IMF Appreciates Vietnam's High Economic Growth

IMF Appreciates Vietnam's High Economic Growth

Vietnam has recorded high economic growth rates over the past years thanks to its prudent economic management and intensified integration into the global economy, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its review of the world's economy last year.

The IMF said that Vietnam is in a favourable position to continue its structural reform in the banking and public corporate sectors, improve the investment climate, strengthen State management, and enhance transparency in policy making.

The report stated that the IMF leadership highly valued the Vietnamese Government's efforts to control price and salary pressures. Vietnam's balance of payments is still strong; exports are rising fast; and investment is flowing in steadily.

The IMF urged Vietnam to continue exercising prudence in financial management and flexibility in foreign exchange while developing financial markets and the private sector.

Vietnam's small and medium sized businesses to double every year

How to speed up the drafting of the 2006-10 plan for small and medium sized businesses in order to submit it to the Government in 2006 for approval was the subject of a workshop in Hanoi on January 28.

Vietnam expects to finalise its 2006-10 plan for small and medium sized business development this year. The plan calls for a two-fold increase in the number of these businesses in each of the next five years so as to bring the total to 500,000 by the end of the decade.

The workshop, held by the Ministry of Planning and Investment with assistance from the Governments of Finland and Italy, and the United Nations' Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), brought together the experiences of international experts on the plan.

Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are considered an important part of the national socio-economic development masterplan for the next five years, said Deputy Ministry of Planning and Investment Truong Van Doan. He also reaffirmed the Government's policy to support those businesses by increasing their competitiveness.

SMEs are leading the nation in the term of growth and have played an important role in mobilising investment, generating jobs for all walks of life, reducing poverty and narrowing the development gap among different regions across the country, Doan said.
(Young People, VNA)