International economic integration work "overcomes difficulties" to create breakthroughs, contributing greatly to GDP growth

While considered an extremely challenging year, 2024 was also a successful year in terms of international economic integration.

Speaking at the Conference summarizing the work of the Ministry of Industry and Trade in 2024 and implementing tasks for 2025, held on the afternoon of December 23rd, Mr. Luong Hoang Thai - Director of the Multilateral Trade Policy Department ( Ministry of Industry and Trade ) - stated that: 2024 was a year with many difficulties and challenges for international economic integration, as the global trend of international economic integration had many unfavorable and unpredictable developments.

Mr. Luong Hoang Thai - Director of the Multilateral Policy Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade). Photo: Can Dung

However, with the guiding principle of the Minister of Industry and Trade, the focus is on maintaining and further promoting traditional markets through a harmonious combination of multilateral, regional, and bilateral cooperation mechanisms. Simultaneously, there will be breakthroughs in new markets in the Middle East and subsequently in other regions… As a result, international economic integration has made a positive contribution to import and export growth, with total import and export turnover in 2024 aiming for a target of 800 billion USD.

Besides making positive contributions to import and export activities, international economic integration in 2024 also plays an important role in diplomatic relations and enhancing Vietnam's position on the international stage. Specifically, for the first time, the expanded G7 Summit invited the Ministry of Industry and Trade to participate and deliver a speech related to Vietnam's experience in integration and attracting foreign direct investment to participate in global supply chains.

According to Mr. Luong Hoang Thai, the global economic situation is expected to become even more difficult in 2025, with the possibility of a trade war. 2025 is also considered a particularly challenging year for international economic integration. Therefore, to ensure that international economic integration deepens and yields positive results, we earnestly hope to receive guidance from the Government and relevant ministries, sectors, and localities.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade summarizes its work in 2024 and outlines its tasks for 2025. Photo: Can Dung

In fact, the Government has already issued directives on integration to ensure its effectiveness, linking it to the country's economic self-reliance and the development of localities and business communities. To promote these goals, the Ministry of Industry and Trade is implementing the Government's directives in deploying the Local Integration Index (FTA Index) and an ecosystem to support localities and businesses in effectively exploiting FTAs. The initial step is to identify the strengths and weaknesses in the integration process, and then, together with localities nationwide, to effectively implement integration commitments, bringing benefits to the economy and the people.

Furthermore, current integration efforts are very broad. Previous generations of the Ministry of Industry and Trade have boldly reformed administrative procedures in the integration process, but future integration trends involve many areas such as the environment, green transformation, digital transformation, etc. Therefore, to achieve the set goals, close guidance from the Government and the Prime Minister is needed in integration work, along with representatives from ministries, sectors, and localities to continue to flexibly handle the difficulties ahead.

Source: https://congthuong.vn/cong-tac-hoi-nhap-kinh-te-quoc-te-vuot-kho-tao-dot-pha-dong-gop-lon-vao-tang-truong-gdp-365795.html