10 outstanding economic events in 2024: Super 'eagles' come to Vietnam

The year 2024 passed with many unpredictable developments in the world's political and economic situation, as well as difficulties in the country. The "super typhoon" Yagi hit, causing huge damage to the economy, leaving many consequences for the northern localities. Overcoming everything, the economy in 2024 continued to recover positively, each month better than the previous month, each quarter higher than the previous quarter. The annual growth is estimated at over 7%, with 15/15 main targets expected to reach and exceed the plan set by the Central Government and the National Assembly. This is an important premise for the economy to accelerate in 2025. The year 2025 is of special significance, a year of acceleration, breakthrough, and finishing, the final year of implementing the 5-year Socio-Economic Development Plan 2021-2025 and preparing and consolidating the fundamental factors, creating a premise for our country to confidently enter a new era - the era of national prosperity and prosperity. In 2024, FDI capital will continue to pour into Vietnam, possibly reaching 40 billion USD, ranking among the top 15 developing countries attracting the largest FDI in the world . More notable than ever is the appearance of the world's leading corporations, especially in the technology sector. That is the return of billionaire Jensen Huang in early December, along with the decision of the world's largest chip corporation Nvidia to choose Vietnam to build the third artificial intelligence (AI) research center in the world , after the US and Taiwan (China), or Google also chose Vietnam as a place to expand its strategy... SpaceX of billionaire Elon Musk also revealed its intention to invest 1.5 billion USD in Vietnam. Trump's Trump Organization will invest a similar amount of money in Hung Yen.

In November, Apple supplier Foxconn announced an $80 million investment in chip manufacturing in Bac Giang province, while billionaire Mark Zuckerberg's Meta plans to expand its production of virtual reality devices. Instead of just absorbing money into manufacturing and assembly like many years ago, Vietnam is expected to quickly become an important part of the global technology world. This trend is becoming more evident as the US is about to have a new president, Mr. Donald Trump, with the possibility of many policy changes, which could promote the trend of shifting production to Vietnam. With this trend, Vietnam can grow more sustainably, faster, and reduce its dependence on the real estate sector.

In 2024, with efforts to overcome a series of difficulties and challenges, the agricultural sector will not only firmly ensure national food security, but also set a historic record of 62.4 billion USD in agricultural, forestry and fishery exports, an increase of 18.5% compared to 2023. The trade surplus also reached a new record of 18.6 billion USD. Notably, many agricultural export products set new records. For example, coffee exports broke all previous historical records, earning 5.5 billion USD in 2024 despite a decrease in output. For the first time, the price of Vietnamese Robusta coffee is the most expensive in the world, while the price of green coffee in the domestic market recorded a peak of 134,000 VND/kg, helping farmers earn billions of dollars. With an export volume of 9.01 million tons, earning nearly 5.8 billion USD, our country's rice industry also set a record in both output and value. In particular, Vietnam has become the first country in the world to produce high-quality, low-emission rice on a large scale of 1 million hectares. Vietnam's cashew nut export turnover reached 4.3 billion USD for the first time, while maintaining its position as the world's number 1 cashew nut exporter for nearly 2 decades. 2024 is also the year when fruit and vegetable exports set a record of 7.2 billion USD, far exceeding the 5.6 billion USD of 2023. Of which, durian reached 3.5 billion USD - the highest level in history.

For the first time in decades, a Vietnamese car brand has officially risen to No. 1 in the market - a position that many foreign car brands have taken turns holding. VinFast announced that it had delivered more than 11,000 electric cars of all kinds to customers in October 2024, bringing the cumulative total to more than 51,000 units, officially becoming the No. 1 best-selling car brand in the Vietnamese market in the first 10 months of the year.

The event that VinFast became the best-selling car brand in Vietnam is an important milestone, a turning point for the domestic automobile industry. In just 5 years of entering the market, VinFast has not only affirmed its solid position but also officially surpassed foreign car brands to capture the largest market share. Notably, VinFast is also the first electric car brand to surpass rival gasoline car brands after only 2 years of switching to pure electric to become the market leading brand. This figure also shows the fact that Vietnamese enterprises have truly produced and mastered the automobile industry. From another perspective, Vietnamese consumers are also very active in green conversion.

On the afternoon of November 30, 2024, the National Assembly voted to pass the Law on Electricity (amended). The National Assembly also voted to pass the resolution of the 8th session with 100% of delegates in favor and many important contents. In particular, the National Assembly resolved to continue implementing the investment policy of the Ninh Thuan nuclear power project. The Government was assigned to urgently direct the allocation of resources to implement according to the conclusions of competent authorities; study and amend relevant laws, including the Law on Atomic Energy. On August 29, Vietnam Electricity (EVN) and the National Power Transmission Corporation (EVNNPT) held the inauguration ceremony of the 500 kV transmission line project from Quang Trach (Quang Binh) to Pho Noi (Hung Yen). This is a key and urgent project, playing a particularly important role in national energy security.

