HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) should clarify weaknesses and bottlenecks in the development of industries to have a better plan on industrial restructuring, experts said at a workshop held in Hà Nội yesterday. 

The event, held by the MoIT and the European Trade Policy and Investment Support Project (MUTRAP), sought feedback on a draft plan on Việt Nam’s industrial restructuring for 2017-20.

The plan is expected to be submitted to the Government for approval in June.

Lê Tiến Trường, General Director of the Việt Nam National Textile and Garment Group, said much data on the textile and garment industry in the draft was incorrect such as labour productivity, added value and imports. Therefore, the plan is unreliable and should be overhauled. 

The plan hasn’t defined an industrial restructuring process, he noted, saying that the plan says labour productivity must be raised by 5 per cent to improve competitiveness, without mentioning any processes to realise that target. 

Meanwhile, Việt Nam ranks fifth among the countries with highest labour productivity in fibre and textile production. It follows China in terms of labour productivity in garment manufacturing. 

To promote textile-garment productivity, update technology and equipment should be updated. If the plan named improving manpower management and training as the key solution, it would be the wrong move, Trường said. 

Nguyễn Tuệ Anh, Deputy Director of the Central Institute for Economic Management, said the MoIT’s plan needs to clarify bottlenecks and their causes in the development of industries so as to devise effective solutions. 

Director General of the ministry’s Planning Department Dương Duy Hưng admitted that a clearer plan which points out major bottlenecks and details restructuring is necessary in order to use resources efficiently. 

The MoIT will gather more opinions to fine-tune the draft, he added.

Industrial production value in Việt Nam has surged by nearly 3.5 times from VNĐ350 trillion (US$15.4 billion) to VNĐ1,170 trillion ($51.5 billion) over the last 10 years. It makes up about 31-32 per cent of the country’s GDP, according to the MoIT. 

In recent years, electronics, textile-garment and footwear have become key exports, accounting for more than 60 per cent of the country’s total export revenue. 

However, MoIT Deputy Minister Cao Quốc Hưng said the country still ranks 101st among 143 countries in terms of per capita added value in processing and manufacturing industries. Industrial labour productivity is still outpaced by developed nations and other countries in the region. This is a problem with Việt Nam in the initial stages of industrialisation. 

Therefore, the draft plan on industrial restructuring has been built to promote substantive industrial restructuring, he noted. — VNS