Politburo member and head of the Party Central Committee’s Economic Commission Nguyen Van Binh joined other countries’ senior officials in discussing major international economic issues at a forum opened in St. Petersburg city, Russia, on June 6.

olitburo member and head of the Party Central Committee’s Economic Commission
Nguyen Van Binh (first, right) at a dialogue of the 23rd St. Petersburg International
Economic Forum 

At the opening session of the 23rd St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), the Vietnamese official delivered a speech on sustainable development and international trade.

He also took part in a high-level dialogue which gathered United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission Tigran Sargsyan, Moldovan President Igor Dodon, First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Anton Siluanov and Deputy Prime Minister of Mongolia Ulziisaikhan Enkhtuvshin.

Replying to a question about the results of Vietnam’s poverty reduction and realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals, Binh emphasised that poverty elimination is a top priority of the Vietnamese Party and State during the implementation of the UN Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals.

After 30 years of reforms, the country has made great strides in socio-economic development, bringing the household poverty rate down to 5 percent, compared to over 60 percent in the late 1980s, and becoming a middle-income country in 2008, he noted.

Talking about the US-China trade friction, Binh analysed impacts of trade tensions among countries and the protectionism trend on the Vietnamese economy in short and long terms.

He also called on the whole global community to coordinate in solving such tensions so as to sustain trade liberalisation, integration and globalisation in the future.

Apart from the opening session, the Vietnamese delegation participated in a session themed “Strategy for the Future of the Eurasian Economic Union”.

On the SPIEF’s sidelines, the delegation had meetings with Adviser to the Russian President and head of the forum’s organising board Anton Kobyakov, along with executives of Russia’s Zarubezhneft and Gazprom groups.

The SPIEF, first held in 1997, has become a leading regional and international forum for discussing trends, challenges and prospects of the world’s economic development. It is also a platform for global enterprises to meet and seek investment and business chances.

Themed “Creating a Sustainable Development Agenda”, the 23rd forum from June 6 to 8 features more than 170 activities, drawing over 17,000 delegates from around the world.