NTO - Vietnam continues to be an economic bright spot

Reporting at the conference summarizing the work of 2023 and deploying the tasks of 2024 of the Government and local authorities on the morning of January 5, Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai said that in 2023, we will carry out the task of socio -economic development in a favorable context, with opportunities and difficulties and challenges intertwined, but with more difficulties and challenges.

Many bright spots

Thanks to the drastic participation of the entire political system, the socio-economic situation continues to recover, each month is more positive than the previous month, each quarter is higher than the previous quarter. Basically achieving the set general goals and many important results in various fields, continuing to be a bright spot in the "not so bright" picture of the world economy.

According to Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai, the leadership, direction and management work has been innovated, proactive, flexible and more effective. Strictly implementing the resolutions and conclusions of the Central Committee, the Politburo and the National Assembly , with the motto "Solidarity, discipline, flexibility, innovation, timeliness and effectiveness", the Government and the Prime Minister have reported to the Central Committee, the Politburo and the Secretariat for opinions, and submitted to the National Assembly to immediately remove difficulties in institutions, mechanisms and policies; closely following the practical situation, responding to policies promptly, effectively and at the right time, regularly checking and urging the implementation of tasks and solutions in all fields.

The Tuyen Quang - Phu Tho expressway section is as beautiful as a silk strip across the local mountainous terrain. Illustration photo: Van Son/Tin Tuc Newspaper

The Government focuses on leading and directing the implementation of socio-economic recovery and development, quickly "turning the situation around, changing the state"; promoting administrative procedure reform, digital transformation, improving the investment and business environment; focusing on implementing 3 strategic breakthroughs, restructuring the economy; accelerating progress, improving the quality of planning; widely applying information technology to manage towards the grassroots level. Establishing 5 Working Groups to urge the disbursement of public investment capital and 26 Working Groups of Government Members to directly grasp and immediately remove difficulties and obstacles in localities; Working Group of the Government to solve real estate problems.

Many conferences and meetings have been held to promptly handle important and urgent issues. Focus on directing the handling of long-standing issues and newly arising issues. Resolutely prevent and combat corruption, negativity and waste. Focus on developing cultural and social fields, protecting the environment, strengthening national defense and security, promoting foreign affairs and international integration.

Some important results pointed out by the Deputy Prime Minister are that the macro economy is basically stable, inflation and public debt are controlled, growth is promoted, and major balances are ensured. The economic growth for the whole year increased by 5.05%, among the high growth groups in the region and the world, raising the size of the economy to about 430 billion USD. The average annual consumer price index increased by 3.25% (the target is about 4.5%). The monetary and foreign exchange markets are basically stable, and the interest rate level has decreased by about 2% compared to the end of 2022.

The agricultural sector is a bright spot and continues to be a strong pillar of the economy. In 2023, it increased by 3.83% compared to 2022, the highest in the past 10 years. The service sector increased by 6.82%, total retail sales of goods and consumer service revenue increased by 9.6% compared to 2022. Industry recovered quickly each quarter, increasing by 3.02% for the whole year.

State budget revenue exceeded the estimate by about 8.12% under the condition of implementing exemptions, reductions, and extensions of many types of taxes, fees, charges, and land rents of nearly VND 194 trillion, while promoting increased revenue and saving expenditures, and setting aside about VND 560 trillion to ensure sufficient resources for salary reform in the 3 years 2024 - 2026. State budget deficit, public debt, government debt, national foreign debt, and direct debt repayment obligations of the Government compared to total state budget revenue are much lower than the limits and warning thresholds according to the Resolution of the National Assembly.

Notably, the total import-export turnover for the whole year of 2023 is estimated to reach 683 billion USD, of which the trade surplus is about 28 billion USD, the highest ever, contributing to increasing the national foreign exchange reserves. Energy security and food security are ensured, with 8.34 million tons of rice exported, valued at 4.78 billion USD, up 38.4%, also the highest level ever.

Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai said that many prestigious international organizations highly appreciated the results and prospects of our country's economy. Fitch Ratings upgraded the country's long-term credit rating to BB+ (from BB), with a "Stable" outlook. Only 2 out of 62 countries in the Asia-Pacific region were upgraded; Vietnam's national brand value reached 431 billion USD, up 1 place to 32nd out of 100 strong national brands and had the fastest growth rate in value in the world in the period 2020 - 2022.

Total social investment capital increased by 6.2% compared to 2022. Disbursement of public investment capital is expected to reach 95% of the plan (91.42% in 2022), the absolute figure reached nearly 676 trillion VND, the highest ever, about 146 trillion VND higher than in 2022. Foreign investment attraction reached nearly 36.6 billion USD, an increase of 32.1% in the context of global trade and investment shrinking; realized FDI capital reached nearly 23.2 billion USD (up 3.5%), the highest ever, showing that Vietnam is still an attractive destination for foreign investors and is the effect of the "bamboo" diplomacy.

Economic restructuring continues to be promoted; national digital transformation is actively promoted. In 2023, the proportion of the digital economy is estimated to reach about 16.5% of GDP, making it the country with the fastest digital economic growth rate in Southeast Asia for two consecutive years (2022 - 2023). Public investment is restructured in a focused and key direction, focusing on projects with high spillover effects, creating development momentum and regional connectivity.

