughly 200 tonnes per week.

Since October, the business has resume normal production, and the number of export orders from partners has skyrocketed by year-end. Most notably, its durians are being sold out in both the US and Australian markets, promoting these foreign partners to place additional orders ahead of next year to meet consumer demands.

“We have to increase our purchasing volume to 100 to 200 tonnes of durian per day in order to meet our customers’ demands,” Vy told Tien Phong newspaper.

Chanh Thu is one of many businesses that have borne the brunt of the prolonged COVID-19 outbreak have resumed production after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted. Data unveiled by the General Statistics Office (GSO) on November 30 show as many 4,958 enterprises resumed their operations in November, an increase of 15.2% compared to the previous month.

The country saw 11,900 newly established enterprises with total registered capital of nearly VND150 trillion (US$6.6 billion), up 38% month-on-month. The number of registered employees stood at 76,600, an increase of 30.2%.

Meanwhile, foreign businesses have also expressed their optimism regarding local development prospects.

A recent survey conducted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (AmCham) on over 550 member companies and 2,000 individual representatives indicate that roughly 80% of the businesses remain optimistic about both Vietnam’s medium and long-term prospects.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into Vietnam during the past 11 months surged by 0.1% to reach US$26.46 billion against the same period from last year. Many foreign firms such as SK Group of the Republic of Korea, De Heus Group of the Netherlands, Kurz Group of Germany, Orsted Group of Denmark or consortium of investors SSF Investment Co., Ltd., Sunshine Homes Development JSC (SSH) and Truth Assets Management from Singapore have already poured or planned to invest billions of US dollars into Vietnam.  

Foreign trade is also a bright spot in the overall picture of the Vietnamese economy for November and the past 11 months. The two-way trade turnover grossed US$59.7 billion in November, representing a month-on-month rise of 8.5% and a year-on-year rise of 19.7%.   

The November trade figure raised the 11-month trade value to US$599.12 billion, helping Vietnam enjoy a trade surplus of US$225 million. It is worthy of note that the country raked in US$299.4 billion from exports during the past 11 months, a rise of 27.5% against the same period last year.

Moving forward, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment (MPI) Tran Quoc Phuong predicted that with optimistic signals of economic recovery, the influx FDI into the country will continue to prosper in the coming months.