Prosperous Vietnam - The historic opportunity has come

Vietnam has a solid foundation to enter a new era - the era of national growth.

Photo: Gia Han

The new era has taken off smoothly.

Vietnam's new era has had a favorable momentum; it is the achievement of 40 years of innovation, the achievement of concretizing the Party and State's guidelines and policies, especially the 7 recent resolutions related to innovation, science and technology, private economy , energy, social security and educational breakthroughs. The development history of the world's great powers has proven that when all components of the production force are given good environmental conditions and have an equal playing field for development, the best and most superior results will be selected, oriented towards sustainable development. Therefore, these are important stepping stones for Vietnam to accelerate and confidently reach the era of strong and prosperous development. In particular, the quartet of Resolutions 57-59-68-66 has paved the way to promote the strength of the entire nation. When every family gets rich, every person develops their full potential to get rich, the country will be prosperous, the country will be strong. With the Party and State's open-minded orientation transformed into a correct legal system, combined with the support and enthusiastic resonance of all economic sectors, we have every reason to be confident that Vietnam will successfully rise up and enter a new era.

PHOTO: NVCC

Dr. Nguyen Van Dien , Head of the Department of Political Economy, Regional Political Academy II

Lightning-fast seizing of the nation's historical opportunity

The concept of the era of national rise is a sudden change, but in my opinion, it is not surprising, because it is still within the orbit of the development concept: linking national independence with socialism, promoting national interests in the context of an unstable world and fierce competition. The aspiration to build an independent, self-reliant Vietnam, with a development model suitable for the times, with a new step forward of human civilization is also the nature of the aspiration to rise of the Vietnamese Revolution. What surprised me most was the speed - 1 day equals a hundred years. The opportunity is just a historical moment, sometimes appearing hundreds of years, if we do not discover and seize the opportunity, we can be forever backward. We have done it at lightning speed.

Along with that, Vietnam in the new era is being updated with the times, associated with new values of the times, must accelerate so as not to fall behind the civilization of the world. An extremely important point is that no matter how much it opens up, internal strength is still the decisive factor. General Secretary To Lam affirmed 3 important internal strengths: First, the economy is still the center with the pillar being the private economy; Second is promoting the role of the strength of great national unity; Third is the work of building a strong Party, a strong political system, building a team of elite key cadres and a modern, professional, technocratic administration. If these 3 internal strengths continue to be promoted and developed with specific, clear mechanisms and policies, nothing can stop Vietnam from entering the era of power.

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Dr. Nguyen Viet Hung, former Head of the Department of Party Building and Ho Chi Minh Thought, Ho Chi Minh City Academy of Officials

Must rise with "national capital"

To enter the era of development , Vietnam cannot continue to rely too much on FDI capital and imported technology as before, but needs to strongly develop internal resources, especially core technology. To form a foundation for self-sufficient production, the decisive factor is a well-trained workforce from the beginning, with a focus on natural sciences and technology. This requires us to go back to the roots of education: build training orientation, develop a system of facilities and a synchronous legal corridor, so that people have an environment to create, research, and create products that directly serve production, from components to supporting industries.

This is the right way to use "national capital" instead of bleeding into real estate or short-term fields. In my opinion, the only way to transform is to reinvest in education, giving strong priority to science and technology. To have technology, there must be a solid foundation of basic science. Therefore, improving the quality of training in mathematics, physics and other natural sciences is a key premise for the country to rise. Only by developing core technology ourselves, based on the foundation of basic science, can we realize our aspiration to rise in the new era.

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MSc. Tran Anh Tung, Head of Business Administration, University of Economics and Finance, Ho Chi Minh City

Specific policies are needed for great aspirations.

Vietnam possesses many advantages to enter a new stage of development. First of all, the young population - although about to pass the golden population period, the young generation has the ability to adapt quickly to technology, dynamic and creative thinking. Telecommunications infrastructure is strongly developed, even in remote areas, people can still access the internet. Vietnamese people have the ability to quickly explore and use technology, combined with a stable political system, clear policies such as Resolution 57 on mastering technology, along with a favorable geo-economic position, helping Vietnam become a potential innovation center of the region. These are prerequisites for the aspiration to rise up.

