Viet Nam
Quick Facts
| Population | 96 million (2017) |
| GDP at PPP (current international dollars) | 647 billion (2017) |
| GDP per capita at PPP (current international dollars) | 6,776 (2017) |
View GMS contacts.
Viet Nam has worked with its GMS partners to increase the productivity of its agriculture sector. The country has prioritized critical reforms that have resulted in steady growth in agricultural output, making Viet Nam the second largest exporter of rice in the world. As in other GMS countries, rural transport and market access have also improved agricultural and rural livelihoods.
Viet Nam seeks to develop its energy resources with better transparency, competition and economic efficiency in order to attract private investment, which will complement public sector investments, and ensure energy supply security for its rapidly growing domestic demand. Viet Nam has worked with its GMS neighbors to benefit from power trading arrangements being developed in the subregion, and on information sharing regarding the exploration, production, and transmission of energy resources. Viet Nam is also expanding electricity access to rural and remote areas, and boosting the share of renewable energy to total energy supply.
Similar to other fast-growing GMS economies, Viet Nam has had to respond to growing pressures on its environment and natural resources. The Government has enacted legislation and launched programs to mitigate the environmental impacts of urban expansion. Viet Nam, in coordination with its GMS partners, has invested in tree planting programs that are showing results in terms slowing the loss of forest cover.
With a large rural and young population that is in need of skills development and training, Viet Nam is seeking to train 27.5 million workers – including 10 million rural workers – by 2020. In coordination with its GMS partners, Viet Nam is focusing efforts on poverty reduction and gender mainstreaming in order to help vulnerable workers benefit from national training programs. As part of its national human resources development work, the country is also strengthening its emphasis on protecting migrant workers, both domestically and across borders.
Viet Nam is sharing knowledge with its GMS partners to develop its fixed and mobile telecommunications systems, as well as Internet service. To promote competition and universal access, the country is promoting more transparent telecommunications licensing procedures and fees (in line with its subregional neighbors), and efficient government regulations. Viet Nam takes part in GMS training programs designed to increase the expertise of officials across the subregion.
Making trade and investment easier between GMS countries is a key priority for Viet Nam. The country has worked with its subregional partners to harmonize and simplify trade and investment procedures.
Viet Nam is a vital link in the emerging subregional transport system of the GMS. It is home to key sections of major GMS corridors, such as the Ho Chi Minh City-Phnom Penh Highway, the East-West Transport Corridor, the Kunming-Haiphong Transport Corridor, and the Southern Coastal Corridor. The country has also embarked on the construction of major expressways to enhance its overall transport efficiency. Viet Nam also hosts important maritime links via its ports. Viet Nam’s fast-growing economy has been a strong contributor to the development of GMS economic corridors that have benefited its own people, and the citizens of neighboring countries.
MANILA, PHILIPPINES (31 October 2012) - The Asian Development Bank is providing $20 million in grants and loans to support Lao People's Democratic Republic and Viet Nam prevent the spread of HIV infections in 23 border provinces where risks are growing due to increased population movement and commercial activities along economic corridors.
The Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Program, with support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and other development partners, has scored impressive gains in promoting regional connectivity over the past 2 decades.
Trade facilitation of agri-food products can potentially reduce trade barriers, lower transaction costs, foster efficiency along the supply chains, and reduce poverty in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS).
This collection of images illustrates the progress and challenges of 20 years of work in the Greater Mekong Subregion.
The Ninth Meeting of the GMS Working Group on Agriculture (WGA-9) was held in Nanning, Guangxi, People's Republic of China, on 4-6 July 2012, with the theme "Innovative Financing through Public Private Partnership (PPP) for Regional Investment in Low Carbon Agriculture in the GMS". The Meeting was organized and sponsored by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) with the cooperation of the Ministry of Agriculture, PRC, and attended by participants from the six GMS countries (Cambodia, People's Republic of China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam), and ADB.
With increasing fuel demand projected for the Greater Mekong Subregion, biofuels could make a significant contribution to offsetting oil demand and to increased agricultural and rural incomes.
The establishment of cross-border economic zones in the border areas of the People's Republic of China and its neighboring countries in the Greater Mekong Subregion has recently emerged as a strategy for further promoting trade and investments in the subregion. Unlike a border economic zone (BEZ), which is confined within the national territory, a CBEZ is an economic zone traversing a transnational area and requiring a unified set of policies and incentives in such areas as finance, taxation, investment, trade, and customs regulation.
Using the case study of Viet Nam to draw implications for GMS cooperation, this paper investigates how users and providers of financial services in the border-gate areas see financial services as a factor of cross-border trade facilitation. It also examines how users and providers of financial services perceive the different dimensions of financial service accessibility and how accessibility affects customers' decisions to use financial services in the border-gate areas.
Border-gate economic zones (BEZs) are symbols of the increased cross-border exchange and the development initiative of the border areas in the Greater Mekong Subregion. Over the past decade, BEZs have been able to attract a great number of women workers seeking new job opportunities.
The Fifteenth Meeting of the Subregional Transport Forum (STF-15) was held in Vientiane, Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), on 14–15 September 2011. The Forum was jointly organized by the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MPWT), Lao PDR and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).