VINACHEM

London’s leading weekly financial newspaper – The Economist – recently reported that Vietnam’s real GDP growth will pick up to 6.2% in 2015.

Real GDP growth will be supported by rapid growth in exports and a faster increase in investment, before accelerating to 6.4% a year in 2016-19 the newspaper continued.

Reforms to state-owned enterprises and the banking sector will make slow progress, with the high level of bad debts still an issue.

The Hong Kong-Shanghai Bank Corporation (HSBC) also recently announced the Purchasing Managers’ Index™ (PMI™) of Vietnam showed signs of strengthening during December, 2014, inching up to 52.7 from 52.1 in November and the highest reading since April.

In 2014, growth in the industrial sector was estimated at 7.1%, up 1.7% over the same period of one year earlier, HSBC said adding that Vietnam’s agriculture sector also maintained an average annual growth rate of 3.5%.