HANOI, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's strong economic performance in 2022, with GDP growth likely to reach 7.2 percent, has been driven mainly by exports, domestic demand and private investment, according to World Bank's Lead Economist and Program Leader for Vietnam Andrea Coppola.
The country's exports have been very strong in the past and shown to be resilient, including during the COVID-19 pandemic when manufacturing exports were the main driver of GDP growth, Vietnam News Agency cited Coppola as reporting on Wednesday.
Domestic consumption and retail sales were powerful engines of growth for the country in the past year. Despite being affected by rising domestic inflation going forward, domestic demand will continue to contribute positively to growth in 2023, the economist said.
Private investments also played an important role and during the first 11 months of 2022, foreign direct investment disbursements grew by 15 percent year on year.
The Vietnamese economy, however, will face strong headwinds in 2023 on both external and internal fronts, Coppola said.
In the current global context characterized by uncertainties and risks, Vietnam's policymakers have a difficult task of balancing the need to provide continued policy support to solidify the recovery with the need to contain emerging inflation and financial risks, he said.
