Country Director of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Vietnam Shantanu Chakraborty provided a detailed analysis of Vietnam’s economic performance in 2025 and its 2026 prospects in an interview recently granted to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA).

Achieving double-digit economic growth in 2026 will hinge on pooling and deploying investment resources, with public funds playing a pivotal role, according to experts.

An article published on siliconcanals.com, an online news site of the Netherlands, has highlighted that Vietnam has carried out its most significant reforms in decades, including a major leadership reshuffle, and these changes are expected to play a critical role in shaping economic direction over the next 5–10 years.

Thailand’s The Nation newspaper on December 28 published an article noting that Vietnam is rapidly establishing itself as a key economic hub in Southeast Asia, delivering some of ASEAN’s strongest GDP growth as the government pushes industrial reforms, and steers the economy towards a greener growth model.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Head of the Government Steering Committee for Macroeconomic Management and Administration, chaired the committee’s first meeting in Hanoi on December 29.

Retail sales in the first 10 months of 2025 rose 9.3% year-on-year in nominal terms and 7% in real terms, extending the recovery that began in 2024, according to a recently released report from Maybank IBG Research (Maybank).

Vietnam is emerging as a standout growth performer not only in Southeast Asia but across Asia as a whole, according to Professor Reena Marwah from the University of Delhi, and Secretary-General of the Association of Asia Scholars (AAS).

VOV.VN - Singapore’s United Overseas Bank (UOB) has recently upgraded its 2025 GDP growth forecast for Vietnam to 7.7%, citing the country’s robust export performance, resilient manufacturing activity and sustained foreign investment inflows.

Although Vietnam has recorded strong economic performance in 2025, the country should adopt a more cautious stance in 2026, with a focus on infrastructure investment, productivity gains and market diversification to retain its position as one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing economies.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has recently held a conference to implement the national logistics development strategy for 2025-2035, with a vision to 2050, the first of its kind with long-term and comprehensive scale and clear quantified targets.