Vietnam a 'bright spot' in world economy: NA

Speaking at a press conference on Sunday at the 2023 Vietnam Socio-Economic Forum, he said the country’s economy has been stable this year and inflation is basically under control at only 3.1% in the first eight months.

Public, foreign and government debts are also within control, and the country's credit rating has improved, in fact becoming the only country in Southeast Asia to have its rating raised by Moody's last year, he said.

"Vietnam's economy remains a bright spot in the bleak big picture of the world economy."

In the second quarter its GDP grew by 4.14%, 3.28 percentage points higher than in the first, according to the government.

Over 14,000 new businesses were established in August, an 18% increase year-on-year. For the year to date the number was 103,700, an increase of 2.3%.

Total retail sales of goods and services increased by 7.6% in August.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment has also said the economy is recovering though swift changes would not be evident in the short term.

Thanh said the economy faces certain bottlenecks such as the slowing growth of investments and trade, and they need to be addressed.

Credit access remained difficult, he added.

Nguyen Duc Hien, deputy head of the NA Economic Committee, said some economic targets are unlikely to be reached this year, such as labor productivity.

"Growth is good, but for the long term the core needs to be labor productivity."