Workers operate equipment at a Samsung factory in Sai Dong Industrial Park in Ha Noi. PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc yesterday asked the MPI to plan for the coming decades by building an innovative economy, encouraging start-ups and creating trust among people and businesses. — VNA Photo Le Danh Lam
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc instructed the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) to continue to make breakthroughs for socio-economic development at a meeting in Ha Noi on Tuesday.
Phuc asked the MPI to plan for the coming decades by building an innovative economy, encouraging start-ups, and creating trust among people and businesses.
“The ministry must propose a policy mechanism to go in this direction.”
“The ministry needs to provide solutions to help Viet Nam avoid middle income, cheap labour, low value processing and technology waste-dump traps, so that no one is left behind,” Phuc said.
“The ministry also needs to elevate Viet Nam into the top four ASEAN members and reach the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s standards on its business environment. We have resolutions but they are not completed. The MPI needs to look at how to implement them to reach the earliest results,” he added.
Phuc also urged the ministry to make the private economy an important driver for the country’s development, especially small and medium enterprises, household economies and co-operative economies.
Phuc said the MPI had gained many achievements and assessed risks in the context of the complicated global changes.
The Prime Minister appreciated the MPI’s proposal to remove regulations that easily led to an ‘asking and giving’ mechanism [bribery], such as abolishing investment registration certificates for Build-Operate-Transfer and Build-Transfer projects and abolishing golf course planning.
“Abolishing the ‘asking and giving’ mechanism is the direction of progress, which is our main direction,” Phuc said.
Speaking at the meeting, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung said to achieve the breakthroughs set out in resolutions of the Party Central Committee, National Assembly and Government Resolution No.01/NQ-CP, the ministry would focus on production, especially in the private sector, while improving access to resources associated with innovation and creativity and setting up a fair business environment.
Dung said the ministry would promote economic restructuring and enhance growth quality, labour productivity and economic competitiveness.
“We will make a strong change in the restructuring of each sector, area and public investment, thereby creating conditions for synchronous development of infrastructure on the basis of effective public-private partnerships,” Dung said.
The ministry would also set up national innovation centres and promote the operation of the innovation connection network in Viet Nam, contributing to human resource development and innovation associated with the application of the 4.0 Industrial Revolution, developing smart production models, smart urban areas, green growth, clean energy, increased resilience and adaptation to climate change.
“In particular, we will improve the efficiency of State governance in line with a modern market economy and international integration as well as the effectiveness of policy implementation at all levels and in all sectors, raising transparency and accountability,” Dung said.
He also said the achievements of 30 years of doi moi (renewal) had fundamentally changed the appearance of the economy with high growth and improved life. Viet Nam had become an average-income country. Viet Nam’s GDP had increased by 38 times and GDP per capita rose by 26 times in 2018 in comparison with 1989. — VNS