The 2021-2025 period with many difficulties and challenges is gradually coming to an end. The difficulties and challenges in this term are considered more and greater than opportunities and advantages, and more than the previous 5 years, due to complex and unpredictable developments due to the impact of the context, natural disasters, floods, etc. However, according to the plan, Vietnam is expected to achieve and exceed 22/26 main socio-economic targets, creating momentum and creating momentum for our country to confidently enter the new era.
According to United Nations Development Program Permanent Representative for Vietnam (UNDP) Ramla Khalidi, Vietnam has made significant progress, despite the global challenges it faces. Vietnam has been able to turn some crises and challenges into opportunities for itself. A prominent area in the achievements is economic growth reaching more than 7% during this period. Another achievement that UNDP particularly acknowledges is the High Human Development Index (HDI) which continues to improve. These are some outstanding points of Vietnam's achievements.
The most impressive thing is the strong leadership and strategic vision, helping Vietnam effectively implement economic development policies. For example, Vietnam has overcome many challenges, from the pandemic to risks related to crises and climate adaptation a major problem facing the country to rise with resilience and strength - the UNDP representative shared.
According to National Assembly Delegate Phan Duc Hieu, in the period of 2021-2025, the Vietnamese economy will be resilient to external shocks. Firstly, we are strong enough because the internal capacity of the economy has improved strongly in the period of 2021-2025 compared to the previous period. The data has shown this.
The average GDP growth rate at this period, if in 2025 it reaches 8% according to the Government's calculation, the average growth at this period will be 6.3%, higher than the previous period, although the period 2021-2025 is a very difficult and challenging period compared to many previous years.
The size of our economy has also increased, since the beginning of the year, increasing from 364 billion USD to about 510 billion USD. Total import-export turnover and trade surplus also improved significantly compared to previous stages. Foreign exchange reserves, import and export of goods..., some basic macroeconomic indicators are controlled.
Regarding shocks, National Assembly delegate Phan Duc Hieu said that the first thing to mention is the COVID-19 epidemic. This was the first shock. Vietnam has had resources to support people and businesses, and conduct vaccine diplomacy to ensure people's health safety. Immediately after that, we have a series of economic recovery and development programs to overcome difficulties.
The second shock was the trend of bringing investment back to our country. Many people are concerned about how Vietnam will attract foreign investment and whether it will be affected. However, data shows that attracting foreign investment in the past 5 years has made progress and increased growth. And as the UNDP expert said, Vietnam is still considered one of the foreign investment destinations, attracting many investors.
The most recent shock was the trade tariff policy. Many people were worried, but we responded very quickly, decisively and promptly. To date, according to statistics, Vietnam's trade with the US in the first 9 months has reached 112 billion USD. Comparison of economic growth. This reflects our country's ability to cope with shocks.
