President Tran Dai Quang (R) meets with businesses in HCM City 

He also asked local businesses to promote the city’s advantages to develop the economy in the southeastern and southwestern regions while supporting, nurturing and implementing new breakthrough business initiatives.

The President noted Vietnam’s international integration and involvement in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) as well as engagement in new-generation free trade pacts such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement and the Vietnam – EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) has opened up new development space for the domestic economy.

This progress has enabled Vietnamese businesses to access over 80 percent of the global markets with zero-percent tariff and get deeply involved in the global production value chains, he said.

However, in addition to opportunities, there are numerous difficulties and challenges, he said, pointing to fierce competition and strong impacts from speeding automation in developed countries.

Unless the implementation of international labour standards is strictly controlled and managed, this could distort the relations in the field and affect the sustainable development of businesses, he stressed.

Given these obstacles, the Vietnamese Party and State pledged to put forth more specific policies to improve the socialist-oriented market economy and guarantee socio-political and macro-economic stability to create healthy environment for businesses, especially SMEs, he affirmed.

In this spirit, the President urged entrepreneurs to build a strong, dynamic, creative and competitive business community while ensuring economic independence and autonomy, and promoting industrialisation, modernisation and international integration.

He called on businesses to actively take part in programmes to ensure social welfares, reduce poverty, and address consequences of natural disasters.

On the Vietnam Entrepreneurs’ Day (October 13), the President wished HCM City to soon become one of the economic, financial, trade and science-technology hubs in Southeast Asia.

With over 40 years of establishment and development, the business association in HCM City is now home to more than 60 voluntary organisations with 8,000 members.

By the end of 2015, the country had 535,920 active businesses, over 97 percent of which are SMEs, contributing 49 percent to the gross domestic product (GDP) and around 38.5 percent to the total social investment, and generating about 45 percent of the total jobs.

President highlights growth opportunities from Industry 4.0

President Tran Dai Quang addresses the ceremony

President Prof. Dr. Tran Dai Quang attended a ceremony to start a new academic year of the Ho Chi Minh City-based National University on October 3, asking it to work to become a “modern university city” that nurtures the country’s talents and optimises creativity of students.

There, the President discussed the fourth industrial revolution with its growth opportunities and non-traditional challenges.

The term “fourth industrial revolution” or “Industry 4.0” was introduced for the first time at the Hannover Fair in Germany in 2011. In 2012, the term was used to name a support programme of the German Government in association with the country’s leading industrial associations to improve the production and management process in manufacturing sectors through computerisation. 

The State leader viewed that the revolution will exert strong influences on production, stimulating the economic transformation towards a knowledge-based and smart economy. 

New scientific and technological advances will be applied to optimise production, distribution, consumption and management process, he said, adding that the movement will also generate positive impacts on consumption and prices. 

For society, the revolution will help transform the labour structure in many countries with the introduction of creative classes in science, technology, design, culture, art, entertainment, education, training, health care and legislation, he said. 

In the middle and long terms, sectors using intensive low-skilled labourers will be most affected, as the demand for the skilled will rise, he asserted.

President Quang also pointed out that Industry 4.0 is creating fresh opportunities for Vietnam to integrate into the world in a more extensive and effective manner, enabling it to adapt itself to new industrial sectors, and making the best use of scientific and technological advances to speed up industrialisation and modernisation and narrow down its development gap. 

However, the President also highlighted immense challenges, particularly to the workforce and the manufacturing industry. 

He cited a report by the International Labour Organisation released in July this year as saying that up to 86 percent of labourers in the apparel and footwear sectors are facing risks of unemployment due to impacts of technology breakthroughs brought about by the fourth industrial revolution. 

The State leader underscored the necessity of having a suitable strategy to tap positive effects and overcome challenges generated by the revolution. 

At the same time, he stressed non-traditional security challenges from Industry 4.0 to Vietnam, especially cyber security. 

Vietnam is among countries with the fastest Internet development speed in the world, which poses latent risks to threaten the national security and social order. 

Ensuring safety and security of the national information network, and preventing and combating cyber crimes are the struggle of all people under the leadership of the Party and are responsibility of the entire political system at all levels, he said. 

He asked the National University-Ho Chi Minh City to be creative in teaching, studying, and researching viewpoints, guidelines, plans and policies of the Party and State on education and training. 

The university should act to gather exceptional minds from the circle of scientists, researchers and lecturers in making it a “modern university city” where the country’s talents are nurtured and creativity of students optimised. 

The National University-Ho Chi Minh City is an education-training and research complex that comprises 35 member units and subsidiaries, including six top universities in the southern region, one research institute and 28 subsidiaries in five areas of science, technology, society, economics and health science.

VNA