Achievements in 70 Years of Independence

Seventy years from the first National Day, September 2, 1945, Vietnam's revolution, consistently placed under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, has attained great achievements: Regained independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity; political stability; stronger economic construction and development with a relatively high growth rate; constantly improved livelihoods of people; expanded foreign relations; and increasingly lifted its position on international arena.

 

The most outstanding achievement of Vietnam since doi moi (renovation) was initiated 30 years ago is relatively high economic growth in many consecutive years (ranked second in Asia). Within 10 years, from 1991 to 2000, Vietnam's GDP doubled, with an average annual expansion of 7.5 percent. The GDP growth has averaged 7 percent a year since 2001. In 2004, GDP climbed 7.6 percent over 2003. The economic structure continued to be restructured to increase the contribution of industry and services in GDP while reducing the share of agriculture, forestry and fisheries. The share of agriculture, forestry and fisheries in GDP dropped 40.2 percent in 1985 to 21.76 percent in 2004 while the share of industry and construction jumped from 27.4 percent to 40.09 percent and the share of service increased from 32.5 percent to 38.15 percent.

 

The Law on Foreign Investment and other legal documents gradually shaped a transparent legal system to draw foreign direct investment (FDI) into Vietnam. The first FDI wave took place from 1991 to 1997 when Vietnam attracted 2,230 projects with a total registered capital of US$16.244 billion. The entry to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) enhanced the allure of Vietnam to foreign investors and gave rise to a surge in FDI value in 2007 (up 75.3 percent) and 2008 (up 42.6 percent). In 2014, FDI licensed into Vietnam reached US$20.23 billion. In the first seven months of 2015, the FDI value was US$8.8 billion, equal to 92.4 percent of the value in the same period of 2014. FDI enterprises contributed some 15 percent to GDP, accounted for over 30 percent of total exports, and made up 4.9 percent of tax revenue. They also created tens of thousands of jobs.

 

Vietnam had 488,148 active businesses as of January 31, 2015, which employed nearly 12 million workers. In the first seven months of 2015, the country had 52,004 new businesses with a total registered capital of VND321.3 trillion. Regulations on the operating environment for private enterprises are increasingly loosened, transparent and respectful.

 

State-owned enterprises (SOEs) were reshuffled to improve operating efficiency. From initial 12,000 SOEs, Vietnam restructured 6,980 companies by the end of the first quarter of 2015, with 4,237 enterprises privatised. The resolution to corporate reform was also illustrated by the result of divestment of SOEs in five sensitive areas (real estate, securities, finance - banking, insurance and investment fund). Mr Dang Quyet Tien, Deputy Director of Corporate Finance Department under the Ministry of Finance, said, SOEs divested VND8,213 billion and collected VND8,599 billion since the National Assembly issued Resolution No. 21/2011/QH13 dated November 11, 2011 to the first quarter of 2015. Investment items generated a surplus of VND4,517 billion from 2011 to 2014 as investors received stock dividends. SOEs will have to divest VND19,517 billion in remaining months of 2015.

 

Exports surged in many years. Many agricultural products like rice, cashew nut, coffee, tea and seafood secured Vietnam the largest, second and third exporters in the world. Agriculture has become the mainstay of the economy.

 

Financial and banking reform was of particular concern of the Government. Achievements in this sector helped strengthen macroeconomic stability, limit budget deficit, control inflation, ensure State financial transparency, gradually eliminate credit-based subsidies, apply market-based exchange rate and interest rates, mobilise capitals and improve capital-use efficiency. The banking system is being drastically reformed.

 

Stock market, financial market, labour market and real estate market developed more stably and robustly.

 

Vietnam now has diplomatic relations with 168 countries in the world and established trade relations with 165 countries and territories. Currently, Vietnam is an active member of many international and regional organisations and forums like UN, ASEAN, APEC and ASEM.

 

After eight years joining the WTO, Vietnam has signed 10 bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) with China, South Korea, Japan, India, New Zealand, the Customs Union of Russia -Belarus - Kazakhstan and eight of them have been enforced. Vietnam has also concluded bilateral negotiations with 11 TPP-member countries, including the United States.

 

Vietnam pays special attention to addressing social issues. It spent over 30 percent of the total social investment capital for poverty reduction, human resource development, education - training, science - technology, health and culture. Livelihoods of Vietnamese people from rural to urban areas, from the plains to the mountains have improved rapidly.

 

GDP per capita doubled from 1995 to 2003. GDP per capita reached US$2,028 in 2014, equivalent of US$169 a month. The United Nations hailed Vietnam as one of the world's leading countries in achieving poverty eradication.

 

The above fruits come from the very first platform. That is the great victory of the August Revolution 1945 and the founding day of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, as affirmed by Mr Dinh The Huynh, Head of the Central Propaganda Department.