Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam has been always very good attaking advantage of crisis to accelerate reforms and move faster and  grow better, Jacques Morisset, World BankLead Economist and ProgrammeLeader for Vietnam,has said.

In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA), Morissetexplained why the WB Bank has recognised Vietnam as one of the most successfulemerging economies, apart from China, India, Malaysia and Thailand, in itslatest report.

He said during the 2010-2019 period, economy growth rate inVietnam has been the second fastest in the world, behind China. Not onlyVietnam has been growing very fast, but it has also been creating many productsand jobs.

And this explains why Vietnam has been very successful, he noted.

Morisset said Vietnam has done two things very good, with thefirst being agriculture, adding that during the 1990-2000 period, Vietnam hasbeen able to multiply agriculture productivity - a revolution of the country.

The second lies with the opening of the economy to manufacturingand FDI enterprises, according to the WB expert.

Since the early 2000s, new businesses have come to Vietnam,creating millions of jobs, including new, more productive and better paid ones,Morisset said.

Regarding the COVID-19 outbreak, Morisset said he himself and manygovernments and multinationals believe that the pandemic crisis gives anopportunity for Vietnam to attract more foreign investors.

“A perception that many multinationals will need to diversifybecause of the crisis, and Vietnam is clearly a country that can host more FDI,so that would be the first opportunity,” he further said.

Speaking of digitalisation, he said Vietnam has been a bit slow indeveloping digitalisation. It was too difficult or impossible to pay by phone,and most of the government procedures have been carried out on papers.

But the crisis would accelerate the need and the reform to moredigitalisation in Vietnam, the expert said.

The Vietnamese government has been implementing many new reformsto digitalise, including the building of e-government, he said, adding that interms of digitalisation in the financial system, the Vietnamese government isgearing towards an e-payment system.

“It means that hopefully in next few months, most of Vietnamesewill be able to use the phone for payment, which will be a big change comparedto the situation before the COVID-19 crisis,” the expert said.

The pandemic has also proven the significance of informationsharing, he said, adding that the Vietnamese Government has shared a lot ofdetailed information about COVID-19 transparently and effectively via themedia. 

Vietnam is already on the radar screen of many investors.Investors are coming to the country and the pandemic crisis has been helping itto attract more investors, he emphasised, commending Vietnam’s initialsuccesses in containing the virus, with low rates of both infections andfatalities.

Except Da Nang that is focusing on fighting the disease, othermajor cities in Vietnam have maintained their normal activities, showing theworld that Vietnam has been an attractive place for investment.

Morisset suggested Vietnam balance the opening and closure of theborder amidst the pandemic outbreak, and seek ways to attract good investorswho create jobs, provide technologies, train Vietnamese workers and work withmajor suppliers.

“That is good to make difference to Vietnam,” he said.

In addition, the Vietnamese government should consider spendingmore and better in public investment, and further support people and businessesmost affected by the pandemic, he said, adding that such sectors as tourism,garment-textile and footwear need assistance.

According to the expert, e-commerce and digitalisation will thriveduring and after the crisis. /.