Vietnam President Nguyen Xuan Phuc to conclude US trip

Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc will conclude his working visit to the US today.

His visit began on September 21 to attend the 76th session of the UN General Assembly. There, the President held several bilateral talks with heads of state, including a discussion with South Korean President Moon Jae-in which resulted in Seoul’s donation of 1 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to Vietnam. Prior to this, President Nguyen visited Cuba from September 18- 20 and secured a purchase of 10 million doses of the locally made Abdala vaccine.

Diversifying vaccine supplies will help Vietnam maintain stable vaccination programs. However, challenges remain regarding accelerating vaccine rollout and assuring foreign investors of Vietnam’s capacity to curb the pandemic while preventing manufacturing supply chain disruptions.

In Q4 2020, Vietnam’s GDP rose 4.48% largely due to the growth of manufacturing exports. But the outbreak of the Delta variant has severely disrupted economic activities, including multinational corporations’ operations in the country, which has likely deteriorated investor and business confidence. Additionally, only 28% of the population has received their first doses, the lowest figure in Southeast Asia. In the long-term, Vietnam’s pandemic exit strategy will likely priorities improving vaccination capacity and appropriate measures to support manufacturing firms.