2024 still has many difficulties and challenges, but the Vietnamese economy still overcomes them to reach the finish line with many impressive numbers.
Bright spots of Vietnam’s economy in 2024
Although 2024 has many difficulties, our country’s economy continues to affirm a clear recovery when in the last days of the year, many industries and fields have announced many high achievements, unprecedented records in history. Exports are a bright spot in the economic picture, when many new records are continuously set.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, total import-export turnover this year reached a new record of nearly 800 billion USD, up 15% over the previous year and nearly three times higher than the assigned plan – an unprecedented record in nearly 40 years of national renovation.
Export turnover grew at a high rate with the positive recovery of key export groups. First is the agricultural sector. This year, although the agricultural sector suffered heavy losses caused by storm No. 3, farmers and businesses still made efforts to overcome difficulties and challenges. Not only firmly ensuring national food security, agricultural, forestry and fishery exports also set a historical record.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in 2024, the total export turnover of agricultural, forestry and fishery products is estimated to reach 62.5 billion USD, an increase of 18.7% compared to last year. Topping the list is vegetables and fruits, expected to bring in 7.2 billion USD. Of which, the largest contribution must be mentioned is durian products, when this “billion dollar” fruit has reached 3.5 billion USD – the highest level in history.
Coffee ranks third. This year, coffee exports are estimated to reach about 5.5 billion USD. This is the first time in the history of the Vietnamese coffee industry that coffee exports have exceeded the 5 billion USD mark in a year. And this is also the agricultural product with the strongest price increase among Vietnam’s main export products.
Along with coffee, Vietnam’s cashew industry also recorded a historic milestone with export turnover reaching 4.3 billion USD, a growth of 19% compared to last year, maintaining its position as the world’s number one cashew nut exporter for nearly two decades.
In addition to the bright spot of the agricultural sector, textile and garment exports are also a notable highlight when they are expected to reach 44 billion USD by the end of this year, an increase of nearly 11% compared to 2023. With this result, Vietnam’s textile and garment sector has surpassed Bangladesh, returning to second place in the world, only behind India in terms of export surplus.
Sustainable export solutions
Reducing logistics costs, increasing sustainable green production, being responsible to the environment and society… These are the solutions that ministries, experts and businesses are aiming for to achieve sustainable export growth in the coming time.
Mr. Miguel A.Ferrer – CEO of Shire OAK International said: “It is necessary to reduce export logistics costs between Vietnam and the United States. It is necessary to build a strong network of small logistics providers, capable of delivering and supplying raw materials, especially in the supply chain of production chains”.
Mr. Luong Van Khoi – Deputy Director of the Central Institute for Economic Management shared: “Exports will continue to increase strongly. Currently, there are 16 Free Trade Agreements, including the large New Generation Free Trade Agreement. These are markets for us to exploit well, effectively and contribute to growth and trade growth. Vietnam also has advantages in transferring investment capital from neighboring countries to our country”.
Mr. Vu Ba Phu – Director of the Department of Trade Promotion, Ministry of Industry and Trade commented: “We will design carbon emission auditing programs and support businesses with tools to measure themselves, especially for small and medium enterprises”.
Building green standards, encouraging green manufacturing enterprises and preparing infrastructure and clean energy sources are considered tasks that need to be done soon, so that Vietnam can continue to reap more success not only in exports but also as a promising destination for foreign investment in the long term. By 2024, attracting FDI is also a bright spot that cannot be ignored.
In the first 11 months of this year, the total newly registered, adjusted and contributed FDI capital in Vietnam reached nearly 31.4 billion USD, higher than the same period last year. The Foreign Investment Agency (Ministry of Planning and Investment) said that many large projects in the fields of semiconductors, energy, electronic component manufacturing, and high value-added products have received new investment and capital expansion, contributing to making FDI attraction one of the bright spots of Vietnam’s economic growth this year.
Vietnam’s e-commerce scale exceeds 25 billion USD
This year also marked a step forward in the field of e-commerce. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, this year the scale of Vietnam’s retail e-commerce market is estimated to exceed 25 billion USD, an increase of about 20% compared to 2023. This figure is higher than the previous forecast of 22 billion USD by Google, Temasek, Bain & Company. Thus, in the region, the scale of Vietnam’s e-commerce is currently only behind Indonesia and Thailand. The boom of e-commerce has created favorable conditions for the consumption of goods by businesses and people. In particular, it has created jobs for hundreds of thousands of people who are directly doing business through online sales channels. At the same time, it also contributes significantly to the revenue of the State budget.
Every day, the e-commerce business receives nearly 300 orders, a 20% increase over last year. In order to promptly pack the goods for customers, the business owner had to hire two more workers to check orders and package them for customers in time.
Mr. Ma Cong Nghe – an online business owner in Ha Dong district, Hanoi said: “It is estimated that in 2024, the revenue will be around 10 billion. It is estimated that from now until the end of the year and next year, we will develop more, so we will have to increase the number of packing workers.”
Ms. Thuan’s business also had the number of orders double compared to last year. She also had to hire more workers to pack the goods. Looking at the revenue chart, the closer to the end of the year, the more vertical the revenue line increased.
Ms. Do Thi Thuan – an online business owner in Ha Dong district, Hanoi shared: “Every day, I receive about 100-200 orders, which is double the number from last year. Last year I only received 30-50 orders, this year it has doubled, tripled. Revenue will be around 3 billion VND”.
Currently, the whole country has nearly 725,000 organizations and individuals doing business on e-commerce platforms, with a total transaction value of more than 75,000 billion VND.
International organizations positively assess Vietnam’s economy
2024 still has many difficulties and challenges, but the Vietnamese economy still overcomes them to reach the finish line with many impressive figures. With these results, many international economic organizations and experts have made positive assessments of Vietnam’s economic development situation and growth prospects in the next period.
Mr. Frederic Neumann – Chief Economist of Asia – Pacific Economic Research, HSBC Bank commented: “Vietnam is one of the best performing economies in the Asia region and is at the center of the restructuring of global supply chains. We can see many supply chains moving. In my opinion, Vietnam holds the leading position in the trend of adjusting and shifting supply chains. This is also an important driving force of the Vietnamese economy”.
Dr. Andreas Stoffers – University of Applied Sciences in Economics and Management (FOM), Federal Republic of Germany commented: “I think the numbers reflect the health of the economy. The Vietnamese government has made great efforts to improve institutions, remove barriers, and remove obstacles. Vietnam’s economic fundamentals remain positive. Because Vietnam shows a strong commitment to the market economy, free trade, and integration with the global economy. Vietnam’s economy is on the rise. And I am very optimistic that most of the goals set for this year are achievable.”
The year 2024 is gradually coming to an end with many strong impressions. The economy is recovering and opening up the potential for development in new fields such as semiconductor technology with investment from many large corporations in the world such as Google or Nvidia, along with administrative procedure reform, the revolution of streamlining the apparatus, the Vietnamese economy in the coming time is expected to create a solid momentum to enter the new era, as General Secretary To Lam said.