VIETNAM is outpacing the rest of Asia turning in a growth rate of 3.82% in the first quarter. Speaking at an online meeting with local and foreign businesses on May 9, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc shared the country’s success in battling Covid-19 with timely and effective measures.

He forecast Vietnam’s GDP growth to reach more than 5% this year. This is much higher than the forecast growth of 2.7% by the International Monetary Fund in mid-April.

Attracting foreign direct investment is one of the key objectives outlined by the prime minister to boost economic growth. In addition, the government also wants to encourage private sector investment, boost exports, promote the public sector, and encourage domestic consumption. He directed government ministries and provinces to continue to take supportive measures to help businesses grow.

A few days before the meeting, he instructed ministries and provincial administrations to disburse 700 trillion dong (US$30 billion) set for this year’s public investment capital to stimulate economic activity in the face of unprecedented global slowdown.

The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairman Vu Tien Loc noted that Japan had just launched a US$2.2 billion stimulus package to help Japanese companies move production out of China, following the coronavirus impact, suggesting that Vietnam should leave no stone unturned to welcome such high-quality foreign investment flows.