Vietnam’s Economy in 2024: Ten Outstanding Highlights

Vietnam’s economy in 2024 continues to grow positively with many special events and marks, the most prominent of which are innovation in thinking, innovation in policy foundations, establishment of strategic relationships, and determination to bring the country into a new era. The following are 10 outstanding events of Vietnam’s economy in 2024 compiled by C+ Consult.

1. Vietnam’s GDP growth rate exceeds the set target and continues to be higher than many other economies

Overcoming many difficulties and challenges, Vietnam’s GDP growth rate in 2024 is expected to reach more than 7%, continuing to be higher than the average growth rate of the ASEAN region (forecast 4.7%) and the world (forecast 3.2-3.3%).

One of the highlights of Vietnam’s economy in 2024 is that the total import-export turnover is expected to reach a record high of 800 billion USD; FDI capital attracted more than 31 billion USD among the 15 groups of developing countries attracting the most FDI capital in the world; the macro economy continues to be stable, the inflation rate is controlled below 4%, Prime Minister Pham Minh is calling on ministries and localities to strive for double-digit GDP growth in 2025 and continue to exceed the set target—National Assembly (over 7%).

2. Attracting significant FDI capital

Vietnam is among the 15 developing countries in the world attracting the most foreign direct investment capital. Total registered capital reached 31.38 billion USD, which increased by 7%, the highest in the past 5 years. In particular, “giants” such as NVIDIA and Google have emerged in the technology field, putting Vietnam on the global technology map.

3. Total import-export turnover exceeds 800 billion USD, a record high

Import-export activities will recover strongly in 2024. The total export target is 800 billion USD, an increase of 15%, 2.5 times higher than the Government’s plan; exports exceed 400 billion USD, a rise of 14.4%, and imports increase by 16.4%. In particular, the trade surplus is nearly 25 billion USD, and it has been a trade surplus for nine consecutive years.

The whole country has 36 projects with an export value of over 1 billion USD (in the same period last year, there were only 33 projects), accounting for 94.1% of total export turnover (7 projects with an export value of over 10 billion USD, accounting for 94.1% of total export turnover) and accounting for 94.1% (66.5% of total export turnover). There are 44 items with an import value of over 1 billion USD, accounting for 92.6% of total imports (5 items with an import value of over 10 billion USD, accounting for 51.4%). Most export markets have grown well, and markets that have signed free trade agreements with Vietnam have higher growth rates.

4. Promoting the development of the semiconductor and artificial intelligence industries

By 2024, there will be significant progress in improving the policy system and facilitating the assembly and cooperation in developing the semiconductor and artificial intelligence industries.

On September 21, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh signed Decision No. 1018/QD-TTg promulgating the “Strategy for the development of Vietnam’s semiconductor industry to 2030” and orientation to 2050, aiming to expand the scale of leading revenue in Vietnam’s semiconductor industry. It will reach more than 100 billion USD per year by 2050.

On December 5, the Vietnamese Government signed a cooperation agreement with NVIDIA, the world’s largest semiconductor chip manufacturer, to establish the NVIDIA Artificial Intelligence (AI) R&D Center and the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Center in Vietnam. The two centers will focus on developing artificial intelligence (AI) applications in healthcare, education, transportation, and finance, as well as training artificial intelligence talents for Vietnam.

5. Passing several critical legal policies

The 8th session of the 15th National Assembly voted 441/448 in favor of passing the Law on Public Investment (amended). The Law on Public Investment (amended) is expected to meet the requirements on management and use of public investment resources and achieve three major strategic breakthroughs, especially breakthroughs in infrastructure. In particular, the law allows land clearance to be divided into independent projects to remove the most challenging bottleneck in disbursing public investment capital.

In addition to the Law on Public Investment (Amended), the National Assembly will also pass 30 other bills in 2024, such as the Law on Credit Institutions (Amended), Law on Land (Amended), Law on Real Estate Business (Amended), Law on Public Investment (Amended) and supplementary laws, etc. There are many provisions in the “Planning Law”, “Investment Law”, “PPP Law” and “Bidding Law”.

6. Deploying a 5G network to promote the digital transformation of the country

On October 15, Viettel launched the 5G network, marking the official entry of this service into Vietnam. As one of the pillars of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, digital infrastructure, including 5G networks, has a significant impact on economic and social development by promoting innovation and improving productivity in many sectors worldwide.

7. Consequences of Super Typhoon Yagi

Super Typhoon “Yagi” (early September) caused the most vigorous intensity in the East China Sea in the past 30 years and our mainland in the past 70 years, causing 323 deaths, 22 missing, 1,978 injured and more than 1,000 injured, 81,700 billion VND in property damage, reducing economic growth by about 0.15%. After the storm, the government approved a 5-year VND54 trillion reconstruction plan, including rebuilding housing and infrastructure, landslide-affected areas, and building a new Phong Chau bridge, etc.

8. Implementing special measures to stabilise the gold market

In the face of complicated and volatile developments in the gold bar market, implementing the direction of the Government and the Prime Minister on handling the high price difference between domestic and international SJC gold bars, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has implemented unique solutions to stabilize gold prices. Market.

On April 22, the State Bank of Vietnam restarted the SJC gold bar auction after 11 years of suspending the auction. The State Bank continued to implement alternative stabilization measures after nine auctions to help increase market supply, switching to the plan of selling SJC gold directly through 4 state-owned commercial banks and the Saigon Jewelry Company-SJC. In addition, the State Bank of Vietnam will coordinate with relevant ministries and branches to strengthen the synchronous implementation of national management solutions for gold trading activities and investigate and strictly handle violations of the law in this activity.

9. Strengthening the international position

2024 is a new milestone in Vietnam’s foreign relations, bringing great opportunities for cooperation in trade, investment, security, defense and other fields. Notably, relations with Australia, France and Malaysia will be upgraded to comprehensive strategic partnerships in March 2024, October 2024 and November 2024, respectively, bringing the total number of countries that have established comprehensive strategic partnerships with Vietnam to 9, including Vietnam. China, the Russian Federation, India, South Korea, the United States, Japan, Australia, France and Malaysia.

Also, in the past year, Vietnam upgraded its bilateral relations with Mongolia and the United Arab Emirates to comprehensive partnerships in September 2024 and October 2024. In November 2024, Vietnam and Brazil officially upgraded their relations to strategic partnerships after celebrating the 35th anniversary of diplomatic ties and 17 years of comprehensive partnership.

10. Finally, breakthroughs in transport and energy infrastructure construction

2024 is marked by several crucial national transport projects, with regional connectivity and spillover effects, that will be put into operation. Accordingly, 109 km of new expressways will be put into use, bringing the total length of expressways nationwide to more than 2,021 km; the Hoa Binh – Moc Chau expressway started construction of 2 projects connecting the Ho Chi Minh Expressway at the peak of implementation; The “500-day-and-night competition” completed “3,000 km of highways”…; timely completed the procedures to start construction of 5 major transport projects. Regarding aviation, the construction progress was accelerated, the completion time was shortened, and Long Thanh International Airport and Tan Son Nhat T3 Terminal were put into use.

In particular, the 500kV Quang Trach – Hanoi 3-circuit line. The project has a scale of more than 6 months of lightning-fast construction, with a total investment of nearly 1 billion USD, setting a record for the shortest investment process and construction time, symbolizing the national spirit and unity of the entire political system.

Sources: multiple sources