The eighth Session of the National Assembly of Vietnam XIII formally adopted the Resolution on 2015 Socio-economic Development Plan with the GDP growth goal of 6.2 percent and inflation rate of about 5 percent.
This objective has been considered and mentioned in several previous reports, conferences and seminars, based on the “healthy level” of the economy. However, it’s reported that many participants and economic experts believed that to achieve that objective, more innovative solutions will be needed.
There should be synchronised solutions
Tran Du Lich, Deputy Head of the Ho Chi Minh City delegation
The target is to bring down bad debt to less than three percent by 2015, but what are the measures? Vietnam Asset Management Company is set up to manage the assets of credit institutions to help handle bad debt; however, it faces many procedural problems. If we could not open the real estate market, the mortgage market and the debt markets, then how would we solve the bad debt problem? Thus, I suggest deploying synchronised solutions: Boosting overall economic demand, lower interest rates for enterprises who have good business plans; Banks continue to sacrifice profits to increase risk provisioning; Simplifying administrative procedures; Soon establishing a market for debt buying - selling to accelerate the handling of bad debts.
Private sector is the driving force of the economy
Vu Tien Loc, Representative from Thai Binh provincial delegation
We should assert that, because as can be seen in any country, economic development is largely dependent on the business and enterprise sector. However, currently, a number of other elements of the business environment are costing companies more. For example, low infrastructure, under-developed support industries, high informal cost in business, relatively low labour productivity in regional comparison and limited number of high-quality workers.
Therefore, what companies need is a clear message about the reform agenda and that the government is determined about the inflation target, the promotion of institutional reform towards openness, equality and transparency for all economic sectors.
Businesses need more support
Truong Van Vo, Representative from Dong Nai province delegation
With the growth target of 6.2 percent and inflation at 5 percent for the next year, I concur to the National Assembly’s idea of increasing total investment to 32 percent (instead of 30 percent in the previous draft) through solutions of reviving domestic production sector; Solutions to overcome difficulties in production and business such as tax incentives, preferences in income tax and interest rate for projects using public resources, focusing on projects of enterprises investing in agriculture and rural areas, to support enterprises in overcoming difficulties.
Promoting IT in agriculture
Bui Thi An, Representative from Hanoi delegation
The 2015 State Budget should be invested in applying science and technology in agriculture to promote this sector’s growth in the future. Right now, investment in agriculture remains modest while agriculture is the backbone for the country during difficult economic situations. For the coming time, the government needs to mechanize agriculture, promoting the application of information technology in agriculture to improve productivity and competitiveness.
Change in management mindset needed
Pham The Hung, Director of the Institute for SME Research
Economic growth of 6.2 percent, budget deficit of 5 percent are possible figures considering our economy is having positive changes, especially as the industries that create momentum for the economy are all maintaining growth, namely rice, rubber, cashew, pepper, furniture, textiles, footwear, etc. Besides, domestic consumption is very positive. But overall, business communities in various sectors still face many difficulties. The government has provided capital support tax incentives; however, it’s also important to continue to speed up administrative reform, reducing troubles for businesses. The core of this problem lies in the mindset of the administrative staff; because the administrative staff are slow in reforms and meeting the requirements, the policy has yet to achieve the desired effects.
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