Friday, November 20, 2020

Vietnam Economy is Asia's Shining Star During Covid

 https://www.bbc.com/news/business-54997796


There have been many countries in the world that have gone through significant struggles over the past 8 months. Vietnam has actually come out of Covid doing quite well comparatively. They were able to get Covid under control pretty quickly and have been able to obtain a positive growth rate of over 2%, while many other countries will experience a negative growth rate this year. Another part of this growth has been in part due to a relationship with U.S., especially since the trade war has begun with China. Vietnam has become a spot for U.S. businesses to outsource to in search of cheap labor to make high end products. For example, Apple has started working on a production line that will produce Airpods in Vietnam. Vietnam has increased its exports to the U.S. by 23% in the first three quarters of this year. These are big steps forward for Vietnam in becoming one of the more developed countries in the world. 

Do you think that Vietnam has handled Covid so well because they didn't have the back stop of health infrastructure that say the United States has? With Vietnam's growth, what future problems is it possible that they have as they expand faster than the average developed nation?

3 comments:

Marya Gakosso said...

I think that Vietnam has handled Covid so well because though they in fact didn't have the backstop of health infrastructure that the United States and many wealthier nations have, its public health measures quickly put covid numbers under control. When it comes to the possibility of its faster expansion than the average developed nation, considering manufacturing there and its ties with the U.S. as you mentioned in the article, I think continued growth and development are on their way in the country.

Jack Damon said...

As Vietnam's economy develops into a more modern industrial economy, I think it will see many of the growing pains that we have studied in other nations. For one, as they shift to a larger industrial sector, agriculture, which employs a large percentage of their country (36.23% according to the World Bank) will continue to decrease. This trend has already been happening for the country, which had 70% of its labor force in agriculture in 1991, and still has room to drop towards more developed nations. This could lead to famines, food shortages, and unstable food prices as people flock from farms to industry in search of higher wages.

Nana Ama said...

I think Vietnam has done a tremendous job with their handling of covid-19. The early steps they took have really befitted them.
They also see an improvement in their economy because of their newfound position working as almost replacing China. Now, this can bring about speedy development in the nation. However, it is also important to note that if a large number of their agricultural workers shift to the manufacturing field, they might become dependent on agricultural imports in the long run.