Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc speaks at the conference

The event was jointly held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Vietnam Initiative.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Quoc Dung reaffirmed the Vietnamese State’s commitment to building a constructive government marked by integrity, especially when the country is in the transitional period of changing its growth model.

Three thematic matters were discussed at the roundtable, namely, Vietnam’s position in the global value chain, Vietnam’s industrialisation policies in the future, and removal of bottlenecks and development promotion. 

Such issues are considered “bedrock” aspects of Vietnam’s development but the implementation has encountered some rough patches, experts said.

Professor Ricardo Hausmann delivered a presentation on the analysis model of the economy’s structure via the diversity assessment of products, complexity of exported staples and its close relationship to a country’s national development.

The model will assist a country in devising development strategies for each region, for each type of product, with a view to boosting the competitiveness of the economy in all three levels – national, businesses and products.

Tran Van Tho, a professor from Waseda University (Tokyo, Japan), stressed the need to pursue industrial development extensively and intensively.

Since Vietnam is making greater effort to integrate deeper into the world’s economy, it’s a challenge for the country to successfully avoid the “manufacturing trap” – wherein the industry is limited to the creation of unskilled workers in labour-intensive, export-oriented, but low added value manufacturing.

In his research, Tran Ngoc Anh, a professor from Indiana University, has pointed out the “bottlenecks” that constrict sustainable growth of Vietnam’s economy.

He recommended the government build self-assessment systems with clear and detailed performance indices, noting that this will showcase the commitment towards building a constructive and supportive government.

Concluding the conference, PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc praised the positive contribution of international experts and academics.

He said intelligence is a critical resource, and asked overseas scholars with profound knowledge and experience, to actively contribute to the country’s development.

Over 30 years of innovation, Vietnam has accomplished impressive achievements that were highly regarded by the international community, he said.

However, the PM underlined the need for the government to realise the weaknesses and limitations that have been exhibited during the national development process, especially the growth bottlenecks.

He reiterated that the government must listen to people, businesses, scientists and experts at home and abroad in order to bring about substantive change.

The PM asked all relevant ministries and sectors to study the recommendations from the conference’s experts.

He also suggested maintaining an annual dialogue channel between international academics and overseas Vietnamese professionals to increase their collaboration and help the Vietnamese government promote innovation.

VNA