Illustrative photo. Oxfam warned that economic inequality in Vietnam is growing.

The report warned that despite a strong record of growth and poverty reduction, increasing inequality is threatening decades of progress in the country.

According to the report, Vietnam has recently seen rising average incomes and a steady and significant fall in the number of people who are living in poverty. Vietnam attained lower middle-income country status in 2009. Despite these achievements, growth is slowing, and the future is uncertain. Economic inequality in Vietnam is growing by any measure.

World Bank data shows that income inequality in Vietnam has increased in the last two decades, and more importantly, the richest are taking a disproportionate share of income. In 2012, the Palma ratio for Vietnam was 1.74, meaning that the richest 10 percent of people had an income 1.74 times higher than the poorest 40 percent.

The gap between the richest 20 percent and the rest has also been widening since 2004, and the number of ultra-wealthy individuals is also on the rise. In 2014, there were 210 super-rich individuals (those with more than USD30m) in Vietnam, and their combined wealth was around USD20bn; equivalent to 12 percent of the country’s GDP, or 1/2 GDP of Ho Chi Minh City.

Knight Frank estimates there will be a considerable increase in the number of these super-rich individuals in Vietnam; rising to 403 by 2025.

Oxfam calculations show that the richest man in Vietnam earns more in a day than the poorest Vietnamese earns in 10 years, and his wealth is so great that he could spend USD1m every day for six years before exhausting it.

With great wealth comes great earning potential from savings and assets. In an hour, the richest Vietnamese can earn from their wealth almost 5,000 times more than what the poorest 10 percent of Vietnamese spend every day on their basic needs.

The report also warned about a serious impact of multiple inequalities in Vietnam.

In Vietnam, ethnic minorities, small-scale farmers, migrant workers and women are more likely to be poor, excluded from services and political decision-making, and to face the most discrimination, said the report.

There are significant disparities between ethnic groups, with the Kinh majority and Hoa (Chinese) tending to have the highest living standards. Other ethnic groups have disproportionately high levels of poverty. They comprise less than 15 percent of the population, but 70 percent of the extreme poor.

There are also clear gender disparities. For generations, female workers have been more likely to be unskilled, untrained, and limited to labour- intensive and low-wage work. Male workers earn on average 33 percent more than their female counterparts.

Men also have more control over land and other valuable assets. A lack of women in the top positions in business and politics means that the rules are unlikely to change in their favour. There are 20 ministers in the current Vietnamese government and only one of them is female.

Speaking at the conference, Country Director Vietnam at Oxfam, Babeth Ngọc Han Lefur said that Vietnam has been very successful in terms of economic reforms and people's incomes are increasing. However, the present policies are not enough to curb rising inequalities in the country.

"The Vietnamese government should carefully look at all these inequalities and have proper policies to ease the problems. If not, the poor people cannot benefit from economic achievements,” she said.