(VOVWORLD) - Vietnam considers Industry 4.0-based innovation and the private economic sector two growth momentums, in addition to the three strategic breakthroughs of institutional reform, infrastructure development, and human resource training. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc emphasized these things at the first Vietnam Reform and Development Forum held in Hanoi on Wednesday by the World Bank and the Ministry of Planning and Investment.
 PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc (third from left) at the Vietnam Reform and Development Forum |
Industry 4.0-based innovation
Prime Minister Phuc told the Forum that promoting innovation and the 4th Industrial Revolution and boosting start-ups will increase productivity, and improve competitiveness and innovation. He said the start-up and innovation spirit has never thrived as it does now and there have never been as many successful start-up businesses as there are now. Start-ups are not a movement, but a determination.
At a recent Youth Start-up Forum in Da Nang city, the Prime Minister vowed to build an ecosystem to promote Vietnamese entrepreneurship. He said:“People, including innovative business people, have stood side by side with the government to put Vietnam’s economy on a par with developed countries. Today’s forum provides opportunities for excellent young entrepreneurs with bold projects to share their experience and inspire each other. Thanks to recent incentives, Vietnam’s ecosystem for start-ups ranks third in ASEAN. The government is determined to foster and advance Vietnam’s start-up ecosystem.”
Mr. Phuc said the government will improve the legal environment and intellectual property protection, fine-tune the market mechanism related to science and technology, and create connectivity between businesses and R&D institutions. Human resources, facilities, and the State budget will be used effectively to propel the start-up and innovation ecosystem.
Administrative reform for private economic development
Vietnam’s private economic sector contributes 40% of the national GDP and has generated 5 million jobs. But the sector, though developing strongly, still encounters barriers in the legal framework and the business and investment environment. It’s essential to improve business conditions to boost production and create new growth momentum, according to Dau Anh Tuan, Head of the Legal Affairs Department of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Mr. Tuan said:“Improving business conditions is a long-term process, not short-term. We need an independent mechanism to oversee the formulation of new business conditions for obtaining licenses. If ministries set out business conditions without considering the current practice or the rights of business, administrative reform will fail.”
Prime Minister Phuc emphasized the private sector’s role as a leverage for enhanced competitiveness and flexibility in the national economy in the face of tumultuous global changes. He reiterated the government’s determination to develop the private sector and have 1 million businesses in Vietnam by 2020.