Unlocking new growth drivers!

At the invitation of Klaus Schwab, Founder and Chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF), Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his wife, along with a high-level Vietnamese delegation, attended the 54th annual meeting of the WEF in Davos, Switzerland from January 15-19.

On the morning of January 16th, the special aircraft carrying Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his wife, along with a high-level Vietnamese delegation, landed in Zurich, Switzerland, marking the beginning of the first leg of their European trip.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh participates in the policy dialogue "Vietnam: Orienting Towards a Global Vision". (Source: VNA)

At WEF Davos 2024, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chaired, attended, and spoke at events within the framework of the WEF Davos 2024 Conference, such as the Seminar on Attracting Investment in the Semiconductor Sector; the Vietnam-WEF National Strategic Dialogue; the Policy Dialogue "Vietnam - Towards a Global Vision"; the Seminar on Promoting New Growth Drivers in Vietnam; and the discussion session "Promoting the Role of Global Cooperation in ASEAN".

Transform, search, and create.

At the WEF Davos 2024 conference, themed "Rebuilding Trust," Vietnam was one of nine partners proposed by the WEF to jointly organize a National Strategic Dialogue, and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh was one of eight national leaders who had a separate dialogue session with the WEF. This demonstrates the interest, recognition, and high regard of the WEF and multinational corporations for Vietnam's international role, position, achievements, and development vision.

The Prime Minister met with Professor Klaus Schwab, founder and chairman of the WEF; held bilateral meetings with leaders of countries, international organizations, and businesses associated with the WEF; attended and spoke at a seminar on the experience and model of developing an international financial center in Switzerland; and met with leaders of leading Swiss corporations and businesses.

This year's WEF Davos conference is taking place against a backdrop of complex and unpredictable global political, economic, and security changes; increasing great power competition and confrontation, leading to fragmentation, politicization, and security-related issues in economic cooperation; local conflicts occurring in many places; and countries prioritizing strategic autonomy and sustainable development. The global economy continues to face many difficulties, with slow growth, and a mix of opportunities and challenges.

Meanwhile, climate change, energy transition, the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI), and advanced technologies are profoundly impacting the economic policy-making of countries and businesses.

For Vietnam, despite overcoming the difficulties and challenges of 2023, the country maintained macroeconomic stability, controlled inflation, and promoted growth. By the end of the year, Vietnam had attracted nearly $37 billion in registered FDI capital and disbursed approximately $23 billion.

The year 2024 is significant in continuing to promote the implementation of the Resolution of the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam. The country has achieved many socio-economic development successes; politics, security, and national defense have been maintained; and foreign affairs have been implemented actively, practically, and effectively, contributing to maintaining peace and stability, enhancing the country's prestige and position, and opening up many opportunities and potential for cooperation with leading economies in the world.

Macroeconomics and other balances are ensured, and inflation is under control. GDP growth in 2023 continued its positive recovery trend, becoming the 11th largest economy in Asia, among the top 40 largest economies in the world, among the top 30 economies with the largest trade volume in the world, and among the top three countries attracting FDI in ASEAN over the past 10 years.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh introduced Vietnam's successes, socio-economic development strategy, priority areas for attracting investment, and specific policies that the Government will implement at the Vietnam National Strategic Dialogue, within the framework of the WEF, themed "New Development Horizons: Driving Transformation, Unlocking New Growth Drivers in Vietnam".

The key point emphasized by the Prime Minister was, "No country or economy, if it retains the old mindset and relies solely on traditional growth drivers, can achieve rapid and sustainable development." The Prime Minister affirmed that transforming, seeking, and creating new growth drivers is an objective and inevitable trend in today's world.

To promote transformation and unlock new growth drivers, Vietnam focuses on four main groups of solutions: improving institutions, concentrating on infrastructure development, developing human resources, and restructuring the economy in conjunction with innovating the growth model. Among these, Vietnam prioritizes the development of renewable energy industries, green transformation, digital transformation, the semiconductor industry, and the promotion of innovation.

Regarding foreign policy, the Prime Minister stated that Vietnam consistently pursues an independent, self-reliant, diversified, and multilateral foreign policy, acting as a good friend, a reliable partner, and a responsible member of the international community. Vietnam adheres to its "four no's" defense policy; firmly protecting its independence, sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity; ensuring political stability and social order; and maintaining a peaceful and stable environment for development.

This consistent viewpoint was further reaffirmed by the head of the Vietnamese government when he was the keynote speaker at the Dialogue session "Vietnam: Orienting Towards a Global Vision." Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized, "Vietnam has put the past behind it, overcome differences to turn enemies into friends, promote similarities, and look towards the future," when asked about Vietnam's perspective on balancing relations with major powers. This is despite Vietnam being one of the countries that suffered the most damage since World War II, constantly impacted by war, blockade, and embargo.

Answering a question about the secret to Vietnam's success, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that Vietnam has always steadfastly and creatively applied Marxism-Leninism, Ho Chi Minh Thought, and the glorious historical and cultural traditions of the nation spanning thousands of years. In particular, the Prime Minister emphasized that "Vietnam also promotes the spirit of self-reliance and self-strength, relying fundamentally on internal resources, while also receiving support and assistance from international friends."

The Prime Minister's participation in the WEF Davos 2024 conference is an opportunity for the Vietnamese government to directly convey to leaders of other countries, international organizations, and multinational corporations Vietnam's strong commitment and solutions for implementing its sustainable socio-economic development strategy and international integration. This includes the continued strong reform of the growth model, the development of a green economy, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the promotion of innovation and digital transformation on the principles of equality and inclusiveness, and the enhancement of resilience, demonstrating Vietnam's determination to fulfill its commitments at COP26 - bringing net emissions to "zero" by 2050.

