HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) will keep track of the economic changes in the domestic and the world markets, and strengthen its role as a Government advisory body to help ensure the success of the national targets set for this year.

This statement was made by Minister Nguyễn Chí Dũng on Wednesday during an online conference reviewing its work in 2018 and setting tasks for the next 12 months.

Attending the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Vương Đình Huệ applauded the MPI’s contribution to the country’s economic success.

Ending 2018, Việt Nam accomplished and even went beyond the targets set by the National Assembly. The economic growth reached a record of 7.08 per cent, the highest in 10 years, beating forecasts by many domestic and international organisations.

Inflation was kept at 3.54 per cent, well in line with the target of below 4 per cent. The economy’s size has expanded substantially with clear changes in the growth model.

The Deputy PM highlighted efforts in innovation and delivering initiatives in reforms. The ministry has proposed removing the procedures of appraising capital source which are under management of the MPI and Ministry of Finance, or shifting many inspection procedures from pre-check to post-check.

“This is the matter of the two ministries’ power but I highly appreciate you have courage to put your power and privileges aside for the common interest and development of the nation,” Huệ said.

Deputy PM said 2019 is a game-changing year to complete the national five-year plan on socio-economic development for 2016-20. More importantly, the economy needs a stronger driving force to get well-prepared for a new decade, especially in the context of changing trade policies of many countries and impacts of the fast-moving Industry 4.0.

He asked the ministry to keep a close watch on new developments and regularly update its domestic and international forecasts to advise the Government to direct ministries and localities to implement their tasks.

In 2019, Việt Nam’s economic expansion is expected at 6.8 per cent and inflation will be kept at less than 4 per cent.

2019’s key tasks

Minister Nguyễn Chí Dũng said they would make the best use of opportunities to develop this year.

Foreign capital is forecast to continue flowing into dynamic economies, of which Việt Nam is an attractive destination. He said Việt Nam needed to get well-prepared to receive capital selectively, as well as promote the connection between the domestic and foreign enterprises.

He highlighted key missions for 2019, one of which is to develop the production forces with a focus on strong expansion of the private sector and speed up the economic restructuring process in association with the growth model innovation, improving the growth quality, labour productivity and competitiveness of the whole economy.

Along with that, it is necessary to quickly establish the national innovation centres and promote their networks to develop innovative human resources, clean energy and apply smart production models, smart urban construction for green growth, increasing the economy’s resilience and adapting to climate change.

The minister also emphasised the need of improving the efficiency of the State governance in line with streamlining political system towards more effective and suitable to the modern market economy and international integration.

Acknowledging the ministry’s efforts in improving investment and business conditions and advising innovative policies, the Deputy PM also pointed out the ministry’s shortcomings in arranging public investment and deploying new policies.

He asked the ministry to build guiding documents of new foreign direct investment policy, support small- and medium-sized enterprises as well as review 15-year implementation of the policy on collective economic development.

“The distance from policy and enforcement needs to be shorter and policies should be more practical for them to be effective and gain trust from enterprises,” Huệ said.

He assigned MPI to focus on the mid-term public investment policy for 2020-25 and submit the draft law to the National Assemble for decision right in this term. — VNS