Vietnam will continue to promote faster economic growth in the next five years, with due emphasis on environmental protection and social progress so as to ensure sustainable development to reach per capita GDP of $1,100 in 2010 from the current $640, a Governmental official told a press conference after the second working day of the ongoing Congress of the ruling Party in Vietnam.
The Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Dinh Khien said the country’s socio-economic development experiences over the past years have prompted authorities to harmonize growth.
He said the Government's targeted annual economic growth rate of up to 8 percent over the next five years was achievable, based on factual realities on the ground.
"If domestic and international conditions are favourable, it will possible to attain an average growth rate of above 8 percent,” Khien added.
To achieve the projected growth rate, total social investment must reach an estimated 40 per cent of the GDP, with 65 per cent coming from domestic investors and the rest from foreign capital.
Deputy Minister Khien promised to further improve the country’s investment environment and root out corruption, which have been prioritised by the Party and Government, and increase the confidence of investors and donors.
In the next five years, all discriminatory policies between domestic and foreign businesses will be removed, and an improved legal environment for business activities will be created, especially for the private and foreign-invested sectors, he added.
The industrial and construction sectors would make up 43-44% of the GDP, followed by services with 41 percent and agriculture, forestry and fisheries 16 percent by 2010.
Khien asked the agricultural sector to create fundamental changes in terms of production in the five-year period to satisfy domestic demands and increase turnover from exports.
As for industrial development, he said the sector should maintain a high growth rate along with improving product quality, enhancing the efficiency of production and sharpening the competitiveness of the sector.
He wanted due priority to be given to the development of high-tech products, key industries manufacturing critical production materials, and those attracting labour.
The service sector should boost growth by focusing on improving the quality of traditional services while developing the potential for competitive tourism, aviation, maritime, telecommunications and financial services industries, among others, he said.
Speaking to the press, Khien said the social development targets of the plan included completing the universalisation of lower secondary schooling in all central cities and provinces, providing tertiary education to 200 per 10,000 people by 2010, and increasing the rate of skilled labour to 40 per cent of the total social labour.
Around 1.6 million jobs need to be created annually, and the plan seeks to achieve this by nurturing the private sector in the coming years, Khien said.
As for clean environment goals, the plan wants all newly-built production units to implement clean technologies or adopt facilities that minimise pollution. About 50 per cent of production and business establishments in the country would have applied environment standards in the next five years.
All industrial zones (IZs), export-processing zones (EPZs) are to be equipped with waste treatment facilities, and around 95 per cent of the urban population and 75 per cent of rural population will have access to clean water.
At the conference, the Deputy Minister also reviewed the country’s socio-economic gains over the past 20 years.
He said the renewal process helped the country out of an economic crisis in the late 1980s, and has sped up economic growth, improved infrastructure, and laid the foundation for development in the future.
Besides resolving social problems such as poverty, the renewal process has also enhanced the country’s foreign economic relations, he said.
VNN, VNA
Vietnamese
