Preparing the groundwork to seize new opportunities and prospects for the country.

Following the Covid-19 pandemic, the world is changing rapidly, comprehensively, and profoundly, with complex, unpredictable, and difficult-to-forecast developments in the economic, political , social, and security spheres at the regional and global levels.

Overcoming all difficulties, Vietnam has still achieved outstanding and historic achievements in socio -economic development, enhancing the country's position and prestige, creating new opportunities and favorable conditions to transform itself according to the goals set by the 13th Party Congress: By 2030, to become a developing country with modern industry and upper-middle income, and by 2045, to become a developed country with high income.

Contributing to the formation of a new mindset and a new strategic vision for development, in line with the country's new position and strength , the Ministry of Planning and Investment plays a crucial role as the "chief architect" of the economy.

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On the occasion of the Lunar New Year of the Dragon, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung had an exchange with the press on this issue.

Reporter: Minister, the country has just gone through a difficult year, with at least 10 out of 15 targets met or exceeded, notably the completion of all social targets, reflecting the positive nature of our regime. How do you assess these results?

Minister Nguyen Chi Dung: In 2023, the global and regional situation was volatile, unpredictable, and beyond forecasting capabilities, facing many difficulties and challenges.

Against this backdrop, our country's economy has steadily overcome difficulties and challenges, continuing to achieve many important and fairly comprehensive results in various fields. These include:

Thanks to the Party's leadership, the National Assembly's support and coordination, and the involvement of the entire political system, the Government and the Prime Minister have provided close, timely, effective, and synchronized guidance and management to ministries, sectors, and localities in implementing solutions and policies to overcome difficulties and obstacles, support production and business, and the economy, focusing on promoting growth across all three drivers: investment, consumption, and exports. Macroeconomic stability has been fundamentally maintained, inflation has been controlled, and major balances, state budget revenue, energy security, and food security have been ensured.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh delivered a directive speech at the Conference summarizing the work of 2023 and implementing the tasks for 2024 of the Planning, Investment and Statistics sector.

In 2023, credit rating agency Fitch Ratings maintained Vietnam's credit rating at BB in June, upgraded it to BB+ in December, with a "Stable" outlook, while downgrading the ratings of several major economies.

The estimated economic growth for the whole year is 5.05%, which, although lower than the target, is among the highest in the world and the region; economic growth, industrial production, exports, etc., have improved positively quarter by quarter and month by month.

Fundamental factors such as institutions, the investment and business environment, infrastructure, human resource quality, science and technology, and innovation have improved relatively significantly.

475km of expressways have been completed, bringing the total length of expressways nationwide to approximately 1,900km.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended the inauguration ceremony of the National Innovation Center (NIC) on the morning of October 28, 2023, at the Hoa Lac High-Tech Park, Hanoi. Photo: TRAN HAI

The science and technology ecosystem, innovation, and national innovation network continue to develop strongly; the National Innovation Center was inaugurated in Hoa Lac; new industries, chip and semiconductor industries are being promoted.

Cultural and social fields are given priority; social welfare work is implemented promptly and effectively; people's lives continue to improve; and national defense and security are ensured.

Foreign relations, high-level diplomacy, and economic diplomacy were outstanding highlights, achieving significant and historically meaningful accomplishments. In particular, the successful hosting of visits by US President Joe Biden and General Secretary and President Xi Jinping elevated relations with the US to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Peace, Cooperation, and Development; and elevated relations with Japan to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

This opens up new opportunities and advantages for cooperation and development in many economic fields and emerging industries such as chips, semiconductors, culture, science and technology, innovation, and high-quality human resource training…

These are crucial factors that create favorable momentum for us to accelerate and make breakthroughs in 2024, aiming to achieve the highest possible results in the 2021-2025 five-year growth and development targets and the ten-year strategy.

Reporter: Minister, what contributions did the Ministry of Planning and Investment make to the success of the Vietnamese economy in 2023?

The achievements in the socio-economic development tasks of 2023 were significantly contributed to by the Ministry of Planning and Investment, in its role as the strategic advisory body to the Party, State, Government, and Prime Minister. These contributions are demonstrated through the outstanding results in the country's socio-economic development in 2023 and previous years. Notable among these are:

1. Developing and shaping a new mindset and a new strategic vision for development, in line with the country's new strengths and capabilities, and better meeting the practical demands placed on each industry, sector, and locality, both now and in the future.
2. The scale and potential of the economy are constantly being enhanced, and growth is being promoted on the basis of maintaining macroeconomic stability, controlling inflation, and ensuring the major balances of the economy.
3. Implementing the three strategic breakthroughs has yielded many tangible results. Strengthening decentralization and delegation of power, coupled with resource allocation, has created conditions for sectors and localities to exercise initiative and flexibility in implementation, in accordance with the context, situation, and practical requirements.
4. To date, 109 out of 111 planning documents have been completed, appraised, and approved, fulfilling the basic objective of submitting and approving all plans in 2023. This creates new spaces and new growth drivers, while also providing a legal basis for ministries, sectors, and localities to prioritize attracting investment and allocating resources for the development of industries, sectors, and localities in the medium and long term.
5. Make breakthroughs in institutional regional linkages, establish and strengthen the operation of regional coordination councils to effectively coordinate the implementation of the Politburo's resolutions on regional development, and create new drivers and growth poles for the country.
6. Disbursement of public investment capital in 2023 showed many positive developments, with monthly and quarterly disbursement results consistently higher than the same period last year, both in relative and absolute terms.
7. Timely and coordinated implementation of various policies and solutions to support production and business, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, to overcome difficulties and adapt to new global trends.
8. Vietnam's position and role in the global FDI flow continue to be enhanced. Vietnam is not only an attractive investment destination, with registered FDI capital reaching approximately US$36.6 billion in 2023, an increase of over 32%, but it is also proactively and actively investing abroad, including in developed economies such as the US and Canada, and in new industrial sectors.
9. Strongly promoting innovation, the digital economy, green growth, the circular economy, new economic sectors such as chip and semiconductor manufacturing, high-tech agriculture, training high-quality human resources, improving the effectiveness of investment promotion and attraction, and supporting overseas investment… to better capitalize on opportunities arising from major power strategic competition, global FDI shifts, FTAs, strategic partnerships, and comprehensive strategic partnerships, especially with major economies.
10. Foreign relations and economic diplomacy have achieved many important successes, enhancing the country's position and prestige, and opening up new opportunities and favorable conditions for national development...

These are important results that will not only help boost socio-economic growth and development in 2023, but also enhance internal capacity and self-reliance, significantly improving the fundamental factors for rapid and sustainable growth of the country in the future.