Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)
Of note, shrimp and tra fish exports rose 10 percent and 11 percent in March to 270 million USD and 137 million USD, respectively.
Vietnam earned 646 million USD from exporting shrimp in the first quarter, up nearly 3 percent year-on-year, while the export value of tra fish totalled 336 million USD, a rise of just 0.6 percent.
Exports of squid, octopus, and fish-related products also saw positive growth signs.
According to Le Hang, Deputy Director of the VASEP.PRO centre at the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers, the export of squid and octopus surged 8 percent in March, lifting the total export value in the first quarter to 112 million USD.
The European market is recovering thanks to tariff preferences under the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), Hang said.
The US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and China remained the biggest importers of Vietnamese aquatic products in the first two months of the year, accounting for 53.8 percent of the total.
Aquatic export value rose in most markets, with the highest growth reported in Russia, of 44.6 percent.
Exports to China in the months to come are forecast to recover strongly as the country resolves congestion at seaports and loosens procedures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 from imported aquatic products, especially frozen products.
Vietnam’s aquatic exports are predicted to hit 2.32 billion USD for the first four months, an increase of nearly 4 percent year-on-year.
IMF forecasts 6.5% GDP for Vietnam this year
Vietnam’s GDP growth rate is forecast to rise by 6.5% this year, a figure which is higher than the global average of 6%, before climbing to 7.2% in 2022, reported the Voice of Vietnam based on data released in the latest World Economic Outlook report compiled by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
This projection was made during the opening session of the 2021 Spring Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank group.The country’s positive growth rate can largely be attributed to drastic measures implemented by the Government in terms of economics and health care.
The IMF recommended that macroeconomic policies be maintained throughout the year in an effort to ensure a sustainable and comprehensive recovery is achieved.
The international financial institution also forecast that the GDP of five countries in the ASEAN bloc, namely Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Vietnam, will expand by 4.9% in 2021 and 6.1% in 2022.
World economic growth is expected to reach 6% this year, higher than the 5.5% projection made in January.
The news comes as a number of major international financial institutions have made positive assessments on the future outlook of the Vietnamese economy.
The country’s economic growth rate is forecast to reach 7.1% and 6.6% this year by the United Oversea Bank and HSBC.
An article recently published by news publication borgenmagazine.com of the United States highlights Vietnam’s incredible economic growth since the implementation of a series of economic reforms in 1986 during the Communist Party of Vietnam’s (CPV) sixth national congress.
Despite these positives, the article states that the country’s transportation infrastructure remains woefully behind many other developed economies.
At present, Vietnam is at a crossroads in terms of its development and requires further investment in its transportation network in order to sustain and expand its growth, according to the piece.
The article concludes by outlining how the country has run into trouble financing the North-South Expressway, although the implementation of the Public-Private Partnership Law (PPP) is expected to fix this problem by making PPPs in infrastructure projects simpler and more attractive.
Vietnam climbs one notch in latest FIFA rankings
The Vietnamese national men’s football team have risen one place up to 92nd position in the world, reported the Voice of Vietnam based on the latest rankings released by football’s global governing body FIFA.
Despite playing no international games over the past year due to COVID-19, Vietnam inched up one notch to 92nd due to some other national teams’ losses in FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers in recent times.
The global rankings show Vietnam top the Southeast Asia rankings and remain the 13th best team in Asia.
Thailand have climbed four places to 106th in the world and finished second in Southeast Asia .
Elsewhere in the region, the Philippines are ranked in 125th, while Myanmar and Malaysia are placed 139th and 153rd, respectively.
Furthermore, Singapore have kept hold of 159th spot, followed by Indonesia and Cambodia who are tied in 173rd and 174th places, Laos in 185th, Brunei in 189th, and Timor-Leste in 196th.
Topping the world rankings are Belgium, France, Brazil, England, and Portugal./.