NZ projects GDP growth at 6.5%
By Hong Phuc - The Saigon Times Daily
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| ANZ chief executive officer Mike Smith gestures as he fields questions from reporters in Hanoi - Photo: Hong Phuc |
HANOI – The chief executive officer of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, better known as ANZ, is upbeat about Vietnam’s economy, projecting the country’s GDP growth at 6.5% this year.
Mike Smith told reporters in a press briefing in Hanoi on Tuesday that Vietnam’s gross domestic product would expand by 6.5% this year or even more if external conditions turn more favorable.
“ANZ is prudent in its comments, but I believe that Vietnam’s GDP growth will hit 6.5% this year. The rate could be even higher if China grows as expected and there are better signals in the region,” he said.
Smith said he was very upbeat about Vietnam’s economy, especially in the context of its relations with neighboring countries of Laos and Cambodia. These three Indochina countries are promoting their economic connectivity in terms of trade, investment and remittance, he said, adding the trade volume between the three countries exceeded US$2 billion in 2009.
Foreign direct investment continues to flow into Vietnam, which is a strong buoy for the local economy, Smith said.
“FDI will always flow to those destinations that are most reassuring to investors. Vietnam has seen a steady and rising inflow of FDI,” he said.
Smith said Vietnam had seen the overheated cash flow three years earlier, and in the past three years, the flow has been corrected. However, Vietnam still is the promising destination for the inflow of international funds in the long run, he said.
Asked to comment on the emerging problem of inflation that Vietnam is coping with, Smith said “it is always a problem, but it is better to face this problem (inflation) rather than to face the problems of slow recovery and deflations seen in many countries in the world.”
Vietnam is trying to keep its currency stable, curb inflation and ensure economic growth. However, Smith said, what mattered most should be how to make the country an attractive land for investors.
ANZ has recently appointed Dam Bich Thuy as CEO for the banking group in the Greater Mekong Sun-region as well as CEO for ANZ Vietnam. Thuy said at the press meeting that the banking group has poured US$400 million into Indochina over the past five years.