Vietnam to lead recovery in Southeast Asia: ADB

The Vietnam economy is expected to rebound to 6.5 percent this year and further expand to 6.7 percent in 2023, the highest in Southeast Asia.

The regional average will be 4.9 percent in 2022 and 5.2 percent in the next year, according to a report released Wednesday by the Asian Development Bank.

ADB Country Director for Vietnam Andrew Jeffries said: "The renewed Covid-19 outbreak hindered Vietnam’s economic recovery, tightened the labor market, and disrupted manufacturing and supply chains in 2021".

"The high vaccination rate enabled the government to abandon harsh containment measures. This timely shift of the pandemic containment strategy helped restore economic activity and reduce bottlenecks in the business environment."

The bank forecasts industrial growth to top 9.5 percent this year, spurred by a recovering labor market and monetary and fiscal stimulus measures.

Agriculture output is expected to grow by 3.5 percent on revived domestic demand and rising global commodity prices, and tourism is likely to rally 5.5 percent thanks to the reopening of international travel in mid-March and easing pandemic control.

But it also warned of near-term downside risks that could cloud Vietnam’s recovery, including high Covid-19 infections since mid-March, slowing global recovery, and surge in global oil prices from the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

Recovery also depends on the government’s speedy and effective rollout of the economic recovery and development program, it added.

Vietnam’s economy grew by 2.6 percent in 2021.