Resolutely implement 3 strategic breakthroughs

Referring to the implementation of 3 strategic breakthroughs, the Deputy Prime Minister said that the work of building and perfecting institutions has been focused on, with many innovations in direction and approach. In 2023, the Government held 10 thematic meetings on law-making; submitted 16 laws and 29 resolutions to the National Assembly for approval, and provided opinions on 10 draft laws. The Government and the Prime Minister issued 127 legal documents. Completed the preparation, appraisal, and approval of 108/111 plans, of which the National Assembly approved the National Master Plan.

The Government focused on implementing the Project on merging district and commune-level administrative units approved by the Politburo and the National Assembly. 628 business regulations were reduced and simplified; 535 procedures were simplified, and 153 administrative procedures were decentralized. Reviewed and improved the organizational structure; promoted decentralization and delegation of power; strengthened administrative discipline and order and public service culture. Vietnam's business environment ranking increased by 12 places. Project 06 was directed resolutely with high determination, achieved outstanding results, and is a bright spot in national digital transformation.

The construction of strategic infrastructure systems has made remarkable changes, especially breakthroughs in transport infrastructure. Strongly develop green infrastructure, modern digital infrastructure, urban infrastructure, and rural infrastructure. The quality of general education, university education, and vocational education continues to be improved.

“Vietnam's global innovation index ranked 46/132, up 2 places compared to 2022,” said the Deputy Prime Minister.

According to Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai, all social targets have been achieved and exceeded, clearly demonstrating the good nature of our regime. Many traditional cultural values and cultural heritages have been inherited, preserved and developed, and have been internationally recognized; Vietnam is a member of the World Heritage Committee for the second time.

Another bright spot is poverty reduction, which has been highly appreciated by the international community; the poverty rate according to the multidimensional poverty standard has decreased by 1.1% (currently 2.93%). In addition, the labor and employment sector has changed positively; the unemployment rate in urban areas is about 2.76% (lower than the target set by the National Assembly of under 4%); effective implementation of policies and regimes to support workers, especially workers who have lost their jobs or have reduced working hours.

The Government has resolutely implemented the direction of the General Secretary, Head of the Central Steering Committee on anti-corruption and negativity; through inspections, it has discovered and recommended a 7.6% increase in the number of cases recovered to the state budget, and a 12.5% increase in the number of cases transferred to the investigation agency compared to 2022. The investigation agencies of the Ministry of Public Security have accepted to investigate over 1,100 cases with nearly 3,000 defendants for corruption crimes; including particularly serious cases under the supervision and direction of the Central Steering Committee, contributing to strengthening people's trust. Focus on resolving complaints and denunciations right at the grassroots level; the rate of resolving complaints and denunciations under authority remains high (88.4%).

National defense and security are strengthened; foreign affairs and international integration are promoted and are the bright spots of 2023.

Provinces and centrally-run cities have strived to overcome difficulties, exploit their unique potentials, outstanding opportunities, and competitive advantages to the fullest, and have achieved quite comprehensive results, contributing to the overall achievements of the country. GRDP of many provinces and cities has achieved quite high growth rates. They have actively shifted from the mindset of "agricultural production" to "agricultural economy". Industrial production in many places has recovered impressively or maintained rapid growth... Some provinces in ethnic minority and mountainous areas such as Ha Giang, Tuyen Quang, Lai Chau, Lao Cai, Dien Bien, and Kon Tum have achieved rapid poverty reduction rates.

Economic growth has not reached the set target

Emphasizing that in addition to the basic achievements, the Deputy Prime Minister said that our country still has some limitations and shortcomings that need to be focused on overcoming. Economic growth has not yet reached the set target. The main reasons are the decline in aggregate demand, disruption of the supply chain, production, and tight monetary policies of our large and traditional markets... Electricity production and supply basically meet demand, but there is still a local shortage of electricity in May-June 2023, mainly due to the passive and confused dispatch, transmission and distribution stages. Production and business activities face many difficulties, the number of dissolved and bankrupt enterprises is increasing, and the situation of enterprises lacking orders is common, mainly due to the decline in domestic and foreign consumption demand.

“Access to credit is still difficult. The real estate market, although improving, is still sluggish mainly due to segmentation problems and legal issues. The corporate bond market is being unblocked and inspection and supervision are being strengthened, but there are still potential risks. Handling weak credit institutions and remaining backlog projects is facing many difficulties due to the need to carry out many processes and procedures, including accurately assessing and appraising the value of assets that have been there for many years,” said the Deputy Prime Minister.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, administrative procedures, especially investment procedures, are still cumbersome. The lives of a segment of the population are still difficult. The shortage of medicine, equipment, and medical supplies still occurs in some places, due to the fear of making mistakes in some agencies and medical facilities.

Security, social order and safety, and crime in some areas still have complex factors, especially drug crimes and cyber crimes. Fire prevention and fighting work has also resulted in some serious incidents and accidents such as fires in “mini” apartments. Natural disasters, droughts, storms, floods, saltwater intrusion, extreme weather, landslides, riverbank and coastal erosion continue to develop unpredictably, causing serious consequences.

According to VNA/Tin Tuc Newspaper

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