Certificates recognising strong ASEAN brands presented to their winners at the ceremony. Photo: VNA

The Asia Business Centre and Vietnam-Malaysia Business Association (VMBIZ) co-organised a Vietnam-ASEAN economic cooperation forum and a ceremony awarding strong brands, outstanding leaders, and quality services and products of ASEAN in Malaysia on April 22, VNA reported Sunday.

At the event, 15 products and services, 20 businessmen, and more than 80 enterprises were honored. Vietnamese firms named among strong ASEAN brands included L.Q Joton Joint Stock Company; Nam A Commercial Joint Stock Bank; Viet Tiep Crystal Company Limited; Phuong Dong General Hospital; and EDH Technology Development JSC, to name just a few.

Addressing the forum, Andrew Goh Boon Kim, vice chairman of the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) under the country’s National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCIM), recommended Vietnamese and Malaysian companies capitalize on their strategic advantages to expand their reach and strengthen their position in the ASEAN region.

He pledged efforts to further promote economic collaboration between Malaysia and Vietnam, saying that cooperation between the two countries and in the ASEAN region will bring about common and long-term development.

Hambali Mukhlas, chairman of the NCCIM International Business Committee, informed participating firms about Malaysia’ Halal certification. He also witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the VNBIZ and Asia Business Centre on implementing the issuance of Halal certification in the Vietnamese market.

The forum and the award ceremony are held annually on a rotational basis in Southeast Asian countries, presenting an opportunity for Vietnamese and ASEAN businesses to exchange, cooperate, connect, and develop together.

Vietnam-ASEAN economic cooperation forum underway in Malaysia.

Vietnam’s GDP is projected to grow 5.8% this year, sharing the second position with Cambodia in the region, only after the Philippines, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Notably, Vietnam’s public debt is expected to stay at the lowest as compared with eight other ASEAN member countries, the fund said.

The fund also forecasts that Vietnam’s GDP growth will rebound to 6.9% in 2024, the highest in Southeast Asia, and its public debt will fall to 31.3% of the national GDP in 2028 from the record 47.5% in 2016. The debt-to-GDP ratio in 2028 will be the lowest within two decades.

In terms of inflation, the lender said it will reach 5% and 3% in 2023 and 2024, respectively.

Over the past time, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has constantly cut regulatory interest rates, paving the way for credit institutions to reduce their lending interest rates, thus spurring economic growth.

Experts described the central bank’s reductions as flexible and timely and expected that 12-month deposit interest rates will hover around 7% and lending interest rates, at 10%.

Last month, a delegation of the SBV, led by its Deputy Governor Pham Tien Dung, attended the ASEAN Central Bank Governors’ Meeting, the ASEAN Finance Ministers’ and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting, and related events in Bali, Indonesia.

These were the most important events chaired by Bank Indonesia (BI) and the Indonesian Ministry of Finance within the framework of the ASEAN financial and monetary cooperation in 2023 when the nation holds the ASEAN Chairmanship.

With the theme “ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth” for the ASEAN Year 2023, the BI and Finance Ministry of Indonesia informed some focuses of regional financial and banking cooperation, namely reconstruction, digital economy, and sustainable development.

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