The World Economic Forum’s latest global competitiveness list, released on September 27, ranked Vietnam 55th overall, up five places from last year and 20 from five years ago.

The Global Competitiveness Report 2017-18 said the country had made notable improvements in all sectors, notably among the basic requirement factors (75th out of 137), including institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic environment, health and primary education.

Higher education and training also advanced (84th), as firms perceive that the lack of an educated workforce constitute a significant hurdle to doing business. Vietnam’s competitiveness is significantly driven by its market size (31st).

Trade also propelled Vietnam upward, with the country seventh in terms of the ratio of imports to gross domestic product, the Geneva-based WEF noted in the report. The US withdrawal from the Trans Pacific Partnership may have hurt some future trade opportunities for Vietnam, but the report stated that “the country’s growth is nonetheless projected to remain robust from strong exports”.

The report suggested Vietnam also boost its competitiveness by closing gaps in innovation and sophistication factors with countries at a similar stage of development, such as the Philippines.

Source：Vietnam+