International economic cooperation plays an important role in establishing a stable economic system.
Dr. Mizobata Satoshi, Director of the Economic Research Institute
under Japan’s Kyoto University, made the affirmation at a conference
held in Hanoi from Sept. 3-4, which reviewed relations between Vietnam
and Japan over the past four decades and worked out orientations for the
time to come.
Participants focused their discussions on
international economic cooperation and other economic issues in the new
world and regional context.
Vietnam should pay attention to
both short-term results and long-term road map during its transition to a
market economy, Satoshi said.
Besides, Vietnam should also
attach importance to not only globalisation standards but also
traditional values, he said, adding that necessary elements for
Vietnam’s economic growth are now resources, money, technology, skills
and trust.
Over the 27 years of renewal, Vietnam’s economy
has seen important changes. From a poor country, it has become a
medium-income one. The number of poor households has also been reduced
remarkably while the country’s economic structure has also been shifted
gradually to industry.
However, the country is meeting with many challenges and socio-economic issues in its development.
According to professor Tran Van Tho from Waseda University, Vietnam
has not succeeded in taking advantages of assistance and direct
investment from foreign countries to accelerate its industrialisation
process.
Tho said this is due to a weakness of the country’s
internal resources. Therefore, Vietnam needs to consolidate and
intensify its inner strength, while gradually reducing its reliance on
foreign assistance in the next 15-20 years.
The country
should encourage the establishment of joint ventures between foreign
firms and domestics enterprise in order to facilitate foreign
enterprises’ activities in the Vietnamese market, while learning from
experience of other Asian countries to further accelerate its
industrialisation and improve its competitiveness.-VNA