Vietnam's GDP per capita ranks sixth in ASEAN (Photo: IMF)
The United States took the lead with USD22,940 billion, followed by China with USD16,863 billion.
For GDP per capita, Vietnam secured USD3,743 per person ranking sixth in ASEAN and 124th in the world.
Globally, the top 10 countries with the largest GDP per capita are Luxembourg (USD131,302), Ireland (USD102,394), Switzerland (USD93,515), and Norway (USD8.244).
Illustrative photo
They were followed by the US (USD69,375), Iceland (USD102,394), Denmark (USD67,920), Singapore (USD66,263), Australia (USD62,619), and Qatar (USD61,791).
In Southeast Asia, Singapore ranked first with USD66,263 per person, followed by Brunei (USD33,979), Malaysia (USD11,125), Thailand (USD7,809), and Indonesia (USD4,225).
This year Vietnam has set targets of recording 6 - 6.5% GDP growth and raising its GDP per capita to USD3,900. It plans to raise the GDP per capita to between USD4,700 and USD5,000 by 2025 and USD7,500 by 2030.
Vietnam-Laos trade turnover on the rise
Trade revenue between Vietnam and Laos in the first five months of this year stood at USD690.6 million, up 21% year-on-year, reported the Voice of Vietnam.
According to the Vietnamese Trade Office in Laos, Vietnam’s export value reached USD255.02 million, down 9%, but its import hit nearly USD435.58 million, up 50%.
Vietnam’s major export items included iron and steel (USD36.5 million); oil and gas, fertilizer, fruits and vegetables (nearly USD20 million); and ceramics, electrical wires and cables, paper, textiles and garments (nearly USD7 million), among others.
Meanwhile, it imported ore and other minerals, fertiliser, wood and timber products, rubber, fruits and vegetables from the neighbouring country.
In May alone, bilateral trade was valued at nearly USD132.5 million, a year-on-year rise of 16.5%, of which Vietnam’s exports were worth close to USD62.8 million, up 0.8%, and imports USD69.7 million, up 35.5%.
The decrease in Vietnam's export revenue in the first five months was due to drops in the first three months, with just a slight rise of 6.5% in April.
Vietnam jumps nine places in Open Budget Survey 2021
Vietnam was placed 68th out of the120 countries in the Open Budget Survey (OBS) 2021 recently released by the International Budget Partnership (IBP), up nine spots against 2019 and 23 against 2017, reported Vietnam News Agency according to statistics from the Ministry of Finance.
Illustrative photo. (Source: VNA)
The country gained six points in all the three components – Transparency, Public Participation and Budget Oversight – compared to 2019.
It scored 44 out of the maximum of 100 in Transparency and 80 in Budget Oversight last year. Its score in Public Participation reached 17, higher than the global average of 14.
According to the ministry, the OBS2021 results show Vietnam’s efforts in improving budget transparency over years. The country has been striving to adopt good international practices as it has released 3-year national financial and budget plans and make citizens budget reports more comprehensible to the public.
The country has also provided its citizens with easier access to financial and budget information to better grab their attention and encourage public participation in building and monitoring budget plans.
The OBS is the world’s independent, comparative and fact-based research instrument that uses internationally accepted criteria to assess public access to central government budget information; formal opportunities for the public to participate in the national budget process; and the role of budget oversight institutions, such as legislatures and national audit offices, in the budget process.
The survey helps local civil society assess and confer with their government on the reporting and use of public funds. This 8th edition of the OBS covers 120 countries.
Vietnam has participated in the biannual survey for four consecutive times, in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021.
Vietnamese artist named on shortlist of Artes Mundi 10
Vietnamese artist Nguyen Trinh Thi has been named on the shortlist of the UK’s leading biennial exhibition and largest contemporary art prize, Artes Mundi 10 (AM 10).
