ETYMOLOGY

"Viet" was a pronunciation of a Chinese word for "far", which described a nomadic (wandering
hunter) people in that region of Asia.
"Nam" means South

Therefore, Vietnam means "Viet (ethnic) people of the South.

The name Viet Nam is a variation of "Nam Viet“, a name that can be traced back to the Trieu
dynasty of the 2nd century B.C.

Nam Viet, (Vietnamese), Chinese (Wade-Giles romanization) Nan Yüeh or (Pinyin) Nan Yue,
ancient kingdom occupying much of what is now northern Vietnam and the southern Chinese
provinces of Kwangtung and Kwangsi.

"Annam", which originated as a Chinese name in the seventh century, was the country’s
common name during the colonial period.

The term Vietnam dates from the early 19th century, when the Nguyen dynasty was founded,
headed by Emperor Gia Long

Nationalist writer Phan Boi Chau revived the name "Vietnam" in the early 20th century. When
rival communist and anti-communist governments were set up in 1945, both immediately
adopted this as the country's official name.

ECONOMIC GOVERNANCE

Socialist Republic of Vietnam is an agro-industrial state

Meaning the large-scale production, processing, and packaging of food using modern
equipment and methods.

The Vietnamese economy is one of the fastest growing among Asian countries. The average
annual GDP growth rate is about 6.5% which together with stable population growth and an
increase in prosperity makes Vietnam an attractive market in the long term. The level of GDP
for 2021 reached more than 352 billion US dollars.

Agriculture (including forestry and fishing) remains an important area of the country's economic
life. It employs about 40% of the economically active resources, and 65% of the population lives
in rural area. The services market is actively developing. It accounted for 30% of the country's
GDP.
Textiles and Garments

Textiles consistently rank among Vietnam’s leading export industries, with over 6000 textiles
and garments manufacturing companies, employing upwards of 2.5 million workers. The
growth of the garment industry has been impressive and plays an important role in the
economic growth of the country. In 2020, Vietnam surpassed Bangladesh to become the
world’s second largest exporter of ready made garments (RMG). Further, the industry had an
export market share of 7.05 percent in 2020, an increase from 5.54 percent of 2016.

China is the only nation that surpasses Vietnam in terms of net garment exports to the US.
However, manufacturers and investors are pivoting towards Vietnam; the conditions for setting
up shop are more economically convenient than doing so in China.

Within ASEAN, Vietnam is the strongest competitor for inheriting low value-added textiles and
apparel manufacturing from China. In contrast to other leading textile exporters in the region
(Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia), the share of Vietnam’s textile exports against its total exports
has grown in recent years.

Electronics

Vietnam has emerged as an important electronics exporter, with electrical and electronic
products overtaking coffee, textiles, and rice to become the country’s top export item. Samsung
is Vietnam’s largest exporter and has helped the country achieve a trade surplus for the first
time in many years.

Exports of smartphones and computer parts now account for more in export earnings than oil
and garments. Samsung has turned Vietnam into a global manufacturing base for its products,
producing almost a third of the firm’s output. Samsung has invested over US$17.5 billion into
the country as of 2021.

Samsung has also agreed to cooperate with the Vietnamese government in order to help
develop the country’s domestic support industries. This represents a key business opportunity
for foreign technology companies to set up operations in Vietnam and sell their components to
companies like Samsung.

Pharmaceuticals
The future looks to be very interesting for the pharmaceutical industry in Vietnam. Vietnam’s
pharmaceutical market is projected to increase to US$7.7 billion in 2021 and US$16.1 billion in
2026. Driving this market growth is the Vietnamese government’s goal of achieving universal
health coverage, combined with a growing market of consumers who want accessible
healthcare.

As per IQVIA (2021), as of 2020, the volume size for the industry was US$6.4 billion. Across the
country, there are around 250 manufacturing factories, 200 import-export units, 4,300
wholesalers, and another 62,000 retailers catering to the pharmaceutical industry.

