“Planning Is Most Important,” Says JICA Senior Advisor

In my opinion, we should start understanding planning from the following basic steps: The process of establishing and maintaining the plan. That process must bear the nature of arguments on necessary activities to obtain expected goals in the future. Particularly, four very important elements are vision, policy, strategy and planning. Or in other words, these four elements are interrelated and closely bonded.

 

In addition, Public planning at the central level consists of economic planning to produce long-term forecast scenarios, budget planning for short, medium and long terms; social planning for resolving matters concerning land and water resource use, industrial zones, commercial zones and infrastructure, and quantifying social interests transparently and openly in relation to basic personal interests. In some countries with large economies and stable development, I learned that they also have space planning and regional planning which affect the distribution of population and activities in space.

In my opinion, planning is the most important. As we all know, in the past time, large economies in the world fell into crisis, even “free fall”. The bankruptcy of many large corporations deeply impacted the sustainability of their countries’ economies. Of course, the economic crisis was global and it swept across Vietnam too. However, according to international observers, the Vietnamese Government, economy, business community and businesspeople quickly responded, adapted and controlled this sensitive situation to make reasonable policies to deal with the situation. And, planning played an important role.

 

In fact, in any country, public investment always plays an important role and accounts for a large amount of capital and economic potential as well. Vietnam has for long defined the State-owned economic sector as a leading engine in the national economic development orientation. Currently, the Government has also changed its mind in this matter. But in my opinion, the Government as well as the entire political system from central to local levels should provide more support to the private sector because, according to development experience in many countries, the private sector has remarkable resilience and potential in certain periods or points of time. If we do not have good economic institutions and support this economic sector, we drop an advantage for developing and stabilising our economy.

 

It is true. Before complicated political - economic developments in Asia, several international banks and investors have reduced their interests in emerging nations. Vietnam is currently considered a big economy in the world and is approaching the status of a medium income country. Thus, I think in the future Vietnam will see more barriers in receiving aid from other governments and international institutions.

 

Nonetheless, I think the Japanese Government will still regard Vietnam as one priority for aid, like ODA to restructure its economy, particularly in the fields of urban traffic infrastructure and social welfare projects.