Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (right) and Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva. (Photo: VNA)

Jakarta – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met with Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva on the sidelines of the 43rd ASEAN Summit and Related Meetings in Jakarta, Indonesia, on September 4.

Georgieva highlighted the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)’s and Vietnam’s positive economic growth, which, she said, has significantly contributed to spurring the sustainable growth of the global economy.

For his part, Chinh thanked the IMF and the Managing Director for their support to Vietnam in consultancy and policy making, helping the country stabilise the macro-economy and finance-monetary sector, and recover the national economy.

Lauding the fund’s role in promoting economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic and setting forth major orientations to remove difficulties and challenges, the PM said Vietnam stays ready to work together with the IMF to implement the agenda, focusing on the three pillars of stabilising the macro economy, supporting vulnerable countries and spurring growth.

Regarding the global economic situation, Georgieva pointed to a range of difficulties and challenges, which have also affected Vietnam.

Chinh also noted that the world economy is being impacted by many factors, including the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the conflict in Ukraine, monetary tightening by many economies, supply – demand decline, and production and business stagnation.

To overcome the current difficulties and challenges, the PM and IMF Managing Director agreed on the need for comprehensive solutions to ensure peace and stability.

They emphasised the importance of strengthening international solidarity, promoting multilateralism and continuing to boost international integration.

They shared the view that countries need to join hands to find new drivers for growth including green growth, circular economy, and sharing economy as well as the need to mobilse resources to expand production and business, create more jobs, promote innovation and start-ups, and not to politicise economic and scientific and technological issues.

The two sides agreed to strengthen the signing and negotiation of free trade agreements, remove trade barriers to facilitate the global circulation of goods; handle issues peacefully and cooperatively; promote the mobilisation of resources for development through public-private partnership.

The PM emphasised that in the context of complex global economic developments and potential risks, Vietnam will continue to implement the above mentioned groups of solutions to maintain macroeconomic stability, control inflation, maintain growth momentum, ensure major balances of the economy, and control public debt.

Vietnam will continue to implement flexible and effective monetary policy and fiscal policy with key focuses, promote both domestic and foreign investment, especially investment from the state sector. Vietnam will also coordinate and call on major economic hubs including ASEAN, to join hands in implementing the solutions.

The IMF Managing Director said that in the coming time, the IMF will continue to have solutions to help member economies increase their resilience against future shocks.

In the current trend of fragmentation in the world economy, the IMF hope that ASEAN in general and Vietnam in particular, on the basis of economic growth achievements, will promote its role in connecting economies and have a stronger voice in promoting global cooperation.

Chinh affirmed that Vietnam is ready to join hands with the IMF to implement measures to promote economic recovery.

Vietnam hopes that the IMF will continue to support Vietnam in policy consulting and making, technical support so that Vietnam can achieve its set development goals.

On this occasion, Chinh invited Georgieva to visit Vietnam soon and the latter happily accepted the invitation.