Vietnam CEO’s business outlook is extremely positive

Richard Burrage
Sep 08, 2022

Vietnam CEO’s business outlook: 88% of CEO’s expect business conditions to improve

Looking forward 12 months from a CEO Pusle survey in June 2022 then nearly 9 in 10 Vietnam CEOs expect business conditions to improve.  Further 73% of CEOs expect capital expenditure to increase in the coming year and 63% of CEOs expect to increase headcount in the coming year.

Vietnam CEO’s foresee their top business challenges

Vietnam CEO’s foresee the strongest headwinds from: Covid’s negative impact on customer demand, consumer price inflation (and energy price inflation), and supply chain interruptions (and shipping cost inflation). Cyber security and labour force availability are also at the forefront of CEO’s risk assessments.

Vietnam CEO's business outlook Challenges

Vietnam 2022 economic bounce back is complete

Compared to Q2 2021 GDP grew 7.7%, retail sales increased 19.5% and disbursed foreign direct investment reached new highs of US$10.06 billion. The S&P Global Vietnam Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index™ (PMI®) posted 52.7 in August.  Manufacturing in Vietnam experienced new order growth whilst inflationary pressures softened. August saw continued yet sharper increases in output, new orders and employment.  In August the pace of input cost inflation slowed down and saw the first shortening of suppliers’ delivery times in 33 months.

The consumer price index is under pressure but remains well managed. Export growth is at 22% although in Q2 2022 there is a small trade deficit. Vietnam is on track to surpass Cimigo’s GDP forecast of 6.5%.

Vietnam Q2 2022 Economic Progress

Vietnam’s consumer demand has surpassed pre-pandemic levels

Retail sales of goods and services have long since recovered. The chart below indexes Vietnamese consumer expenditure against pre-pandemic expenditure using September 2019 as a baseline, indexed at 100.

Vietnam consumer demand retail expenditure 2022

Expenditure on retail goods in Vietnam has recovered more quickly than retail services (tourism, hospitality and services). However, consumer expenditure on retail services in Vietnam continues to recover. The expenditure to June is detailed below, but Cimgio anticipates that this will have exceeded pre-pandemic levels by now (September 2022).

Vietnam consumer demand retail versus services expenditure 2022

Vietnam CEO’s business outlook and priorities post Covid

New technology and redefining business models are at the top of CEO agendas. CEOs report changing their business models in light of market pressures and disruption of their industry by technology. A staggering 27% feel that their current model is not sustainable.

Vietnam CEO's business outlook

Vietnam CEO’s push forward with digital transformation

CEOs reported significant digitalisation activities to mitigate the impact of Covid.  The priority areas are customer experience, sales, marketing and business intelligence.

Vietnam CEO's business outlook Digital Transformation

CEO Pulse and Vietnam CEO’s business outlook

Vietnam CEO's business outlook 

Vietnam CEO’s business outlook and priorities are reviewed in CEO Pulse from a market research survey amongst 50 CEOs in Vietnam. Cimigo in collaboration with the Vietnam Business Executive Network conducts a regular CEO Pulse market research survey amongst CEOs of businesses in Vietnam. The results herein are drawn from surveys conducted in Q2 2022.

CEO Pulse results help CEOs monitor the pulse of business in Vietnam. The results provide invaluable perspectives of CEO peers and provide insights on business planning and assist in managing the expectations of stakeholders.  Should you wish to join with your CEO peers, drop an email to ask@staging.cimigo.com.

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