Vietnam Economy Under Spotlight!

VIETNAM IN GENERAL

 WTO accession January 11, 2007
 Population: 87 Million
 GDP 2007: $70 billion US
 GDP Growth 2007: 8.5 %
 Literacy Rate: ~90%*

1. Overview of Vietnam’s economy

1.1 OverviewVietnam has made progress over the past 10 years in moving from a planned economy to a market economy, opening up to foreign investment, maintaining consistent rapid growth and now targeting entry into the World Trade Organization in 2005. The shift away from a centrally planned economy to a more market-oriented economic model improved the quality of life for many Vietnamese.
Helpful sources

• Central Economic Management Institute: Overview of Vietnam’s economy; Review on Vietnam’s economy 2007

• World Bank: Vietnam Development Report

1.2 Vietnam’s major imports - 2007

At present, EU is our second import market behind U.S and o¬ne of the Vietnam’s four biggest import markets. Major exports were remained such as garment-textile, aquatic and plastic products, wooden furniture, coffee, handicrafts. Vietnam has had trade surplus to EU for many years, demonstrating that EU is the major import market of Vietnam, helping Vietnam increase the export turnover in the following years.

Table 2: Key trading partners of Vietnam – 2007

Import (US$ mill) Export (US$ mill)
 China: 3,659  US: 7,500
 Singapore: 3,534  EU: 5,148
 Japan: 3,510  Japan: 3,738
 Taiwan: 2,437  China: 3,495
 Korea: 2,286  Australia: 2,329
 USA: 500

Table 3: Vietnam’s export earnings in 2007

2007 2007 vs. 2006 (%)
Total 48387 121.5
• Domestic sector 20555 122.3
• FDI sector 27832 120.9

Table 4: Main products for exportation in 2007 (1,000 tons/million US$)
2007 2007 vs. 2006 (%)
Crude oil 15081 8477 91.9 102.6
Coal 32535 1018 111.0 111.3
Textile 7784 133.4
Footgear 3963 110.3
Handbag, wallet, suitcase, hat, umbrella 635 126.2
Electronics, computer 2178 127.5
Rattan, bamboo, rush, carpet 218 113.6
Porcelain, ceramic 330 120.4
Precious stones & metals 201 122.2
Electric wires & cables 884 125.4
Plastic products 725 151.4
Bicycle & spare parts 79 67.4
Vegetable & animal oil/fat 47 310.0
Children toys 77 116.3
Instant noodle 80 116.5
Rice 4500 1454 96.9 113.9
Coffee 1194 1854 121.8 152.3
Fruits & vegetables 299 115.4
Rubber 719 1400 101.6 108.8
Pepper 86 282 73.4 147.8
Cashew nut 153 649 120.4 128.9
Tea 114 131 107.8 118.4
Wooden products 2364 122.3
Seafood 3792 112.9

Helpful source:
• General Statistics Office of Vietnam: Vietnam Development Report