Vietnam
Economic and trade overview
Key figuresEconomy 2011 Trade 2011 (USD billion)
GDP (USD) 124 bn Goods Exports 97
GDP per capita (USD) 1,392 Imports 97
GDP volume growth (year-on-year) + 5.9% Net Ø
Population 88.79m Services Exports 9
Refinancing rate (end period) 15.00% Imports 12
Exchange rate VND / USD (year average) 20.510 Net – 3
BoP (goods, services & income) as % of GDP – 6.8% Source: IFS, IMF, January 2013International/Regional memberships
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
(APEC): since 14–15 November 1998.
Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN): since 28 July 1995.
International Monetary Fund (IMF):
since 21 September 1956.
World Trade Organization (WTO):
since 11 January 2007.Government trade policy
Vietnam pursues many of its trade objectives
through its membership of ASEAN
(www.aseansec.org).
As a member of ASEAN, Vietnam is
committed to the ASEAN Free Trade Area
(AFTA) Common Effective PreferentialTariff (CEPT) scheme. This lowers all intra-
regional tariffs on trade between Vietnam and
ASEAN member states (Brunei Darussalam,
Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand
and Vietnam) to between zero and 5 percent.
Six ASEAN states (not including Vietnam)
have eliminated all intra-regional tariffs
between them. All ASEAN member states
are expected to eliminate their remaining
tariffs by 2012.
ASEAN member states have a number of
free trade agreements (FTAs) with regional
economies such as South Korea, China,
Japan, India, and Australia and New
Zealand. ASEAN is also in negotiations for
an FTA with the EU.Currency and exchange controls
Official currency: Vietnamese dong (VND).
Exchange rate arrangement: managed float.
Vietnam imposes exchange controls, which are
administered by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV
— http://www.sbv.gov.vn).
The SBV permits authorised credit
institutions to enter into forward and swap
transactions between the VND and foreign
currency with maturities of between three
days and one year. Individuals must declare to Vietnamese
customs authorities the import or export of
domestic currency banknotes worth more
than VND 15 million and foreign currency
banknotes in excess of USD 5,000.
Permission is required from the SBV for
financial institutions wishing to import foreign
currency in excess of USD 5,000 or its
foreign currency equivalent.
For resident entities, all proceeds originating
from current transactions must be repatriated
immediately.