The year 2025 is set to be a challenging year for Southeast Asian countries that are looking to boost their economic growth while the world faces economic slowdown, geopolitical tensions, and trade fragmentation, particularly new tariff by the US – the largest economy in the world.

The local economy wrapped up 2024 on a positive note but it may be heading for a rough patch, with trade tensions and geopolitical conflicts heightening uncertainty over growth, inflation and interest rates, say analysts.

Vietnam is emerging as a promising destination for Canada's manufacturing investments, particularly for those aiming to tap into the lucrative markets of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the broader Asia-Pacific region.

The total import-export turnover between Vietnam and Denmark witnessed impressive growth of more than 20% during the past 11 months of 2024, according to details by the Vietnamese Trade Office in the Nordic countries.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) and the Lao Embassy in Vietnam will continue to coordinate closely to promote economic - trade and industry - energy cooperation between the two countries.

In 2024, Vietnam’s coal imports reached a record high in over a decade, with imports from key markets surging significantly. Notably, imports from Malaysia increased by 114 times compared to 2023.

With robust production and processing infrastructure, combined with continuous market development efforts, Vietnam’s seafood exports are poised for 10–15% growth in 2025.

In the first 11 months of this year, total trade between Việt Nam and the UK reached over US$$7.7 billion, an 18.1 per cent increase compared to the previous year.

Viet Nam’s trade with other ASEAN Member States hit over US$76.3 billion over the last 11 months of 2024, up 13.9 percent compared to the same period last year, only behind China, the U.S. and South Korea

Global tech giants have expressed interest in expanding operations in Việt Nam this year, making the country an important part of the global technology world.