Artist Nguyen Trinh Thi (Photo: artreview.com)
The Artes Mundi 10 (AM 10), with presenting partner Bagri Foundation, announced the shortlist of seven international contemporary visual artists and five nationwide venue partners for its tenth anniversary edition on June 9.
As an important arbiter of cultural exchange between the UK and international communities, Artes Mundi again brings together a major biennial exhibition of international contemporary art by some of the most relevant artistic voices engaging with urgent topics of our time.
The seven artists named by AM 10 are: Rushdi Anwar (Born Kurdistan. Lives and works between Thailand and Australia); Carolina Caycedo (Born UK to Colombian parents. Lives and works in USA); Alia Farid (Born Kuwait. Lives and works between Kuwait City and Puerto Rico); Naomi Rincón Gallardo (Born USA. Lives and works in Mexico); Taloi Havani (Born Bougainville, Nakas/ Hakö tribe. Lives and works in Australia); Nguyen Trinh Thi (Born and continues to live and work in Vietnam) and Mounira Al Solh (Born Lebanon. Lives and works in The Netherlands).
Work by each artist will feature in the biennial exhibition, the Artes Mundi 10th taking place from October 2023 to March 2024 with the winner of the prestigious 40,000 GBP Artes Mundi Prize – the UK’s largest contemporary art prize – announced during the exhibition run.
For the first time, AM 10 will be presented nationally at multiple venues across Wales. The venue partners are: MOSTYN, Llandudno; Oriel Davies Gallery, Newtown; Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea; National Museum Cardiff; and Chapter, Cardiff.
Nguyen Trinh Thi is a Hanoi-based filmmaker and artist. Traversing boundaries between film and video art, installation and performance, her practice currently explores the power of sound and listening, and the multiple relations between image, sound, and space, with ongoing interests in history, memory, representation, ecology, and the unknown. Nguyen’s works have been shown at international festivals and exhibitions including the Asia Pacific Triennale of Contemporary Art (APT9) in Brisbane; Sydney Biennale (2018); Jeu de Paume, Paris; the Lyon Biennale (2015); Fukuoka Asian Art Triennial (2014); and Singapore Biennale (2013). In 2022, her mixed-media installation, And They Die a Natural Death, is exhibited at documenta fifteen in Kassel, Germany.
Past editions have seen Artes Mundi work with artists at crucial stages of their careers, often being their first introduction to UK audiences, with many now established figures on the world stage, including Dineo Seshee Bopape, Prabhakar Pachpute, Ragnar Kjartansson, Theaster Gates, John Akomfrah, Teresa Margolles, Xu Bing and Tania Bruguera.
For AM 10, the selectors, Zoe Butt, Katya García-Antón, Wanda Nanibush and Gabi Ngcobo commented: “We are grateful to the AM 10 nominator network world-wide for proposing an impressive list of artists, thanks to which we enjoyed deeply inspirational dialogues within the jury. The list of artists provided a topical overview of the range of concerns and questions that are at the forefront of current themes, preoccupations and thinking in artistic practice today. In deliberating on our finalist selection, we were inspired by the opening up of ideas about connections to land, contested territories and histories, the questioning of nationhood and its environmental impact, and of how these ideas challenge preconceived notions of identity and belonging. We are excited to see how the exhibition will take shape over the coming months.”
Juan De Lara, Head of Arts, Bagri Foundation commented: “We are incredibly excited to work with these seven artists to present their work at various museums and galleries across Wales. We pride ourselves on our socially responsible programme and giving voices of diverse backgrounds a platform to expand and develop their practice. This selection of artists and the timing of this Artes Mundi 10 Exhibition and Prize presents us with the opportunity to do something truly exceptional together.”
Nigel Prince, Director of Artes Mundi commented: “AM 10 will prove a watershed moment for Artes Mundi. As we simultaneously celebrate the legacies of the past twenty years working with some of the most exceptional artistic voices of recent times, we look ahead with our nationwide partners to presenting work from this edition’s shortlist that will speak to the urgent issues of our times in the most immediate of ways.”