How foreign direct investment is facilitating Vietnam's economic expansion

Since it overheated in 2011, following a four-year bull phase that was characterised by expensive equities and an overvalued currency, the Vietnamese economy has been turned around in classic monetary and fiscal fashion.

In 2015, third quarter GDP growth was over 9%, contrasting with other parts of Asia where the global slowdown has hurt manufacturing and growth trajectories. In recent years, the government has embarked on reforms to position itself as a low cost manufacturing base, predicated on the fact that labour costs are extremely low (currently half that of China's). Additionally, opening up the economy has attracted significant amounts of foreign direct investment (FDI), which has accelerated in recent years, exemplified by Samsung, the smartphone behemoth, which has now invested a cumulative ...