With initial success in containing COVID-19 and an advantage as a safe investment destination, Vietnam is attracting a shift of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows

Việt Nam attracted US$12.33 billion worth of foreign direct investment in the first four months of 2020, a year-on-year decrease of 15.5 per cent due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Foreign Investment Agency.

Việt Nam has some great advantages while competing with regional countries in attracting capital flows moving out of China after the COVID-19 pandemic, experts have said.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact, the wood industry still enjoyed 3.2 billion USD in exports in the first four months of 2019, up 6 percent year on year, thanks to businesses’ efforts to switch to online trading and find new markets.

With modernisation of armed forces and indigenous manufacturing emerging as focus areas, defence is another sector with huge potential for growth.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) is planning to increase the number of training courses it organises on trade remedies for the domestic production industry.

The COVID-19 crisis has caused the rate of economic growth in the CLMV bloc to be at its lowest in two decades, the CLMV economies could grow at 3.4 percent this year

The Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI) has forcast that Thailand is likely to take up to three years to return to normal economic conditions similar to 2019.

While the new Indonesia-Australia free trade agreement is expected to boost trade between the countries, it also represents a step for Australia towards increasing its engagement with ASEAN.

In February, the European Parliament adopted the EU–Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA). This is the most comprehensive and ambitious EU trade agreement with a developing country.