Overcoming Challenges for Active Integration

Immediately after Vietnam became an official WTO member, the Party Central Committee issued Resolution 08 in February 2007. In order to implement Resolution 08, the Government promulgated Resolution 16/2007/NQ-CP on action programmes itemising 10 groups of underlying tasks of Resolution 08 into 12 groups of tasks, 75 primary tasks and 131 specific tasks assigned to ministries and localities for implementation.

 

Addressing the event, PM Dung said, in implementing the policy on active international economic integration, Vietnam has shifted the focus from breaking down economic isolation to enter regional and global value chains to promoting global market searching and stepping up growth remodelling. On multilateral aspects, WTO commitments are almost fully implemented. We can have relatively comprehensive assessments and detailed impacts of commitments. Regionally, Vietnam has also integrated more deeply into ASEAN, moving towards the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community by 2015. In addition, the country is positively engaging in negotiations or about to negotiate for some significant free trade agreements with major partners including the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement (TPP), bilateral free trade agreement with the EU, and ASEAN comprehensive economic partnership development.

 

A representative of the Central Party Office said in spite of numerous difficulties arising from international financial and economic crisis, our country’s economic growth in the past five years averaged 7 percent a year, export turnover increased more than 3 times, export growth rate accelerated, and export markets expanded. As a result, GDP increased 2.3 times in the past five years and per capita GDP more than doubled. Vietnam escaped from the status of underdeveloped country and entered middle-income country group. Our country's position on the international arena was also uplifted.

 

Ho Chi Minh City - the largest economic centre of Vietnam, said, to enhance competitiveness of service and trade sectors, it had implemented plans to build modern wholesale and retail distribution systems. To date, most supermarkets run by domestic enterprises and traditional markets are dominating the domestic market. The implementation of international economic integration in HCM City remains confusing, especially in handling sensitive issues like business support, opening to foreign investors in key service sectors and consumer protection. Therefore, it needs consistent guidance from central authorities. On the other hand, unsystematic and untimely information about international economic integration affects local administration. Many companies also lose opportunities because of insufficient information.

 

Remarking on drawbacks of international economic integration, the Central Party Office noted that the economy confronted numerous challenges in the process of international integration like weak corporate and economic competitiveness, ineffective and wasteful State investment, poor utilisation of national competitiveness, and limited ripple effect of technology transfer by FDI enterprises.

 

Delivering the closing address, Prime Minister Dung asked the Ministry of Industry and Trade to collect comments at this conference and work with the Ministry of Planning and Investment, relevant organs and localities to write a review report on results of implementing the Resolution 08 and 5-year accession to WTO to report to the Politburo. In addition, the Ministry of Planning and Investment will coordinate with relevant organs and localities to complete the Governmental Resolution on promoting and enhancing the efficiency of international integration in the 2011 - 2020 stage, with synchronous and comprehensive objectives, tasks and measures, in which the efficiency and effectiveness of Government’s administration are enhanced.

 

The Prime Minister also told the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to coordinate with the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, relevant organs and localities to make a review report on results of implementing the Resolution 08 and action programmes for implementing the Resolution 08 to draft the Politburo’s Resolution on international integration.

 

Earlier, the conference heard the report on the implementation of Resolution 08 and Resolution 16 represented by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the report on the implementation of active integration policies adopted by the 11^th Party Congress represented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the report on Vietnam socioeconomic situation after five-years entering the WTO represented by the Ministry of Planning and Investment, and the draft governmental resolution on international economic integration in 2012 - 2015 state, towards 2020, and reports from central and local authorities.