In his speech at the 2011 Consultative Group (CG) Meeting for Vietnam in Hanoi on December 6, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said Vietnam has committed to effectively using ODA sources from International donors by accelerating the disbursement of ODA funded projects more rapidly and efficiently.
He highlighted Vietnam’s efforts to control inflation and price hikes in the first half of this year, saying that the consumer price index (CPI) in 2011 is estimated to increase by 18 percent over December last year.
Next year, Vietnam is likely to keep its inflation rate at 9 percent while the CPI and credit and banking interest rates are predicted to see a downward trend. The country will continue to manage its national economy in this direction in order to stabilize the Vietnam dong and the credit market.
Over the past year, Vietnam has effectively implemented Resolution No 11, despite facing numerous difficulties and challenges. The country will continue its reforms and economic restructuring next year, Mr Dung said.
Vietnam’s export turnover in 2011 represented a relatively high increase of 30-34 percent. As a result, the country’s import surplus fell by 10 percent. Under its international commitments, Vietnam has set a target to control the trade deficit at 12 percent. It is worth noting that the country’s balance of trade increased considerably in 2011 after the three consecutive years of deficit, and its foreign currency reserves are much higher than in 2010.
Vietnam has also succeeded in ensuring the balance of national budget collection and spending; public debt is still within safe limits; and overspending has been reduced to 4.9 percent compared to the 5.3 percent set target. The Vietnamese Government aims to keep the rate of overspending to below 4.8 percent of the GDP.
The country’s 2011 GDP has been maintained at 5.8-6 percent and it has planned to keep GDP growth around 6 percent in 2012 in an effort to stabilize the macroeconomy, control inflation and ensure social welfare.
The number of poor households has dropped by 2 percent, the unemployment rate in urban areas is below 4 percent, and 1.6 million new jobs have been generated.
Despite its achievements over the past year, Vietnam is still confronted a number of difficulties. Despite being included on the list of middle-income developing countries, Vietnam’s per capita GDP stands at only US$1,200.
PM Dung said that next year, the Vietnamese Government will continue focusing on restructuring the national economy including public investment, State-owned enterprises (SoEs) and the banking system.
The Vietnamese Government aims to maintain economic stability alongside its efforts to deal with environmental issues. Next year, Vietnam will continue with its administrative reform, concentrating on revamping the market economy institutions, promoting international integration and stepping up the fight against corruption to make economic operations open and more transparent.
Vietnam appreciates and hopes to continue receiving support from international donors. The Vietnamese Government is ready to acknowledge constructive and responsible ideas from international donors for its future socio-economic development programs, Mr Dung said.
PM Dung said he hopes for straightforward dialogues between the Government and donors, thus strengthening mutual understanding and cooperation.
In her remarks at the meeting, World Bank (WB) Country Director for Vietnam Victoria Kwakwa said, “We see the CG as a discussion between partners -- the Government of Vietnam and development partners. We are bound together by our common interest in Vietnam’s development. The intention is not to assess and pass judgment on Vietnam’s performance, but to provide a forum in which we can discuss how to make progress on some of the difficult issues and challenges that Vietnam faces. We hope in particular that some concrete ideas and solutions can emerge from this discussion and that the Government will find some useful elements to include in its various restructuring plans that are under preparation. As development partners, we appreciate the opportunity to discuss key development issues with the Vietnamese Government and approach this with a strong sense of responsibility and sincerity.”
Ms Kwakwa affirmed that the WB and other development partners of Vietnam wish to have frank, open and sincere discussions and dialogues with the Vietnamese Government in dealing with global economic challenges, helping the country overcome difficulties and challenges as well as attaining set socio-economic development objectives.
Representatives of Vietnam’s development partners, including the UN, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the EU and the G4 group (Canada, Switzerland, Norway and New Zealand), and ambassadors of Japan, the US, the Republic of Korea and Australia praised Vietnam’s recent socio-economic achievements, especially in ensuring macroeconomic stabilization, sustainable poverty reduction and social welfare.
They noted that Vietnam is one of the few countries in the world recording high economic growth, adding that the country’s performance in inflation control and macroeconomic stabilization have consolidated confidence among foreign investors in Vietnam.
VOVNews