Increasing steadily over the months, the number of international visitors to Vietnam exploded in 2024, with 17.5 million arrivals, an increase of 38.9% over the same period last year. Domestic visitors are estimated at 110 million arrivals. Total revenue from tourists in 2024 reached VND 840,000 billion, an increase of 23.8% over the same period in 2023. Tourism is a bright spot in the country's economic picture, spreading to many other industries and fields. The largest contribution comes from the Asian market, with nearly 80% of the total number of visitors. Of which, the four major markets in Northeast Asia alone, including China, Korea, Taiwan (China), and Japan, account for nearly 60%. Thus, this year, international visitors to Vietnam increased by nearly 5 million arrivals (from 12.6 million arrivals in 2023 to 17.5 million arrivals). The above results were achieved thanks to Vietnam's improved visa policy, the recovery of the world and domestic economies, and increased demand for tourism.

From July 1, 2024, individual electronic money transfers with a value of over VND 10 million or a total value of electronic money transfers in a day exceeding VND 20 million must apply one of the biometric authentication measures. According to reports from credit institutions, the number of cases of customers being scammed and losing money in August 2024 decreased by about 50% compared to the average number of cases in the first 7 months of 2024; the number of accounts receiving fraudulent money also decreased by about 72% compared to the average number of cases in the first 7 months of 2024. On January 18, the 15th National Assembly passed the draft Law on Credit Institutions (amended). The Law also stipulates that shareholders owning 1% or more of charter capital must disclose information to credit institutions; reduce the share ownership ratio of institutional shareholders and groups of shareholders and related persons in credit institutions. Specifically, an individual shareholder may not own shares exceeding 5% of the charter capital of a credit institution (unchanged); an organizational shareholder may not own shares exceeding 10% (previously 15%) of the charter capital of a credit institution. A shareholder and his/her related persons may not own shares exceeding 15% of the charter capital of a credit institution. At the same time, a major shareholder of a credit institution and his/her related persons may not own shares of 5% or more of the charter capital of another credit institution.

In 2024, two of the four "zero dong" banks, OceanBank and CBBank, were compulsorily transferred to MB and Vietcombank since October 17, according to the plan approved by the Government. The remaining two banks, GPBank and Dong A Bank, are being submitted to competent authorities for early approval in 2024. The compulsory transfer aims to gradually restore normal operations, overcome weaknesses, and gradually turn OceanBank and CBBank into banks with healthy financial status, ensuring the ability to operate continuously. After the compulsory transfer, the legitimate rights of depositors and customers at the two banks are guaranteed in accordance with the agreement and regulations of the law; the service activities of the two banks are guaranteed to be smooth and continuous.

The year 2024 witnessed a sharp increase in the price of gold in the world market, at one point the price of SJC gold exceeded 92 million VND/tael. The difference between domestic and world gold prices reached nearly 20 million VND/tael. The price of gold rings also continuously reached peaks, at times reaching 88 million VND/tael. In this situation, the Government directed the State Bank to implement many measures to stabilize the gold market. In order to stabilize the gold market, the State Bank resumed the auction of SJC gold bars from April 22. This is the first time in 11 years that the operator has resumed the auction of gold bars.

After 9 auctions with 48,500 taels of SJC gold bars (equivalent to more than 1.8 tons) sold to bidding members (including gold trading companies and credit institutions), since June 4, the State Bank has changed its method of stabilizing the gold market by directly selling gold bars to people through SJC Company and 4 state-owned commercial banks (Agribank, BIDV, VietinBank, Vietcombank). Through this new intervention measure, the gap between domestic and world gold prices has narrowed significantly, to only 3-5 million VND, depending on the time. The State Bank has also proposed amending Decree 24 on gold market management to suit reality, prevent the goldification of the economy and prevent gold price fluctuations from affecting exchange rates, inflation and macroeconomic stability.

In 2024, many land auctions took place that lasted for many hours, were suspenseful and intense, the winning price was dozens of times higher than the starting price, and many people paid high prices and then abandoned their deposits. Notably, the auction of 19 plots of land in Tien Yen commune, Hoai Duc district (Hanoi) caused a "shock" when it lasted all night, nearly 19 hours. In the end, the highest winning price reached 133.3 million VND/m2, 30 times higher than the starting price. Or the auction of 58 plots of land in Quang Tien commune, Soc Son district (Hanoi) that took place on November 29 caused a stir in public opinion when a participant bid over 30 billion VND/m2. But in the final round to determine the winning price, this person did not bid, causing the auction to fail. Those who bid 30 billion VND/m2 in that auction were prosecuted, prosecuted and temporarily detained by Hanoi City Police. Faced with unusual developments in the auctions, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh issued a telegram requesting relevant ministries and localities to rectify and strictly handle violations in land use rights auctions, and prevent acts of taking advantage of auctions for personal gain and disrupting the market.

Economic Department - VietNamNet

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/10-su-kien-kinh-te-noi-bat-nam-2024-sieu-dai-bang-den-viet-nam-2357226.html