HA NOI — Building the right development strategy for the future and mobilising resources for its implementation were critical steps for the future of the nation, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said here yesterday.
He was addressing a senior policy seminar on a draft of the National Socio-Economic Development Strategy (NSDS) for the next 10 years.
The seminar was attended by senior policymakers, representatives of research and business communities and development partners.
Dung said Viet Nam was preparing for rapid and sustainable growth to enable it to continue the growth resulting from 20 years of the doi moi (renewal) process.
He said the nation had recently crossed the per-capita income threshold to become a lower-middle-income country and now planned to become fully industrialised by 2020.
Dung said the development model that Viet Nam had relied on since doi moi was launched had led to rapid economic growth.
During this period, per-capita income had grown almost 10-fold – from less than US$100 a year in 1990 to about $1,200 in 2010. The poverty rate had also fallen from 58 per cent in 1993 to 14.5 per cent in 2008.
However, he said Viet Nam was facing challenges that had arisen from this rapid growth and improved status.
Dung's remarks were echoed by the president of the Viet Nam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS), Do Hoai Nam, who said the challenges Viet Nam faced in leaping over the ‘middle-income trap' were fierce.
He said the economic infrastructure was not well developed. Neither were urban and rural areas. The economy needed strengthening in specialised areas, there was only a small number of skilled workers, and the standards of science and technology were low compared to the region.
Nam said that to improve the situation, Viet Nam had to keep implementing its vision until 2050. "We need to specify catch-up strategies for every 10-year period," he added.
The national strategy is one of the most important documents guiding socio-economic development during the next two five-year plans. It is expected to be endorsed by the 11th Party Congress in January.
The Academy of Social Sciences will co-ordinate analytical inputs from research communities in and out of Viet Nam to provide inputs for the strategy. The World Bank will provide technical assistance to support substantive research-based evidence for senior policy makers and researchers.
Dung said that a draft of the strategy had been sent to all ministries, sectors and localities as well as big international organisations in Viet Nam to gather feedback.
He said the main objective of the strategy was for Viet Nam to become a modern industrialised country by 2020.
By 2020, GDP per capita was expected to reach about US$3,200 and real incomes about three-and-a-half times higher than at present.
The new strategy was based on five main viewpoints, said Dung. One of them was rapid development closely allied with sustainability. Democratic practices and optimal use of human resources were other key foundations.
He added that people were to be considered the main subject of the planned development - and the main resource.
Developing an increasingly independent and self-controlled economy in the context of broader international integration was also important.
Dung said the strategy aimed for three breakthroughs. These were the improvement of the socialist-oriented market economy, the quick development of human resources, and the building of a synchronised infrastructure.
The strategy highlighted the need to focus on improving the efficiency of State management.
Dung said the nation actively promoted the sharing of experiences on an international basis, strengthening resources and creating a suitable environment for national development.
The seminar led to a set of recommendations on the strategy to the Government. — VNS
