Addressing the event, Deputy PrimeMinister Hoang Trung Hai stressed the need for accurately identifyingopportunities and challenges in order to devise suitable policies forthe success of the National Strategy for Industrial Development through2020.
He pointed to the two-digit growth raterecorded for many years by the industrial sector and positive changes inthe sector’s structure, including the increasing proportion ofmanufacturing and processing in the total industrial value and theexpansion of the non-State and foreign-invested economic sectors. Theindustrial sector has become able to meet the supply of essentialproducts for other production sectors as well as for consumption, thusenhancing the economy’s self sufficiency, the Deputy PM said.
At the same time, he highlighted the existing weaknesses, particularlythe low added value of products and the dependence on extensive growth.The support industry is under developed, while industrial developmentplanning is of low quality, lacking a national vision.
In particular, productivity and labour skill are low compared to manyregional countries, the Deputy PM said, adding that only a smallproportion of workers have good technical skills while the majority onlyreceived short-term training.
Furthermore,technologies in use in the country are mostly outdated even compared tothose used in regional countries, according to the government leader.
He said therefore, the country faces great challenges in realising its goal of become an industrialized economy by 2020.
Outlining the directions for industrial development policies, theDeputy PM said they should include incentives for small- andmedium-sized enterprises, as well as support industry.
Other focuses include training skills for both managerial staff andworkers in tandem with improving infrastructure facilities to drawinternational investment, he added.
Deputy PM Haialso emphasized the protection of intellectual property, saying that itwill help raise the creativity and the development of science andtechnology in the industrial sector.
Meanwhile, Headof the Committee Vuong Dinh Hue stressed the need for developing aroadmap for developing the national industry with medium- and long-termvisions.
He also suggested incentives be devised forindustries of fundamental and strategic significance for fast andsustainable economic growth which will help enhance the economy’s selfsufficiency as well as its role in the global production anddistribution network.
Echoing Hue’s opinion aboutfocusing on key sectors, World Bank Country Director for VietnamVictoria Kwakwa called for stronger shift to productivity-based growth.
She also urged the Government to further promotethe private sector, saying that without a strong and dynamic privatesector, the industrialisation process will be slow. The World Bank iswilling to assist Vietnam in developing the sector, she said.-VNA