(VOVWORLD) -At the 2nd Vietnam Private Sector Forum in Hanoi on Monday, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc addressed businesses obstacles and recommended solutions to ministries, sectors, and localities to help the private sector develop in line with the Party’s resolution.
A resolution of the 5th plenum of the 12th Party Central Committee mentioned the need to promote the private sector into driving force of Vietnam’s socialist-oriented market economy. The resolution aims to sustainably develop the private sector, focusing on quality and business efficiency. It targets the private sector contributing 50% of GDP in 2020, 55% in 2025, and 60-65% in 2030.
The growing role of the private sector
One of Vietnam’s important achievements during 30 years of renewal has been the policy to develop the private sector. Policies and mechanisms have been created to encourage entrepreneurship. The private sector has contributed sizably to the state budget, job generation, and settlement of social issues. Since 2010, the private sector has contributed approximately 43% of GDP, while the state sector has contributed 29% and the foreign direct investment sector 18%. The number of private businesses has increased sharply. There were over 110,000 private businesses in 2016.
Private economic groups and large-scale businesses have been established in the processing, manufacturing, electronics, finance, and banking sectors, which require big capital and advanced technology. Major names include Vinamilk, Truong Hai Automobile Joint Stock Company, Massan Group, Hoa Phat Group, FPT, and Mobile World Company.
The Party’s resolution has identified the position of the private sector as the key to Vietnam’s economic growth.
The government’s actions
The goal of developing the private economic sector into an important driver of the national economy requires tremendous effort on multiple sides. The government has vowed to improve the business environment to ensure fairness, transparency, and safety, and to offer the best possible conditions for businesses to flourish. The government has revised policies and organized hundreds of trade promotion programs and meetings with businesses at all levels.
Prime Minister Phuc said: “We know there are a lot of pending issues related to production costs, such as warehouse fees, bank loan interest, transportation costs, and other expenses. The government will help businesses reduce those costs to boost investment efficiency.”
Prime Minister Phuc said the Party’s resolution has removed all barriers for the private sector to develop on the right track. “Vietnam has launched a new investment program to engage private businesses in all important sectors where the state is lacking resources and is calling for social investment in hospitals, schools, and power plants. We expect an active response from businesses and hope they will contribute 50-60% of GDP”.
The Prime Minister asked ministries, sectors and localities to hold regular meetings with private businesses, promptly resolve pressing issues, and create roadmaps to deal with long-term issues. Localities should review and cancel poor-performing projects and transfer the resources. Prime Minister Phuc urged the private sector to reform and improve its competitiveness. “Businesses should adopt an ambitious vision of the world markets and focus on sectors of global demand such as agriculture, food, consumer goods, and tourism. They should expand international cooperation in technology, production, and global distribution.”
The government’s activities to support private businesses conform to the Party and state’s view and businesses’ aspirations.