The WB report on East Asia and the Pacific region on April 5 said the growth rate of newly emerging economies in East Asia reached 8.1 percent, the highest level in the past 10 years while Vietnam’s GDP growth rate in 2006 was 8.2 percent.

According to the WB, Vietnam’s two great economic events in the last 6 months – entry to the WTO and a boom in the securities market – have imposed great challenges for the Government in both the short and medium terms. The securities market has been attracting many short-term investors. In 2006, foreign-directed investment capital reached US$10.2 billion.

Since early this year, foreign-directed investment agreements have reached a total value of US$1.9 billion, according to WB statistics. Combined with expanding capital markets creating more investment opportunities, inflows of foreign investment tend to rise. Last year already saw an increase of foreign exchange reserve to US$12 billion in 2006 from US$8.6 billion in 2005.