05 Oct Well-controlled Covid-19 response

Vietnam stands along with a handful of countries around the world such as New Zealand, Israel, UAE and South Korea that have been relatively successful in containing the Covid19 pandemic with minimal fatalities among a population of almost 100m, according to a recent report from the World Health Organisation. This is a positive story from the socialist republic, which is among the five countries in the world that follow a communist form of government.

Following a policy of being an early mover, Vietnam is focused on high-risk and suspected cases and is conducting tests only on a relatively small share of its population. In parallel, extensive contact tracing is being undertaken along with isolation and quarantining. Early containment and use of existing public and military facilities have proved to be cost-effective.Growth reached 7% in 2019, down from a 10-year high of 7.1% a year earlier. Due to the outbreak of the COVID-19, growth dropped but remained in positive territory in 2020 with 2.9%. According to the updated IMF forecasts from January 2021, GDP growth in Vietnam is expected to bounce back to 6.7% this year and 7.4% in 2022, subject to the post-pandemic global economic recovery.