[ti:Vietnam’s Economic Hopes Fade as COVID-19 Takes Away Business] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]Vietnamese officials have lowered expectations for their country's [00:05.20]normally fast-growing economy in 2020. [00:10.92]The officials noted that weakness in the international economy [00:15.72]has reduced demand for exports and international travel. [00:22.32]Vietnam's $260 billion economy has grown 6 percent or more each year [00:30.72]since 2012 because of an increase in manufactured exports. [00:37.72]Vietnamese officials say the economy will grow just 2 percent in 2020. [00:46.16]That is down from an earlier target of 2.5 percent. [00:52.76]The Asian Development Bank estimates [00:55.84]that the economy will expand at a rate of just 1.8 percent this year. [01:04.64]Experts say measures taken around the world to contain COVID-19 [01:11.12]have reduced orders to Vietnamese factories [01:15.20]that make shoes, clothing and furniture. [01:20.64]Stay-at-home rules in Western countries [01:23.92]are keeping people away from physical stores. [01:28.80]Business closures in those countries have left people out of work [01:33.76]and less likely to buy non-essential goods. [01:39.92]Frederick Burke is a partner with the law office Baker McKenzie in Ho Chi Minh City. [01:47.28]He told VOA, "The rule is that those light industrial goods are weak, [01:54.04]the exports orders are down and there's reports of a lot of unemployment [01:59.80]in the factory sector in the Vietnamese provinces." [02:04.48]Vietnamese factories that make electronic products [02:08.60]still get orders from companies that sell overseas [02:12.96]to people working or studying at home. [02:17.28]However, most factories that make non-essential goods are failing, Burke said. [02:25.16]For example, one Vietnamese factory operated by a Taiwan-based company [02:31.44]dismissed 150 workers earlier this year. [02:37.48]That information comes from the nonprofit Business & Human Rights Resource Centre. [02:45.64]Vietnam has closed its borders to limit the spread of COVID-19. [02:52.92]The border closure is stopping investors [02:56.00]from making trips that would help them expand. [03:00.76]They would normally travel to Vietnam from Japan, Singapore, [03:06.16]South Korea and Taiwan to search for new places to manufacture goods. [03:14.88]Jack Nguyen is a partner with Mazars, [03:17.96]a business advisory service, in Ho Chi Minh City. [03:22.44]He said that Vietnam's tourism industry [03:25.96]has also been badly affected by the restrictions on travel. [03:32.16]Foreign tourism usually makes up 6 percent of the Vietnamese economy. [03:40.16]"Things will only pick up only when the borders are open [03:44.24]and there's no quarantine requirements," Nguyen said. [03:47.72]"Who knows when that's going to be." [03:52.36]Experts say a COVID-19 outbreak earlier in Danang, [03:57.08]followed by the start of the school year, has reduced travel within Vietnam. [04:03.80]Some of the country's hotels are up for sale as a result, Nguyen noted. [04:11.56]The Ministry of Planning and Investment says it could take as long as four years [04:17.48]for the world economy to recover from the effects of COVID-19. [04:23.92]The ministry set a 2021 growth target of 6 percent to 6.5 percent, [04:31.08]down from an earlier goal of 7 percent. [04:36.12]However, foreign investors in the country are not looking elsewhere. [04:42.36]Frederick Burke said that those investors believe Vietnam's economy [04:47.80]will survive the effects of the coronavirus health crisis. [04:53.40]Ralf Matthaes is founder of the Infocus Mekong Research group in Ho Chi Minh City. [04:59.08]He says Vietnam's government "has proven to the world thus far [05:04.96]that it can protect its borders from the invasion of a pandemic [05:09.44]and create a desirable atmosphere for investment." [05:14.96]He added that that is something most other Asian nations cannot say. [05:21.44]I'm Jonathan Evans. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM