VietNamNet Bridge – Viet Nam is striving to boost its development in the ASEAN bloc and rise to the upper half within five years, according to the country's latest strategy on international integration.

Goods are loaded and unloaded at the Hai Phong Port. A long-term strategy, recently approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, targets Viet Nam's economy to be shoulder-by-shoulder with top ASEAN countries by 2025. — VNA Photo

The long-term strategy, approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung recently, set goals for 2020 regarding regional and global integration as well as a long-term vision outlined for 2030.

The ultimate aim is for Viet Nam's economy to be shoulder-to-shoulder with the current top four ASEAN countries, including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines by 2025.

In order to achieve such ambitions, Viet Nam would need to keep expanding its market and make good use of foreign investment, technology and management experience to strengthen the competitiveness of domestically-made products, local enterprises and the country's economy as a whole, the strategy indicated.

The strategy was released following a year-end announcement that Viet Nam's economy bounced back in 2015 when the GDP growth rate rose to 6.7 per cent, the highest it had been in the last five years.

Encouraged by the promising figure, the new GDP growth target for this year was set at the same rate by the National Assembly in November, which was deemed feasible by HSBC in its latest report on the nation's economy. According to the report, Viet Nam's export growth has rebounded to double digits, reflecting new investment.

The country's participation in a number of global trade agreements, including the historic Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), is also expected to propel a significant development boost to the economy. The World Bank recently predicted that Viet Nam would be the biggest beneficiary of the 12 TPP members with a 10 per cent GDP gain by 2030.

National security

Apart from economic goals, the five-year strategy on international integration also listed national defence and security as key elements in its plan, especially as tensions escalate with China regarding the East Sea dispute.

One of the general goals of the strategy was to "firmly uphold Viet Nam's independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity", which was supported by a handful of sub-goals in which the country would strive to maintain a peaceful environment favourable to development.

Viet Nam, according to the strategy, would also make use of "external resources to build up a modern military force" in order to "strengthen its ability to ensure the nation's security and defence".

Vietnamese leadership aims to turn Viet Nam into one of the "core members" that would play the leading role in all regional defence co-operation mechanisms by 2030. The country's security and stability will be closely attached to those of the region, the strategy indicated.

VNS