(VOVworld)- At the 7th session of the 13th National Assembly, the deputies discussed the government’s socio-economic report for 2013 and the first four months of this year. They agreed that the economy has seen signs of recovery and stressed the need to take this opportunity to bring the economy out of stagnation.
Most of the National Assembly’s targets were surpassed in 2013. In the first four months of this year, the agricultural, industrial and service sectors saw positive signs. Inflation was controlled and economic growth maintained. However, there remain many difficulties facing the economy. No economic breakthrough has been created. Institutions and mechanisms in the state economic and banking sectors have not improved though some restructuring activities has occurred.
Drastic reforms in growth model
Despite positive economic achievements, deputies said the growth model has not changed much. In the first four months of this year, total export value increased by 14.1% but the increase was reported in processed products for re-export. According to the government report, Vietnam’s trade surplus was 1.7 billion USD, 1.1 billion of which came from FDI enterprises. Nguyen Thi Nghia is a deputy from Hai Phong city: “The government needs to take more proactive, resolute and coordinated steps to reform the growth model, help enterprises overcome their difficulties and effectively apply current mechanisms and policies”.
Tran Du Lich is a deputy from Ho Chi Minh city: “In the medium and long term, we need to restructure the market. We need to escape the dependence on materials and policies to ease enterprises’ dependence on materials. So, we need to promote support industries”.
Help enterprises to access credit
Deputy Mai Xuan Hung, Deputy Head of the Economic Commission of the National Assembly said that to create breakthroughs, it is necessary to reform institutions, restructure state-owned enterprises, and help the private sector develop. Tran Hoang Ngan, a deputy from Ho Chi Minh city said it’s important to address pending problems caused by the suspension, dissolution or bankruptcy of more than 50,000 enterprises each year. Enterprises are facing numerous difficulties due to increasing production costs, decreasing purchasing power, and cumbersome administrative procedures. Tran Du Lich said: “The major problem facing the economy at present is the need to increase demand. That would create the momentum for recovery. To this end, we need to classify enterprises. We should help enterprises that can recover but have trouble accessing credit. Our target is to increase credit 12 to 14%, but so far this year it has increased only 0.56%. This shows that the market has failed to absorb capital. We also need to modify procedures to increase disbursement in the public sector”.
Nguyen Van Giau is Head of the National Assembly’s Economic Commission: “We need to focus on measures to stimulate demand to an appropriate level to stabilize the macro economy, ensure appropriate growth, and promptly and effectively disburse state funds at the central and local levels”.
The Vietnamese economy is gradually recovering. By leveraging the initial achievements of the recovery, Vietnam has a good chance to achieve set targets this year and in the years to come.