Politburo member and head of the Party Central Committee’s Economic Commission Nguyen Van Binh on December 9 had a working session with the Permanent Mission of Vietnam to the United Nations (UN) and representative agencies after attending the Vietnam Executive Leadership Programme (VELP 2019) at Harvard University in Boston.

Politburo member and head of the Party Central Committee’s Economic Commission
Nguyen Van Binh (R) and Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy at the working session on
December 9 (Photo: VNA)

Binh, who is also Secretary of the Party Central Committee, highlighted several important issues that were discussed with US professors at the VELP 2019 from December 2-6, including the need to develop a digital economy as well as investment in technology and high-quality human resources.

Vietnam is working towards the goal of 1 million businesses by 2020, and the target is feasible as the country already has around 734,000 firms, he said, adding it is crucial to ensure the quality and scale of enterprises.

He also stressed that scientific and technological capacity of Vietnamese companies still lags behind the requirements needed to join the global value chain even though the country is integrating deeply into the global economy.

Regarding the adjustment to GDP calculation, Binh said the current calculation method is not a suitable measure of economic growth as it does not reflect value of the underground economy.

Only when the GDP is properly calculated will the Government be able to understand the true economic scale to outline economic development roadmaps for five years and ten years as well as adopt suitable macro-economic management policies, he said.

The Party official described macro-economic stability as Vietnam’s largest achievement in 2019. However, he said more efforts should be made to ensure the domestic economy remains resilient to global shocks.

Besides, the Government should renew management for the market economy and create favourable conditions for the private sector to become a driver for the local economy, he said.

Meanwhile, Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy, Head of the Vietnamese Permanent Mission to the UN, said that meticulous preparations are underway as Vietnam will assume the role of the UN Security Council (UNSC) Chair in January 2020.

Quy said that differences among the five UNSC permanent members, including the US, the UK, France, Russia and China, pose great challenges for Vietnam in its new position at the world’s largest multilateral organisation.

He explained that the divide between the permanent members has meant the UNSC’s legally-binding resolutions have not been carried out for years, placing a great burden on Vietnam to handle sophisticated missions which have surged 175 percent compared to the workload a decade ago.