On August 18th, EuroCham hosted a special webinar on “Vietnam Economic Outlook 2020: The new normal” with our guest speaker Mr. Jacques Morisset – the World Bank’s Lead Economist and Program Leader for Vietnam.
Coronavirus, otherwise known as Covid-19, is having a significant impact on businesses and communities around the world, including here in Vietnam. This is a fast-moving and global issue. As of early July 2020, Vietnam seems to be back to normal like what we used to be before the COVID-19 pandemic. This rapid return is an obvious tribute to the government's policy that has helped to contain the virus and save lives. Although Vietnam has successfully controlled the pandemic at first, we are now facing with the second wave of the pandemic starting from Danang. Therefore, EuroCham wants to share the most up-to-date information with our members regarding these issues. About 70 people registered for this special webinar, especially by many senior leaders or large enterprises such as Mercedes-Benz Vietnam; BNP Paribas, Piaggio, B Braun…. The event was hosted by EuroCham Vice-Chair Ywert Visser.
Mr. Jacques Morisset – the World Bank’s Lead Economist and Program Leader for Vietnam opened the session with a discussion with the overview of the COVID-19 in the world which has made serious impacts on both health and economy. The number of COVID cases and deaths is growing, while the economic recession will be worldwide in 2020. Compared to many other countries, Vietnam has the very low infection rate. We have little health pains, however, we have big economic pains which can be seen in the average monthly income per person, job market, varying significantly across industries as well as regions.
Furthermore, up to early 2020, while dealing with the expansion of the pandemic, Vietnam also has to face up with the COVID-19 economic trap as our economic expansion was driven by foreign demand and local consumption.
In the search of new drivers, Vietnamese policy makers can focus on options such as opening the country, fiscal stimulus as well as smart support to private sector.
While the future is hard to predict, there is a general consensus that the world might be different in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis, following the megatrend of reshaping the global trade, contact free economy and the value of life.
Later, in the Q&A session, participants discussed issues including protectionism in technology policies to promote domestic technology, introducing technical barriers for foreign technology, the view on the impact of COVID-19 on the Banking sector or what would that mean for Vietnam in terms of establishing new partnerships and finding new suppliers.
In the end of the webinar, EuroCham Vice-Chair Ywert Visser thanked our speaker Mr. Jacques Morisset – the World Bank’s Lead Economist and Program Leader for Vietnam and all participants for joining the webinar today. During these times of COVID-19, EuroCham will continue to keep our members updated on new developments in the business environment here in Vietnam.
