Almost half of its population was under 25, and young people in Viet Nam were finding new ways to access news, PRWeek Asia said. — Photo motthegioi

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — PRWeek Asia sees Viet Nam as a rising public relations star in Asia.

The recovery in domestic demand and foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country has resulted in its gross domestic product (GDP) expanding by 6.4 per cent in the second quarter of 2015 from a year earlier, according to figures from the country's statistics office.

Industry and construction had a significant impact on GDP growth, while there has also been strong growth in retail sales in the first half of this year.

Viet Nam's urban population accounted for 33 per cent of the country's total population of 91 million, PRWeek Asia said.

The country's GDP per capita is estimated to be US$2,052 per year, the unemployment rate is two per cent and life expectancy is 76.

The facts indicate rising consumption and living standards in Viet Nam.

Media consumption

Almost half of its population was under 25, and young people in Viet Nam were finding new ways to access news, PRWeek Asia said.

The findings show that the youth are increasingly turning to platforms such as Facebook and Google for their daily news fix at the expense of the previously dominant state media television stations.

The growing influence of social media means that people are spending less time on traditional media channels such as television, radio and magazines. Between 2010 and 2014, for example, the daily average time spent watching TV has decreased from 134 minutes to 108 minutes, while the average time spent on the Internet has increased from 84 minutes to 310 minutes a day.

The Vietnamese people are also increasingly relying on mobile phones to access the Internet.

Digital trends

Simon Kemp, Asian regional managing partner at We Are Social agency, said one of the key, growing digital trends in Viet Nam was the use of mobile-oriented chat apps.

"In Viet Nam, 87 per cent of the social media users access it via mobile devices, which indicates that more people are mobile-only than PC-only," he said.

These day-to-day conversations have moved to the chat apps.

Findings from the Digital, Social and Mobile in APAC 2015 report, conducted by We Are Social in association with IAB Singapore, showed that Facebook Messenger and Viber are two platforms with a relatively strong presence in Viet Nam.

Kemp said public platforms such as Facebook and Twitter were now more about a stream of curated content rather than somewhere that people actively go to network with friends or peers. — VNS