Prague (VNA) - Vietnam continues to beone of the fastest growing economies in the world, said David Jarkulisch, a diplomat from the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Hanoi.

While the world economy plunged into a deeprecession as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, Vietnam was one ofthe few countries to record positive GDP growth, he said in an article recentlypublished on the website of the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The article highlighted that Vietnam’s economic growth rate reached a remarkable2.9 percent last year, adding that continued GDP growth has turned Vietnam into the fourth largest economy in Southeast Asia, with nominal GDP of 340billion USD, surpassing Singapore (337 billion USD) and Malaysia (336 billionUSD).

The growth was driven mainly by exports and foreigninvestment, the diplomat said, adding that it was also contributed by domesticconsumption and people’s high confidence in a rapid economic recovery.

The timely prevention of the spread of the pandemic hasenabled Vietnam to keep the majority of the domestic economy running, and onlysectors related to tourism experienced a significant decline.

Government spending has also created an importantimpetus for the economy to maintain its growth. Last year, the governmentapproved a series of economic stimulus packages valued at 29.5 billion USD(about 11 percent of the national GDP).

The article pointed out that despite the economiccrisis last year, foreign investment in Vietnam totaled around 20 billion USD (approximatelythe same volume as in 2019).

Last year, the export-oriented industry was againthe main driver of the economy, the article said.  

It noted that the tourism sector was affected greatly by the pandemic, with foreign visitors dropping nearly 80 percent from more than 21 million in 2019. 

Foreign remittance also fell for the first time in 11 years to 15.7 billion USD compared to nearly 17 billion USD in 2019. However, Vietnam still remained the ninth largestrecipient of remittances in the world.

The national economy is forecast to grow significantly againthis year, ranging between 6.0-6.8 percent, and be mainly driven by thecontinuing inflow of foreign investment and robust domestic consumption, thediplomat predicted./.