Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue held talks in Hanoi on September 23 with Senior Vice President and chief economist of the World Bank Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg, who is in Vietnam to attend the Vietnam Reform and Development Forum 2019.

Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue at the event (Photo: VNA) 

The Deputy PM thanked the guest for promoting partnership with Vietnam and supporting its macro-economic development policies.

 Apart from policy consultation, the WB has provided Vietnam with official development assistance and preferential loans worth nearly 24 billion USD, about 18 billion USD of which have been disbursed.

 He expressed wish to discuss with Goldberg about the strategic partnership between Vietnam and the WB, priorities in socio-economic development strategy for the 2021 – 2025 period, the impact of the global economy on Vietnam, especially amid the current US – China trade tension.

 As the size of the Vietnamese economy is small, and its involvement in the global economy is limited, it is necessary to improve competitiveness and move up in the global value chain, he said, adding that he wished to listen to the WB’s forecasts on the issue and acquire suggestions to help Vietnamese firms join the global value chain more deeply.

 The host also sought the lender’s recommendations to issues regarding agriculture, rural development and farmers, urban and regional economic development, and regional economic coordination.

 Goldberg, for her part, suggested that Vietnam should export processed and high-value products as well as focus on technological innovation in order to further join the global value chain.

 Another important point is reforming tertiary education and vocational training, with a focus on training soft skills for students and workers.

 Both sides also looked into opportunities and challenges arising from the Fourth Industrial Revolution, policies to facilitate the private sector’s involvement in sci-tech development, and improving workers’ income.