A conference highlighting the opportunities and challenges for the Vietnamese economy in 2013 was held in HCM 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.
Source: VNA