However, the biggest challenge lies in the lack of synchronization. Vietnam has many dynamic startups and a rapidly growing private sector, but 98% are still small and medium-sized enterprises. Meanwhile, the technology sector and support mechanisms are not strong enough to create a comprehensive ecosystem. If we want to maintain the momentum of development, we need to develop the technology sector synchronously, especially attracting and retaining talent... Along with that, large enterprises need to play the role of "guiding" small enterprises, forming a healthy innovation ecosystem. To grow, we must create a synchronous environment, with connections and mutual support.

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Dr. Dang Pham Thien Duy - RMIT University Vietnam

Must be deep in the high-tech supply chain

Vietnam has many opportunities to develop significantly, at least in the last 50 years. We are entering a turning point that requires development, a period that requires us to quickly catch up with new trends - green, digital, shifting supply chains... If we cannot take advantage of this leap, it will be very difficult for Vietnam to develop. In fact, if this is not the time, the door for Vietnam to realize its aspirations will become increasingly narrow. The problem is what to focus on first.

In my opinion, to be on par with the first world, we must be deep in the supply chain of high-tech goods. Currently on the semiconductor industry map, Vietnam accounts for about 4% of the semiconductor manufacturing supply chain, South Korea accounts for 6%, Japan 5%, Thailand 2%, Malaysia 3%, China - Hong Kong accounts for 22%, the rest is distributed in Europe, North America... Vietnam is very determined with the strategy of attracting and growing rapidly thanks to high technology. However, we have only participated in 3 stages, partly in design, packaging and testing. In the near future, it is imperative to focus on upgrading, becoming an important link in the semiconductor industry ecosystem with full design, production, packaging and testing, equipment manufacturing and diversified businesses with many components, capable of mastering some core technologies.

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Dr. Vo Tri Thanh , Director of the Institute for Brand Strategy and Competition Research

Vietnam is meeting all the conditions

Research on the development of countries shows that when a country converges certain factors with strong belief, it will miraculously advance to the first world in about 2 decades. Vietnam is holding the right opportunity. At the same time, the declaration of the era of rising up appears as a call, affirming that the nation must enter a new era - a courageous determination that few people could imagine before. So how can we mobilize the hearts of the people in the next 2 decades to move forward together? First, we must break through 3 key points: Institutions, infrastructure and human resources with a vision for the future. Second, integrate deeply and comprehensively into the world. Third, take advantage of the total strength of the people. The concept of rising up of the nation needs to be understood as mobilizing the entire people, the entire business community. With the very high will of the Vietnamese people, I hope that in just 15 years, Vietnam will achieve the set goal.

PHOTO: NVCC

Professor Vu Minh Khuong , Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (Singapore)

Need to promote public-private partnership

Currently, our country's economy is entering a pivotal transition period, having to both promote industrialization and modernization and adapt to new international development standards. The demand for investment in infrastructure, technology and innovation is huge, while the state budget is limited and social resources have not been fully mobilized. Therefore, public-private partnership (PPP) has become a key tool to supplement capital, disperse risks, and take advantage of management intelligence from the private sector.

In particular, PPP is not only a mechanism for mobilizing investment capital but also a strategic solution for the State and enterprises to jointly create new values. For public-private partnership to truly become a national strategic tool for the economy, the State first needs to perfect a synchronous, stable and transparent institutional framework. When the State shifts from a "request-give" mindset to a "co-creation" mindset, PPP can become the foundation for development. The Government needs to expand PPP beyond the scope of traditional infrastructure; PPP must be strongly implemented in areas such as renewable energy, smart cities, healthcare, education, and innovation. This is not only a solution to address the huge need for investment capital, but also a way to bring private enterprises into the orbit of global standards and value chains. In particular, the Government needs to improve its capacity to manage PPP projects and develop long-term capital markets. Selecting and training a team of officials and civil servants in ministries, branches and localities who are knowledgeable about PPP is a condition to ensure that PPP projects are prepared, appraised and monitored transparently.