A conference highlighting the opportunities and challenges for the
Vietnamese economy in 2013 was held in Ho Chi Minh City on March 1,
attracting the participation of numerous businesses and economists.
The event, organised by the Vietnam Economic Times, aimed to share
information and experience among businesses, and find out ways to
promote their activities in the future.
Tran Thanh
Hai, Deputy Head of the Import-Export Department under the Ministry of
Industry and Trade, focused on measures to promote exports. He proposed
that the Government should continue to deal with stagnant State-owned
enterprises (SOEs) by solving inventory issues, supporting the market,
applying tax reduction policies and encouraging domestic consumption.
It is necessary to develop the infrastructure system and intensify human resource training, he suggested.
According to Deepart Misha, Chief Economist of the World Bank in
Vietnam, risks facing the Vietnamese economy include a high inflation
rate, low currency reserve, slack financial and currency policies, and
poor asset quality of credit organisations.
Vietnam should step up the restructuring of the financial sector and
have specific mechanism to solve bad debt, strengthen the banking
system, increase risk management and the control and supervision
framework in the future, he added.
Besides, the restructuring of SOEs should be implemented in a promt and comprehensive way, he said.
According to Dr. Tran Du Lich, member of the National Assembly’s
Economic Commission, the Vietnamese economy can recover in 2013 if
synchronous and consistent measures included in the Government’s
resolutions No. 1 and No. 2 issued on January 7 are implemented
effectively.
He said the most important issue of the macro-economic policy is to regain and reinforce trust in the market.
The restructure of the market in 2013 and 2014, especially in the
labour market, will be a chance for Vietnam to develop its human
resources, he added.
Lich concluded that the
Vietnamese economy will do better in 2013 than last year. Despite a
mixture of opportunities and challenges it is a good time for businesses
to restructure and develop in a sustainable way, therefore making a
healthier market.-VNA