The PM said one of the top priorities on the Vietnamese Government’s agenda for 2015 is strengthening the rule of law and market mechanism to facilitate business activities and encourage the development of the private sector.
At the same time Vietnam will continue to push through global economic integration, said PM Dung, adding that Vietnam is scheduled to finalise the negotiations of several trade pacts with its key trading partners in early 2015.
Briefing development partners on Vietnam’s economic situation, the PM said growth could reach 5.9% in 2014 and total export revenue would exceed US$150 billion this year, about three times the figure before Vietnam joined the World Trade Organisation in 2006.
He expected the Vietnamese economy to accelerate to 6.2% in 2015 with inflation kept under 5%.
In her opening remark at the VDPF, the World Bank Country Director for Vietnam, Victoria Kwakwa, said that the Government’s increased attention to institutional reform and the private sector is wise and timely.
She said recent adoption and revision of several laws such as those on land, investment and enterprise are a good start for further institutional reform in the future.
Regarding the domestic private sector, Kwakwa noted that enterprises have been struggling, quoting a report by the Vietnam Chamber of Industry and Commerce (VCCI) that average firm size has shrunk over the last few years.
She added that local firms have not benefited adequately from positive spill-over effects from FDI enterprises and their integration into global value chains has remained fragmented and limited.
Earlier, Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh said institutional reform and private sector development are critical to Vietnam’s economy as it looks to avoid falling into the middle-income trap.
In a report prepared for the VDPF, the Government has outlined a number of measures to support small and medium-sized domestic enterprises, ranging from establishing a legal framework to strengthening capacity building and financial support.
The VCCI recommended the Government undertake regulatory reform to put private enterprises on an equal footing with State-run and foreign-invested companies, and target its support on a number of industries with a marked competitive edge.
