Vietnam will maintain strong economic growth in the next 2 years.

In a report titled "The Breakthrough Journey: Transition to Electric Vehicles in Vietnam" released on March 12, the World Bank (WB) forecasts Vietnam's economic growth at 6.8% in 2025 and 6.5% in 2026.

The World Bank believes that promoting the transition to electric vehicles is an important step towards the goal of reducing emissions, creating economic development opportunities across the entire value chain. (Source: VTV)

At a press conference to announce the report, Ms. Mariam J. Sherman, World Bank Country Director for Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, said: "Vietnam is forecast to maintain strong economic growth in the next two years, however, the country can use its fiscal space to better prepare for increased uncertainties."

Public investment to drive growth, especially in urban infrastructure, transport and energy, will be crucial provided the government can scale up and ensure efficient spending, Ms. Sherman said.

The report also said that increased uncertainty due to trade policy adjustments and escalating trade tensions could negatively affect Vietnam's manufacturing exports, industrial output and economic growth.

Therefore, to cope with increasing instability, the WB recommends that Vietnam needs to implement strategies to maintain growth.

The strategy includes boosting public investment, addressing weaknesses in the financial sector, enhancing the resilience of the energy sector and promoting structural reforms.

The agency added that boosting public investment and the rapid recovery of the real estate market - thanks to accelerated site clearance progress - could help boost domestic demand and mitigate the impact from external risks.

The WB also sees promoting the transition to electric vehicles as an important step for the S-shaped country to move towards its goal of reducing emissions, while creating economic development opportunities across the entire value chain.

In 2021, emissions from the transport sector were 32.9 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent CO2e, about 7.2% of the country's total greenhouse gas emissions.

To achieve its goal of net zero emissions by 2050, Vietnam will need to prioritize vehicle electrification.

Switching to electric vehicles (EVs) could reduce net emissions by 2.2 million tonnes of CO2e by 2050, even with the current grid.

At the same time, this transition trend could also help the Southeast Asian country create up to 6.5 million jobs by 2050, especially in battery manufacturing and charging infrastructure development.

The WB report recommends that Vietnam implement strong safety standards, encourage the use of high-efficiency batteries, expand charging and battery swapping stations, and introduce financing options and preferential prices to offset upfront costs, among other ways.

"Vietnam needs to prepare its power system to meet growing electricity demand and establish a fast-charging network in the next decade," the WB report stated.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/wb-viet-nam-se-duy-tri-tang-truong-kinh-te-manh-me-trong-2-nam-toi-307319.html