Vietnam has posted a trade turnover of US$496.30 billion for the first nine months of the year, an 11.2 percent drop over the same period in 2022, Dan Tri International is reporting. The publication notes that foreign-invested firms accounted for US$341.65 billion of said turnover whereas local firms accounted for just US$154.65 billion.
Of note: Vietnam’s growing trade turnover in recent years has been a point of national pride and pivotal to its overall rapidly growing GDP. It is, however, worth noting that this is largely driven by foreign-invested firms and this comes with inherent risks–namely that foreign firms are making the most of tax incentives and low-cost labour, both of which may be on their way out. The OECD’s Global Minimum Tax will see tax incentives vastly diminished for Korean and EU firms starting from January 2024, and increased competition for labour is already seeing wages rising considerably.