Vietnam prioritizes six pillars for economic recovery: PM

The master plan for economic recovery includes controlling Covid-19, ensuring social security, creating jobs, reviving businesses, developing infrastructure, reducing administrative procedures, and fighting corruption, he said Friday at the World Economic Forum Country Strategic Dialogue on Vietnam.

There would be six policy pillars to realize the goal, he said at the online event that he co-chaired.

First, the country needs to restore supply chains to ensure the circulation of goods and safe and smooth production by enterprises in the new normal.

The second pillar is to promote manufacturing to restore economic growth and stabilize people’s lives.

Third, the country needs large-scale investment, especially in inter-regional transport infrastructure, green energy and national digital infrastructure, which will serve as new growth engines for the economy.

Fourth, Vietnam needs to step up efforts to address difficulties confronting businesses, including foreign enterprises.

The fifth pillar is to improve institutional reforms to international standards, one of the key strategies to achieve a breakthrough in development in the next decade.

The sixth and most important pillar is developing human resources. The country needs to promote economic restructuring and improving productivity.

He called on investors to join with the government to safely restore production in industrial parks, economic zones, high-tech parks, and export processing zones to safeguard supply chains.

"The Vietnamese government is ready to strengthen dialogue and coordination within the framework of a public-private partnership."

He said models such as the public-private partnership program for sustainable agriculture would be replicated in other areas as well.

The economy has started recovering from the fourth wave of Covid, with foreign direct investment rising by 12 percent year-on-year in October and exports by 17 percent, he said.

Retail sales of goods and services were up 17 percent, he said.

Inflation in the first 10 months was only 1.81 percent, showing that the difficulties were only temporary, and growth prospects remain strong in the long run, he said.

Foreign companies offered recommendations for improving trade at the forum.

They sought more public-private partnerships to develop digital infrastructure to promote digital transformation.

Klaus Schwab, executive chairman of the WEF, said the forum would continue to offer Vietnam support and partnership.

The country would continue to achieve impressive growth in the coming decades and remain on course to become a leading economy in the region, he added.

WEF’s Country Strategic Dialogue on Vietnam is a key event under a support program to increase investment as global economies recover from Covid.