Vietnam bucks trend of global economic freedom decline: US news site
While economic freedom is declining around the world, Vietnam is bucking the general trend, with lot of work to do to join the ranks of economically free countries, said Rainer Zitelmann in his recent article published by the Washington DC-based news outlet Washington Examiner.
Container storage yard at Tan Vu Port in the northern port city of Hai Phong. (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – While economic freedom is declining around the world,Vietnam is bucking the general trend, with lot of work to do to join the ranksof economically free countries, said Rainer Zitelmann in his recent article publishedby the Washington DC-based news outlet Washington Examiner.
In the article titled “Vietnam ‘has been a developmentsuccess story’: World Bank,” the author wrote no other country of comparablesize has made such strong gains in the Index of Economic Freedom in recentdecades.
The author cited the International Monetary Fund and theAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations-Plus Three Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) as projecting the nation’s gross domestic product to grow by 5.8% and 6% thisyear, respectively.
Vietnam attracts 36.6 billion USD in foreign direct investment last year. (Photo: VNA)
According to the article, growth in Vietnam no longerrevolves solely around agriculture as it has positioned itself in high-techfields, including Industry 4.0, semiconductor chips, AI, and hydrogen, and isattracting international capital. Foreign direct investment amounted to 36.6billion USD in 2023.
In the 2024 Index of Economic Freedom, the HeritageFoundation notes that Vietnam is one of the rising stars, contrary to theglobal trend. It considers the nation’s level of taxation and public debt aspositive features.
As per the foundation, Vietnam’s top individual income taxrate is 35%, and the top corporate tax rate is 20%. The tax burden equals 18.2%of GDP. Three-year government spending and budget balance averages are,respectively, 20.1% and -1.3% of GDP. Public debt amounts to 35.3% of GDP.
The article also featured opinions from Oliver Massmann,partner at Duane Morris Vietnam LLC, who said he sees progress in strengthening thecountry’s rule of law, particularly the new Credit Law./.
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Container storage yard at Tan Vu Port in the northern port city of Hai Phong. (Photo: VNA) 
Vietnam attracts 36.6 billion USD in foreign direct investment last year. (Photo: VNA) 
