PM Nguyen Tan Dung has sent a New Year message emphasizing the central tasks of 2012, which include economic restructuring, growth model renovation, and rapid, sustainable development. In today’s program, we will bring you an excerpts from the Prime Minister’s message titled” Improving the situation of the socialist oriented market economy and accelerating the restructuring of the national economy and growth model renovation”.
The Prime Minister stressed that the core economic ideology pervading the documents of the 11th National Party Congress is restructuring the national economy, renovating the growth model, and securing rapid fast and sustainable development. The premise for successfully realizing the aforesaid orientation is the effective implementation of the three strategic breakthroughs, of which fine tuning the mechanism of the socialist-oriented market economy constitutes a key strategy that will directly affect the process of economic restructuring and growth model renovation.
After a 20-year implementation of the renewal guidelines, Vietnam has gained important achievements in building institutions of the socialist-oriented market economy. However, these institutions have not yet been synchronized and certain elements of the market economy have not yet fully taken shape. This suggests that in 2012, efforts should focus on completing institutions of the market economy as defined by the 11th National Party Congress. According to the Prime Minister, features of a modern market economy should be taken as standards to fine tune the mechanism. First, all types of markets develop synchronously with elements of the market economy being shaped comprehensively, operating harmoniously, supporting each other, and interacting in a perfect whole. Second, a modern market economy requires a level playing field for participating entities. Third, explanatory responsibility for the management policies, development plans and operations of business entities must be open and transparent. Fourth, modern market economy institutions in the context of increasing and deepening globalization and economic integration require a redefinition of the relationship between the State and the market. Fifth, a modern market economy must serve consumers with laws and centers set up. A modern market economy with these features will help Vietnam exploit opportunities and overcome challenges in a global economy where competition is fierce.
The Prime Minister said that by identifying features of a modern market economy, Vietnam can develop strategic breakthroughs which will provide a foundation for economic restructuring and growth model renovation. From that perspective and based on the vision of Vietnam’s 2011-2020 socio-economic development strategy, the 3rd plenum of the 11thParty Central Committee set the target of restructuring the economy and renovating the growth model in the first five year development plan for 2011-2015.
The objective of economic restructuring and growth model renovation is to speed up the transformation of economic and sectoral structures in order to increase productivity, quality, efficiency and competitiveness in both domestic and international markets to enable local producers to join in certain stages of the regional and global production network and value chain. To this end, the process of economic restructuring will proceed in 3 steps: restructuring the manufacturing and service sectors, restructuring business and adjusting market strategies. Coupled with each of these steps is the restructuring of investment for socio-economic infrastructure development in line with planning and decentralization schemes that are closely controlled and have a long-term and inter-regional vision involving a lower public investment ratio; mechanisms encouraging investment from the private and foreign aid sectors, new investment models, especially public-private partnerships-PPP, and improved investment efficiency. Economic restructuring must be realized throughout the industrialization effort. However, it should begin with the most pressing areas – for example, investment restructuring by focusing on public investment, the financial market by focusing on commercial banks, and State-owned enterprises by focusing on financial corporations and groups. In his message, the Prime Minister stressed that to accelerate the renovation of the growth model, in 2012, besides early adoption of a project developing Vietnam’s technology market, the Government will promulgate policies to encourage technological renovation of enterprises; define technical standards in the Law on Public Investment and bidding projects; encourage projects applying new technologies; enhance public-private partnership in setting up hedge-funds for technologies and issue legal documents for the development of supporting industries. Along with economic restructuring and growth model renovation, in 2012, it will be necessary to adhere closely to Politburo’s Conclusion 02 and the Government’s Resolution 11 to maintain macro-economic stability, control inflation, sustain reasonable growth, and ensure social welfare. The Prime Minister concluded by saying that Vietnam has created a high degree of consensus within the political system and inspired strong determination from government agencies at every level and from the business community as well. This shared understanding and determination when turned into concrete actions will launch Vietnam into a new orbit of sustainable development.