Of the six ASEAN nations, only Vietnam posted an increase in exports for 2020, up 7% to US$282.66 billion, according to The Straits Times.

Apart from challenges, many opportunities will be offered to the Vietnamese economy in 2021, experts have said.

VOV.VN - Vietnam is capable of achieving a higher GDP growth rate than the set target of 6% in 2021, providing it accelerates reforms and draws up proper plans for economic recovery in the post-COVID-19 period, according to economist Nguyen Dinh Cung, former Director of the Central Institute for Economic Management.

The National Centre for Socio-Economic Information and Forecasting (NCIF) has released a forecast on Vietnam’s economic performance in 2021, with GDP growth of 6.72% and an average consumer price index (CPI) of 4.2% under an optimistic scenario.

VOV.VN - With the COVID-19 pandemic causing plenty of difficulties for production and business activities and the added value of the industrial sector in Q1 set to endure a slight fall, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) is striving to help the sector achieve a growth rate of 9.45% and export growth of up to 5%.

VOV.VN - Tourism growth in a number of central localities, such as Da Nang city, Khanh Hoa, Quang Nam, and Quang Ngai is enduring a slowdown due to the impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, thereby causing lasting damage which will could linger for many years.

“Legendary story”, “Rising star”, and “Asia’s brightest economy” count among the praise from international organisations in relation to Vietnam’s economic development over recent years.

VOV.VN - The garment and footwear sectors successfully maintained their export growth momentum in January with footwear exports witnessing a surge of 26.4% to US$1.8 billion against the same period from last year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

Czech newspaper Halo Noviny on February 1 published an article on Vietnam’s development vision, as well as the achievements the country has recorded over the past five years.

VOV.VN - The Khaleej Times, a daily English language newspaper published in Dubai of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has posted an article highlighting Vietnamese achievements in socio-economic development, especially landmarks under the leadership of the ruling Communist Party.