(VOVWORLD) - Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has vowed an iron will and generous resources to achieve Vietnam’s sustainable development goals in the next decade. At a national conference in Hanoi on Thursday, he stressed the need to mainstream sustainable development in all Party guidelines and State policies because sustainable development is an urgent need and an obvious trend.
Unwavering policy
Since national renewal was initiated more than 30 years ago, Vietnam has recorded impressive development achievements. Vietnam’s poverty rate has dropped from 60% to 5%. Its Human Development Index (HDI) was 0.694 in 2017, higher than the average of 189 countries surveyed. According to the UN’s 4th sustainable development goals report, Vietnam ranks 54th, up 3 notches compared with 2018, and 2nd in Southeast Asia.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said Vietnam is consistent in its sustainable development policy. The government has promulgated a national plan of action on implementing the UN’s Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. Mr. Phuc said: “We have incorporated sustainable development goals in documents to be discussed at the 13th National Party Congress. Rapid but sustainable development is defined as a political task of the Party, the political system, and people of all social strata.”
Dedication to sustainable development
Prime Minister Phuc said Vietnam puts people at the center of the development process to build a strong country and a fair, democratic, and civilized society. But he pointed out an overlap of policies, which has resulted in inefficient implementation. Mr. Phuc said that in the next decade Vietnam will map out specific plans for sustainable development in concert with an accelerated economic restructuring towards more effective use of natural resources, stronger national competitiveness, technological reform, and climate change adaptation.
“Globalization, technological trends, and breakthrough business models have radically changed the business mindset and business approaches, making economic and civil activities better and more sustainable. But traditional cultural values and national identities will last forever, making a difference, backing long-term economic prosperity, propelling our advances in the 21st century and beyond.”
The Prime Minister said the government will issue a resolution on sustainable development in October and work with the international community to promptly realize the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. He warned of higher taxes to be levied on production and consumption actions that are harmful to sustainable development and encouraged the circular economic model. Mr. Phuc called for policies to narrow the gap in accessing basic social services to help reduce malnutrition among ethnic groups. He called on localities, especially the 30 provinces and cities that haven’t yet promulgated their plans of action on sustainable development to pay special attention to achieving social targets, such as education, healthcare, environmental protection, and cultural preservation.