Almost 50 percent of Vietnamese expect the global recession to end within the next 12 months, according to

the Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence survey which polled 26,000 consumers online in 52 countries in the midst of the global financial crisis over the past few months.

Consumer confidence has declined in all global regions in the last five months, and Vietnam is no exception. Although it is still above the global average, consumer confidence in Vietnam has dipped from the first half of 2007 until now.This downturn is predominately due to high inflation, and to a much lesser extent, the recent global economic crisis.

For the second half of 2008, Vietnam is ranked ninth globally, down from seventh position in the first half of the year.

But things are certainly looking up.

Already, the inflation rate has slowed from its record high of 28.3 percent in August to 26.7 percent in October (Vietnamese Government Statistics), suggesting 2009 could be a more optimistic and prosperous year for Vietnamese.

So, the short-to-medium term outlook for this country is positive, with many economists predicting Vietnam will come out of the global crisis relatively unscathed.

Vietnam is a young country, with the majority of the opulation under 30 years old, so it’s no surprise to see that they remain optimistic about the future.

Perhaps this is somewhat due to naivety and inexperience (with Vietnam only really opening up to foreign investment and influence in the past few decades).

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However it’s also largely credited by many observers to the resilience of the older generations, passed down to the youth of today.

Furthermore, most Vietnamese households don’t have to worry about many risks associated with economic downturns, with most families not exposed to the share market, investment properties and other investments compared to other countries.

Vietnamese want to keep up with the latest trends, with 42 percent of consumers saying they spend their spare cash on purchasing new technology. This is ahead of all other Asia Pacific countries including China – a surprising figure. However, Vietnamese also look towards securing the future, with 49 percent of people saying they put their spare cash into savings.

Globally, three in five (62 percent) consumers describe their state of personal finances as not so good or bad –a clear indication that extravagant spending sprees are not likely in the near future.

But the question is: What are Vietnamese going to do to remain buoyant?

They’ll put in place belt tightening strategies and compromise to curb their spending and stay within their budget. From the Nielsen study, we can see that people are willing to give up means of transport – 4 percent of Vietnamese car users said they’d give up their car altogether, while 5 percent said they’d trade it in for a motorbike or scooter. Ten percent of people said they would trade in their vehicle for a bicycle – placing Vietnam number 1 globally.

Furthermore, 57 percent would sacrifice entertainment; and 46 percent said they would delay replacing major household items.

Fundamentally the Vietnamese economy is relatively well placed to ride out the global economic downturn and we can expect to see many companies (local and international) continue to enjoy very strong growth across many product and service categories; and see citizens continue to enjoy prosperity and gain more opportunities to share in the growing wealth and health of the new Asian Tiger.