Vietnam emerges as new epicenter of Asian economic growth

This year’s forum, themed “Innovation to Overcome Challenges: Strategies for a Transforming Vietnam”, was attended by more than 1,000 business leaders and foreign investors.

Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Duy Dong said that Vietnam is facing many challenges and opportunities. To take advantage of the opportunities, we must clearly understand the existing challenges. This is also the meaning of the theme chosen by the Organizing Committee for this year's Forum: "Innovating Through Adversity: Strategies for a Transformative Vietnam".

The event is an opportunity for policy makers, investment funds, the innovative startup community, experts and consultants to discuss and share perspectives on the future of the startup investment market in Vietnam in 2024.

According to NIC Director Vu Quoc Huy, the thematic seminars bring together leading speakers in many fields to discuss and analyze current and urgent issues related to investment in innovative startups in the region and in Vietnam. Thereby, providing multi-dimensional perspectives to orient the investment strategy for innovative startups in the coming time and best support innovation and startups in Vietnam.

Despite the unpredictable difficulties of 2023, Vietnam attracted more than 20 billion USD in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first 9 months of the year, up 7.7% over the same period last year, according to a report by the Ministry of Planning and Investment. Vietnam's economy has grown strongly thanks to strong support from international trade relations.

At the same time, Vietnam is making continuous efforts to improve the investment environment to attract FDI capital and develop mechanisms to support the innovation and digitalization ecosystem. Policies and partnerships are key to helping Vietnam's economy stay on track according to the National Master Plan for the period 2021 - 2030.

Within the framework of the Forum, NIC and Golden Gate Ventures also released a national development strategy report: “The Road to Success: A Look Back at Vietnam’s Development Journey”, which provides information on the ability of the Vietnamese economy to cope with difficulties and examines potential factors in Vietnam’s growth in the next few years.

At the same time, the Report is also a premise for the Forum with the participation of leaders of large corporations such as VNG and VinBrain of VinGroup; Vietnamese startup founders in the fields of financial technology (fintech), health technology (healthtech) and AI; global investment companies and stock exchanges, especially the New York Stock Exchange and global organizations such as the World Bank, the Tony Blair Institute.

A Vietnam in Transformation

Unlike many other growth markets around the world and especially in Asia, Vietnam has charted its own successful strategy, leveraging a long-term vision for growth and the flexibility to adapt to a changing economic environment to create resilience in the face of challenging fluctuations in 2023.

Since 2018, with the complicated political situation, major manufacturing centers in the world have gradually shifted production to Vietnam, with a continuous increase from 2021 to present. This is driven by Vietnam's focus on creating a friendly business environment, its strategic location as a gateway to other fast-growing markets, its abundant and skilled labor force, competitive labor costs, and many preferential policies.

These are attractive factors for companies looking to expand production in the region, an effective solution to the recently emerging global supply chain problem. As the world's manufacturing centers are in the process of restructuring, focusing on manufacturing activities, Vietnam has the potential to become a new manufacturing center in the region and the world.

2023 also marks an important milestone for Vietnam's position on the global economic map when strengthening global strategic partnerships with Israel, China, the Philippines and Singapore.

Most recently, Vietnam also upgraded its relationship with the United States to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, marking a new era in enhanced bilateral cooperation. Collectively, these trade agreements have outlined a long-term roadmap for Vietnam not only as a leading manufacturing hub but also as a center for attracting high-value foreign direct investment.

“In a challenging year for most economies, Vietnam has shifted its economic development to high speed, affirming itself as the new economic growth center of Asia,” said Mr. Vinnie Lauria, Founding Partner of Golden Gate Ventures Fund.

According to Mr. Vinnie Lauria, with a solid position in the global supply chain, continuously receiving investment from multinational corporations, a strongly developing innovative startup ecosystem, nurturing Vietnam's desire to change the world, Vietnam is writing a new page in growth rate that other markets will learn from.

A testament to Vietnam’s steady growth is the list of Vietnamese companies listed on international markets. Following the listings of Vinfast and Society Pass in 2023, the expected listings of VNG, TIKI and The CrownX are expected in the next 18 months.

Sharing the same view with the representative of Golden Gate Ventures Fund, Mr. Delano Musafer, Director of APAC Capital Markets, New York Stock Exchange, commented that Vietnam has emerged rapidly not only in Asia but also in the global market. Many investors are paying attention to quality companies with strong transformation strategies and high growth achievements in Vietnam. This is a positive signal for Vietnam when it has a clear strategy for domestic and foreign markets.

Forecast of 5 potential fields

According to a report by NIC and Golden Gate Ventures, the five main sectors predicted to dominate Vietnam's future economic growth include: Medical technology, financial technology, logistics support technology, green economy and education technology.

Per capita healthcare spending in Vietnam has tripled in the past five years. Fintech transactions are expected to grow at a CAGR of 15% over the next four years to meet the financial needs of the 70% of Vietnamese who are still unbanked. Meanwhile, technology supporting logistics and small business models also play an important role.

In addition, for the green economy, Vietnam is leading the effort to develop clean energy in Southeast Asia with innovations in wind and solar energy. Finally, the education technology sector is assessed to have natural growth momentum, increasingly attracting foreign investment into the Vietnamese market.

The speakers said that these five areas will together create an innovation ecosystem that is in line with the ambition of becoming a developed country by 2050, as well as the global need for innovation.