Automotive

Vietnam is becoming an important market for auto sales: the Vietnamese automobile market is
expected to sell 1.7-1.85 million units by 2035. In the foreseeable future, an estimated 750,000-
800,000 units are expected to be sold by 2025.

Although the nation’s rate of car ownership per capita is still much lower than other markets in
Asia (only around 5.7 percent of Vietnamese households owned a car in 2020), Vietnam is still
one of the countries with the fastest-growing purchasing power for personal cars over the past
ten years. 9 percent of Vietnamese households are expected to own a car by 2025 – equivalent
to the current level of India and the Philippines. By 2030, car ownership will reach 30 percent.
Tax reductions on imported cars and increased income are attributed to the growth.

Despite an increasingly competitive auto market throughout the ASEAN region, Vietnam has
stated that it intends to work aggressively to build up its own domestic auto industry. Among
the key reasons for this goal is that the auto industry has the potential to create thousands of
jobs for locals and create a strong system of supporting industries.

Additionally, Vietnamese automakers, such as VinFast have also started launching some first
automobile models to the foreign market, signaling a promising future of cars exported from
Vietnam.

Coffee

Vietnam is currently, the world’s second-largest coffee exporter, behind only Brazil. In 2021, the
export value for Vietnam’s coffee reached US$3.1 billion. The industry plays an important role
in Vietnam’s agriculture economy and is an export oriented industry with more than 90 percent
of production volume exported. To increase its value, the government has been promoting the
shift from exporting beans to processed coffee.

Many experts believe that Vietnam has the potential to overtake Brazil due to its favorable
climate conditions and lower-cost production.

E-commerce

Vietnam is quickly becoming a prime market for foreign investment in e-commerce activities.
The country’s rapidly growing economy and middle class are, in turn, spawning a strong
consumer culture and increasing levels of disposable income. The pandemic has accentuated
the demand for electronic retail as delivery, ride-sharing, and e-wallets gradually become a
norm for the Vietnamese, especially among the youth.

Vietnam’s e-commerce business increased by 18 percent to US$11.8 billion in 2020, making it

the only country in Southeast Asia to observe double-digit growth during the pandemic. This
opens a booming outlook for the country’s e-commerce growth.

Being a signatory to 13 FTAs, Vietnam also provides favorable conditions for investors to start a
business in e-commerce with reduced or zero customs tariffs on commodities imported or
exported from other countries.

Vietnam's accession to ASEAN and the WTO allowed the country to strengthen its integration
into the world economy and accelerate the pace of improving investment legislation, and a
long-term policy aimed at improving conditions and guarantees for investors created a stable
investment structure that made Vietnam one of the most attractive countries for foreign
capital.

PHIL-VIETNAM

The Philippines–Vietnam relations refers to the bilateral relations of the Republic of the
Philippines and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Since the end of the Cold War, relations
between the two countries have warmed significantly. Vietnam is sometimes referred to as the
only communist military ally of the Philippines.

Both nations have cooperated in the fields of education, tourism, agriculture, aquaculture,
trade, and defense.

On July 9, 1976, Vietnam Deputy Foreign Minister Phan Hien arrived in Manila to discuss the
formal establishment of ties between the two countries. On July 12, 1976, formal relations
were finally established with the Philippines the fourth country in the ASEAN to establish
relations with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam after Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. The
Philippines and Vietnam opened their respective embassies in 1978.

Despite Vietnam's alignment with the Soviet Union and the Philippines with the United States
during the Cold War, bilateral ties between the two countries can be recently described as
friendly.

On October 26, 2011, Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang made a state visit to the
Philippines where he met with his Filipino counterpart, President Benigno Aquino III. The two
countries signed four agreements on naval, coast guard and tourism as part of the Philippine-
Vietnam Action Plan 2011–2016 framework. A Memorandum of Understanding agreement
supported information sharing between the Philippine Navy and the Vietnam People's Navy.

Dispute in the South China Sea

The Philippines and Vietnam have territorial disputes over the Spratly Islands, among with
Brunei, China, Malaysia, and Taiwan. The Philippines and Vietnam both disapprove of China's
nine-dash map which China uses as justification for its claim in the South China Sea.