Taking Stock, December 2020 : From COVID-19 to Climate Change - How Vietnam Can Become the Champion of Green Recovery
In these early days of December 2020, most Vietnamese must wear a face mask. The cause is not only the fear of COVID-19 (coronavirus), but also of polluted air which, in the country’s major cities, is four times more polluted than the safety level...
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| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Hanoi
2021
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/521421607981204344/Taking-Stock-From-COVID-19-to-Climate-Change-How-Vietnam-Can-Become-the-Champion-of-Green-Recovery http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34961 |
| Summary: | In these early days of December 2020,
most Vietnamese must wear a face mask. The cause is not only
the fear of COVID-19 (coronavirus), but also of polluted air
which, in the country’s major cities, is four times more
polluted than the safety level recommended by international
agencies. Regrettably, even if the government has done a
superb job containing the biggest and most recent pandemic,
Vietnam is vulnerable to many health and environmental
disasters. Beyond air pollution, which is killing an
estimated 60,000 people every year, the country is exposed
to coastal erosion, drought, and saline intrusion and
landslide. The recent series of tropical storms in the
central region, with over 240 casualties and a quarter
million damaged or destroyed homes, has been another painful
reminder of this fragility. This edition of the Taking
Stock, after describing the recent trends in the Vietnamese
economy, asks why Vietnam has not been as effective in
dealing with environmental and climate challenges as with
the COVID-19 crisis, which are arguably different but have
also many similarities. The successful experience in
implementing the right measures at the right time during the
COVID-19 crisis deserves more attention as it can inspire
policymakers in their commitment to address the
environmental and climate challenges. First, the successful
management of the pandemic has demonstrated (again) that it
is better to be ready and to act early and boldly. Second,
beyond vision and capacity, the ability to inspire
experimentation and innovation is an effective way to change
individual and collective behaviors, which is fundamental in
the effort to cope with health and climate threats. By all
standards, Vietnam has managed the COVID 19 crisis very
well. The number of infections and deaths has been minimal,
with few community infections since mid-September. Despite
strict social distancing measures and an unprecedented
global recession, Vietnam’s economy is expected to grow at
2.8 percent in 2020. Although this performance is about 4.2
percentage points lower than the country’s recent
performance, Vietnam will remain in positive growth
territory, while the world economy is expected to contract
by at least 4 percent. In East Asia, only two other
countries—China and Myanmar—are expected to report positive
GDP growth this year. Vietnam’s economic resilience is
explained by the behavior of both its domestic economy and
its externalsector. After three weeks of national lockdown
in April, most industrial and service activities rebounded
as domestic consumers and investors regained confidence. Not
only has the private sector reacted positively to the
gradual easing of social distancing and mobility measures,
but the government has changed the course of its fiscal
policy to support the recovery. After three years of fiscal
consolidation, the authorities acted decisively and
accelerated the disbursement of the public investment
program, which increased by about 40 percent between January
and September compared to the same period a year ago.
Concurrently, like most central banks, the accommodative
monetary policy and temporary financial relief measures of
the State Bank of Vietnam provides breathing space to
affected businesses and people. |
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