The launching of World Bank's Taking Stock on July 30, 2020

According to the latest Taking Stock report, titled “What will be the new normal for Vietnam? The economic impact of COVID-19”, released Thursday, although the Vietnamese economy suffered from COVID-19 in the first half of 2020, prospects remain positive for both the short and medium term. If the world situation gradually improves, economic activity should rebound in the second semester of 2020 so that the economy will grow at around 2.8 percent for the entire year, and by 6.8 percent in 2021. With less favorable external conditions, the economy will expand by only 1.5 percent in 2020 and 4.5 percent in 2021.

The main challenge for Vietnam will be finding new drivers of growth to consolidate the expected recovery. To achieve this, Vietnam is advised to consider removing mobility restrictions on international travel, gradually and carefully to balance with safety concerns; accelerate the execution of the existing public investment program to enhance domestic demand, and provide targeted support to the private sector through a combination of financial assistance and smart incentives.

Vietnam can consolidate its existing footprint by developing strategic alliances with countries that have also low rate of COVID-19-infections and boosting promotion efforts to attract companies planning to diversify their supply chains. Similarly, COVID-19 presents a unique opportunity to move toward a more “contact-free” economy by promoting digital payments, e-learning, telemedicine and digital data sharing.