VietNamNet Bridge – The monthly cabinet meeting in June took place on Monday with the participation of representatives of 63 provinces and cities, who heard Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung say that Vietnam wants normal economic cooperation with China, but that it will take proactive measures if China does not cooperate.

In early May China placed its oil rig in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf of 200 nautical miles. The Prime Minister said Vietnam would concentrate its efforts in the struggle to defend sovereignty, to maintain peace and stability for the country's development and to strive by all measures to implement economic goals that the Government set for 2014.

Earlier, in an interview on June 20 with the Vietnam News Agency, before public opinion that Vietnam may be dependent on China economically, President Truong Tan Sang said that pursuing the policy of diversifying and having multi-lateral relations with other countries, Vietnam always strives for mutual benefit and resolutely avoids becoming dependent on any country, both economically or politically.

“Our economic and trade ties with China have seen a rapid development over recent years, but Vietnam’s trade deficit has been growing, particularly in the import of materials for production. Some of our exports have focused too much on the Chinese market. In the field of bidding for EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction), BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) and equipment supply contracts in a number of important economic sectors such as power, information and telecommunications, Chinese investors won a large number of contracts, but the quality and technology of many such contracts are not high, while costs usually are inflated and the time of implementation is prolonged. This situation needs to be corrected as early as possible,” President Sang said.

On June 28, in a meeting with HCM City entrepreneurs, President Truong Tan Sang also warned about the deadline for liberalization of trade between ASEAN and China.

The President stressed that from January 1, 2016, Chinese goods will flood the Vietnamese market, once the two sides together removing barriers under trade commitments.

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, in the second quarter, although Vietnam was affected by China’s deployment of its illegal oil rig in Vietnam’s water, the country’s GDP growth still reached 5.25%, compared to 5.09% in the first quarter, and higher than the same period last year (5%).

Dat Viet