Vietnam’s foreign exchange reserves seen at record $70 billion Vietnam 2019 GDP growth likely to beat current target HANOI: Vietnam’s economic growth this year is expected to surpass the government’s target range of 6.6 percent-6.8 percent, President Nguyen Phu Trong said, as the country benefits from the trade war between the US and China. The size of Vietnam’s gross domestic product will be above $266 billion this year, Trong, who is also the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, said late Saturday at the end of a week-long meeting of the party. The Southeast Asian country has one of the region’s fastest-growing economies, with robust exports and foreign investment delivering average economic growth of 6.55 percent over the past five years. “Macroeconomic stability has been maintained, while inflation has been kept below the target set by the National Assembly,” Trong said in a statement posted on the party’s official website. Trong said Vietnam’s foreign exchange reserves have exceeded $70 billion, a record for the country, adding that exports will likely rise 8% this year. Vietnam’s economic growth quickened to 7.31 percent in the third quarter year-on-year from an expansion of 6.73 percent in the second quarter, according to government data. The General Statistics Office said in August it would revise the size of Vietnam’s GDP by 25.4 percent for the 2011-2017 period, saying that recent strong private sector growth had not been fully reflected in its statistical data. “In 2020, (Vietnam) will continue to consolidate its macroeconomic stability, keep inflation under control and enhance the productivity, quality and competitiveness of the economy,” Trong said. Trong also said he will continue a widespread corruption crackdown that he has presided over in recent years which has resulted in several high-ranking ministers and politicians, including one Politburo member, being handed prison terms on charges ranging from embezzlement to economic mismanagement. Though touted as a beneficiary of the trade spat between Washington and Beijing, Vietnam has capacity issues which constrain it, including underdeveloped infrastructure, a lack of skilled labor and an imminent power shortage.