To be Asia’s next tiger economy, Vietnam needs to achieve close to double-digit GDP growth 

[HO CHI MINH CITY] Vietnam’s bold push for double-digit gross domestic product growth in 2025, unveiled by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, has sparked debate over its feasibility and fuelled fresh questions about whether South-east Asia’s rising star can cement its place among East Asia’s elite tiger economies.

While the ambition aligns with the country’s vision of becoming a high-income nation by 2045, experts caution that achieving more than 10 per cent growth – something Vietnam has not accomplished at least since 1985 – may be overly optimistic.

“It probably doesn’t need to be double-digit, but it needs to approach 8 per cent for a decade to lift Vietnam to a position of permanently high income,” said Sam Korsmoe, the co-author of Vietnam: Asia’s Rising Star.