Vietnam posts decade-high growth of 7.1pc in 2018

Hanoi: Vietnam’s growth soared to more than 7 per cent this year, its highest in a decade, helped by a surge in its manufacturing sector.

The country has long been one of Asia’s fastest growing economies — GDP growth topped 5 per cent over the past five years — largely driven by the exports of cheap manufactured goods, from Nike shoes to H&M T-shirts, as well as tech products like Samsung phones and Intel computer processors.

But this year’s growth surpassed the communist government’s target of 6.7 per cent, hitting 7.08 per cent, according to figures released on Thursday by the General Statistics Office in Hanoi.

“The processing and manufacturing sector was the bright point and the main driver for the overall growth” with a 12.98 per cent increase, said GSO head Nguyen Bich Lam. He added the economy would remain robust next year with the expected contribution of manufacturing projects such as Vinfast, a local car assembly company owned by Vietnam’s largest private conglomerate Vingroup. — Reuters