Comments on the Draft documents to be submitted to the 14th National Party Congress:

However, the engine of the old growth model - relying mainly on capital, labor and resources - is gradually depleted, resources are limited, labor productivity increases slowly, while environmental pressure, energy and population aging are increasing.

In that context, the Draft Political Report of the 14th Party Congress has put forward the strategic orientation: “ Establishing a new growth model with the goal of improving productivity, quality, efficiency, added value and competitiveness of the economy ; taking science, technology, innovation and digital transformation as the main driving force; creating new high-quality production capacity and production methods, focusing on data economy and digital economy; promoting digital transformation, green transformation, energy transformation, structural transformation and quality of human resources”.

This is not just a technical content, but a turning point in development thinking - shifting from breadth to depth growth, from expanding inputs to increasing output value, from “doing more” to “doing smarter”.

The problem is, to become an evocative and feasible guideline, this model needs to clarify its content and operating structure, instead of just listing factors such as science , technology, digital transformation or green transformation.

Old growth model: Expanding inputs, consuming resources

Over the past four decades, Vietnam’s growth has relied mainly on public investment, cheap labor, resource exploitation and export market expansion. This model has fulfilled its historic mission: helping the country escape poverty, form a basic industry, stabilize the macro-economy and deeply integrate into the world.

Establishing a new growth model with the goal of improving productivity, quality and efficiency is one of the strategic orientations in the Draft Political Report submitted to the 14th National Party Congress. Photo: Quang Thai

However, when the economy has developed to a certain level, the old model begins to show its limits. Labor productivity increases slowly, averaging less than 5%/year, significantly lower than that of East Asian economies in the take-off stage. Total factor productivity (TFP) - an index reflecting the efficiency of knowledge and technology - contributes only about 35-40% to growth, while in Korea or Singapore, this figure reaches 60-70%.

Growth based on input expansion also entails resource consumption, environmental pollution and increased inequality. In other words, we have come far with muscle, but to go further, Vietnam must enter the era of intelligence.

New growth model: Based on knowledge, technology and innovation

The essence of the new growth model is to shift the basis for value creation - from mechanical labor to knowledge labor, from material investment to investment in people, technology and institutions. It can be summarized that:

The new growth model is a development model based on knowledge, technology, innovation and high-quality human resources, in which total productivity (TFP) and added value are created mainly thanks to scientific progress, data, modern institutions and human creativity.

If the old model takes “capital, labor, resources, market” as the driving force, the new model takes “knowledge, technology, institutions, people” as the center. The structure of this model can include five basic pillars:

1. New driving forces - science, technology, innovation, digital transformation, green transformation and knowledge economy.

2. Modern institutions - encourage competition, protect intellectual property, open space for innovation and entrepreneurship.

3. Human resources - developing talent, digital skills and lifelong learning culture, considering people as the center of development.

4. Infrastructure and data - digital infrastructure, clean energy and national innovation ecosystem.

5. Development space - growth poles, dynamic economic zones and new generation special economic zones on par with the region and the world.

Thus, instead of growth by “quantity”, the new model aims at growth by quality and productivity, where institutions, technology and people combine to create new national competitiveness.

Why is the new model inevitable?

First, the old model has run out of room. Cheap labor is gone, capital costs are high, resources are declining, while the need for technological innovation is urgent.

The need for technological innovation has become urgent for the Vietnamese economy. Photo: Quang Thai

Second, the global context is changing profoundly. The fourth industrial revolution, artificial intelligence, big data and the digital economy are restructuring the global value chain. Whoever owns technology and data will have the advantage of development. Without transformation, Vietnam will be pushed down to the lowest value stages.

Third, the commitment to sustainable and carbon-neutral development by 2050 requires a “greener, cleaner and smarter” growth model. Net-zero cannot be achieved with old technology and old models.

Fourth, the Party's development thinking has changed. Since the 13th Congress, the Party has affirmed four strategic breakthroughs: Institutions, people, science and technology, and innovation. This has created a solid political and ideological foundation for establishing a new, more modern, and sustainable growth model.

Why is the new model feasible?

Vietnam has all the conditions to enter a new growth model. A young, dynamic and intelligent workforce gives the country an advantage in absorbing technology quickly. An innovation ecosystem has been formed with more than 3,800 startups, hundreds of venture capital funds and many R&D centers of global corporations. Digital infrastructure and national data are being built synchronously; Digital government, digital economy and digital society are gradually becoming a reality.

At the same time, institutional reforms are being promoted: reducing procedures, digitizing processes, building a creative government, shifting the focus from “management” to “service and facilitation”. If these efforts continue to be steadfast, the new growth model will not only be feasible, but can also become Vietnam’s competitive advantage in the region.

Proposal to re-edit the sub-section in the Draft Political Report

To reflect the spirit of innovative thinking, the sub-section on “new growth model” should be re-edited to be clear in concept, coherent in structure, and contain practical guidance. The following new proposal is proposed:

“Establishing a new growth model based on knowledge, technology and innovation; taking improving total productivity, quality and added value as the central goal.

The main driving forces are science and technology, digital transformation, green transformation and knowledge economy. The development method is to modernize, digitalize and green industries, develop data economy, circular economy, and at the same time improve the quality of human resources.

This way of expression will help the document to be both concise and clear in thinking, demonstrating the fundamental transformation of the development model.

The advancement of growth thinking

If the 1986 Doi Moi was a revolution that liberated productive forces, then the establishment of a new growth model today is a revolution that liberates creative forces. From a wage-based economy, Vietnam can become a creative and data-based economy, where value is generated from knowledge, technology and modern institutions.

This is not only an economic requirement, but also a major step forward in the Party's development thinking. A country cannot enter the era of power by the old formula. Only when knowledge, innovation and technology become the main resources, can Vietnam truly enter a period of smart, sustainable and self-reliant growth.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/gop-y-vao-du-thao-cac-van-kien-trinh-dai-hoi-xiv-cua-dang-mo-hinh-tang-truong-moi-buoc-chuyen-cua-tu-duy-phat-trien-722093.html