Ambassador Le Thi Tuyet Mai, Head of the Permanent Mission of Vietnam to the United Nations, the World Trade Organization and other international organizations in Geneva.

At the seminar "Vietnam - ASEAN's Leading Destination for Sustainable Investment," chaired by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on January 17th, delegates enthusiastically explored new investment opportunities in Vietnam; regulations and policies related to import and export, investment attraction, infrastructure development, innovation promotion, artificial intelligence development, sustainable energy transition, monetary policy, exchange rate management, and Vietnam's priorities during its current transition period…

Mr. Thomas Serva, CEO of Baracoda Group (France), stated that Vietnam is one of the most attractive destinations, with abundant and high-quality human resources and good relations between Vietnam and France. The company hopes to participate in building innovation centers and developing artificial intelligence in Vietnam.

"Listen to the heartbeat of the world"

Ahead of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's working visit, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Hang assessed that the Prime Minister's trip to attend the WEF Davos conference is also an opportunity for Vietnam to "listen to the pulse of the world," grasp ideas, thinking, development models, governance and development trends, thereby taking advantage of new opportunities and trends to effectively respond to challenges and develop socio-economic aspects.

Here, the principle of "harmonious benefits, shared risks" was once again highlighted by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, clearly affirming that Vietnam always stands alongside foreign investors on this principle.

Presiding over a roundtable discussion with global businesses on cooperation in AI development, automotive technology, semiconductor chips, and related ecosystems, the Prime Minister stated that Vietnam's socio-economic development strategy for 2021-2030 clearly defines the mobilization of all resources for rapid and sustainable development based on science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation.

Among these, AI, semiconductors, and the automotive industry are crucial sectors, possessing both existing drivers of growth that need revitalization and new drivers for development. Vietnam has issued a development strategy in the field of AI, building national data centers connected to data centers of ministries, sectors, and localities.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (second from left) and speakers at the discussion session: "Lessons from ASEAN". (Source: VNA)

Regarding the semiconductor industry, Vietnam identifies it as a new driving force for development and will invest in participating in all three stages of the semiconductor microchip value chain: design, manufacturing, and packaging. In terms of automotive technology, the development of electric vehicles, the use of clean fuels, low carbon emissions, and investment in green transportation are key priorities.

With AI, Vietnam will actively exploit its advantages but also mitigate its negative impacts, starting with building a national database, alongside refining policies.

Representatives from major corporations have assessed that Vietnam has been attracting an increasing number of semiconductor companies. Several large corporations are already present and planning to expand their investments in Vietnam, such as Intel, Samsung, Amkor, Qualcomm, Infineon, Marvell, etc. Many corporations and partners also highly appreciate Vietnam's potential in this field.

The Prime Minister shared that Vietnam is one of the countries most strongly affected by climate change, emphasizing the commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050 at COP26. Vietnam is proactively enhancing its capacity to adapt to landslides, droughts, and natural disasters, and implementing new initiatives on sustainable development.

Agreeing with the Prime Minister's remarks, WEF leaders and business representatives highly appreciated Vietnam's achievements in economic recovery, development, and growth in terms of scale and trade, as well as its determination to transform and its economic prospects.

WEF members recognize Vietnam as one of the bright spots in the region's economic recovery, playing a pioneering role in transforming its growth model and committing to energy transition. Vietnam was assessed as one of the countries of greatest interest to the business community at this conference. Many businesses affirmed their satisfaction with investment projects in Vietnam, impressed by the government's decisive policies and measures to create an attractive investment environment, as well as its consistently strong support and attention.

Businesses requested that Vietnam continue to share information on issues requiring support and maintain stable, long-term policies.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh once reminded the international community that, in the face of "headwinds," it needs "global solidarity and multilateralism, as well as a people-centered approach." The Vietnamese leader can confidently speak at this event because Vietnam has made significant contributions to addressing many global issues and deserves international recognition for these efforts.

Swiss Ambassador to Vietnam Thomas Gass

Model of rapid and sustainable development

In a cordial meeting with WEF Founder and Chairman Klaus Schwab, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Professor Klaus Schwab discussed the major themes of the WEF Davos Conference, current challenges, new development trends, and cooperation between Vietnam and the WEF.

Highly appreciating the theme "Rebuilding Trust," the Prime Minister stated that it is a practical, relevant, and significant theme in the current context, contributing to the process of consolidating trust, promoting international solidarity, and inspiring all nations to work together for the development of humanity.

The WEF founder lavished praise on Vietnam, describing it not only as "a star in East Asia but also in the process of transforming into a globally influential economic powerhouse." Vietnam is also a prime example of reform and development, internationally recognized as a model for rapid and sustainable economic growth.

Professor Klaus Schwab not only predicted that Vietnam would soon become one of the world's 20 largest economies, but also stated that the participation and insightful sharing, along with the strategic vision of the Vietnamese Prime Minister, delivered important messages and solutions to address challenges and restore global confidence.

Following his departure from the WEF conference, the Prime Minister and his wife will pay official visits to Hungary and Romania. This marks the first exchange of delegations at the prime minister level between Vietnam and Hungary and Romania, respectively, in seven and five years.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's visit also provides an opportunity for countries to strengthen cooperation, aiming to connect Vietnam with the Central and Eastern European region and between the two countries and ASEAN. This will help coordinate closely in addressing global issues, contributing to peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region and the world.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/thu-tuong-du-wef-davos-2024-mo-ra-cac-dong-luc-tang-truong-moi-257857.html