Hanoi (VNA), March 18 -- While economic freedom is declining around the world, Vietnam is bucking the general trend, with lot of work to do to join the ranks of economically free countries, said Rainer Zitelmann in his recent article published by the Washington DC-based news outlet Washington Examiner.

In the article titled "Vietnam 'has been a development success story': World Bank," the author wrote no other country of comparable size has made such strong gains in the Index of Economic Freedom in recent decades.

The author cited the International Monetary Fund and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-Plus Three Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) as projecting the nation's gross domestic product to grow by 5.8% and 6% this year...