Discussant Paper
Comment on “Vietnam: Surprising Resilience but Challenges Ahead” Sudarshan Gooptu
The authors have carefully reviewed the structural transformation that took place in Vietnam over the past two decades until the global crisis in 2008. They appropriately discussed how the Vietnamese economy was affected by the crisis in spite of the government’s sustained and comprehensive policy reforms. These reforms included an “open-door policy to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) and trade liberalization,” which was instrumental in creating a “growing and dynamic private sector.” The country achieved remarkable poverty alleviation, with the total poverty incidence falling from 58 percent in 1993 to 16 percent by 2006. Literacy and life expectancy were rising and the under-five mortality rate was declining. A stable macroeconomic environment and high GDP growth seemed likely to continue—until 2008. This backward-looking part of the article is highly informative and contains a rich analysis of key economic variables and a lucid, though brief, discussion of the immediate impact of the fiscal stimulus implemented post-2008.
Sudarshan Gooptu is Sector Manager, Economic Policy and Debt Department, Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Network, World Bank.
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