Author Andy Mukherjee noted that four years ago, the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange traded just US$50 million of equities a day, while activity in Manila was five times as brisk.

 

Meanwhile, soured debt of Vietnam’s banking system has declined, while privatization of State-owned enterprises has been on the rise.

 

Foreign direct investment in the country increased nearly 12% this year to US$16 billion this year. Currently, FDI accounts for 8% of the country’s gross domestic product of US$203 billion.

 

In financial markets, Mukherjee cited Credit Suisse analysts’ estimate that there are now 12 Vietnamese stocks with volumes of US$3 million a day while there were only two in 2015.

 

Vietnam has also plugged into the Asian electronics and smart phone supply chain. The country's strongest export is not textiles, shoes, seafood, coffee or cashew nuts, but smart phone parts, which have jumped 29% this year to US$36.5 billion this year.

 

Vietnam can no longer be written off as marginal, Mukherjee said.

 

VNA