ASEAN research agency sees 3.1 pct GDP growth for Vietnam

It would grow at 7 percent next year, ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO), which has members from ASEAN’s 10 member countries, China, Japan, and South Korea, said further.

But though the projections did not take into account the second wave of infections in the country, AMRO said it still has high hopes for Vietnam's economy due to its efforts to contain the pandemic. Before July 25, Vietnam recorded a 99-day streak without cases of Covid-19 community transmission.

Hoe Ee Khor, AMRO’s chief economist, said at an online webinar that Vietnam would still do relatively well thanks to its large foreign investments, and could benefit from the shift in manufacturing away from China.

"But we will have to wait and see the future developments of the recent outbreak in Da Nang."

Vietnam have reported 298 domestic cases since July 25, of these 193 in the epicenter Da Nang.

Covid-19 has cast a shadow over the outlook for growth in the region, and nine out of 14 economies are forecast to have negative growth this year, it said.

The only countries with expected positive growth are Vietnam (3.1 percent), China (2.3), Brunei (1.6), Myanmar (1.1), and Laos (0.5).

At the end of July the World Bank had forecast Vietnam's GDP to grow by 2.8 percent this year, the fifth fastest rate in the world.