Participants at the Vietnam Summit 2016 (Photo: VNA)HCM City (VNA) – The Vietnam Summit 2016, an annual conference on external economics, was opened in Ho Chi Minh City on November 3 morning under the theme “Smooth Sailing Ahead”.
The event, co-organised by the Foreign Ministry and the UK’s The Economist magazine, brought together leading voices from ministries, localities, international financial organisations, domestic and foreign businesses, and economists.
Opening the summit, Jons Fasman, Southeast Asian bureau chief for The Economist, said Vietnam Summit 2016 is a chance for the Vietnamese Government, enterprises, experts and scholars to learn about the country’s most pressing issues, discuss opportunities and challenges facing Vietnam, and seek answers to its development future.
Speaking on the Vietnamese Government’s policy viewpoints, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh said the three decades of reforms have brought about enormous economic achievements, including high growth rates maintained for a long time.
However, Vietnam is facing a need for changes to ensure sustainable development, the Deputy PM said, adding that the Government wants to maintain a reasonable growth rate, at about 6.5 – 7 percent annually, in the next five years.
He stressed that to that end, it is necessary to promote productivity and application of advanced technologies and techniques to raise quality. Vietnam should also boost foreign trade, stimulate domestic market and production activities, and accelerate State-owned enterprise equitisation.
Minh said the Vietnamese Government is committed to designing transparent policies and providing the best possible conditions to ensure an equal and fair playground for enterprises and people. It has also encouraged localities to attract foreign investment, especially in industries using high technology, and create an effective competition environment.
At the summit, participants discussed issues pertaining to macro-economic policies and business climate in Vietnam such as the country in relation to the global economic situation, the future of manufacturing industry, business breakthroughs, building an industrialised Vietnam, and its position in the regional and global geopolitics.-VNA
