President Truong Tan Sang answers the press on the eve of the New Year

The old year has passed, the new year is coming. On the eve of the New Year 2016, President Truong Tan Sang answered the press, sharing his assessments and comments on the opportunities and challenges facing the country and people.

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President Truong Tan Sang answers questions from reporters of Vietnamese news agencies and newspapers. (Photo: Nguyen Khang/VNA)

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Integration to develop the country

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- Mr. President, on the eve of the new year 2016, could you please give a brief assessment of the outstanding socio-economic achievements that our country achieved in 2015?

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President Truong Tan Sang: Regarding the socio-economic situation, 2015 is the last year of the 5-year plan. The National Assembly recently met and evaluated it, so I will just speak briefly. This year is an extremely difficult year, both domestically and regionally. However, with the joint efforts of the entire Party, people and army, the socio-economic development results are still quite positive, economic growth in 2015 was quite good, the macro-economy was relatively stable; the country's economic potential increased. I think that is a great effort, creating a premise for 2016 and the following years.

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In addition, in 2015, we signed a series of bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements with higher criteria than the criteria in the agreements we are implementing. The opportunity lies in the fact that the market will expand a lot, we can mobilize more resources, advanced technology can enter more, but at the same time it also poses a huge challenge to the business community and in general to the Vietnamese economy. Therefore, there must be a much greater effort than before to take full advantage of the opportunities, and overcome the challenges in the 5-year plan 2016-2020, which has already begun in 2016.

- Mr. President, with a series of new generation free trade agreements that have been signed and we will have to implement them in the near future, are we entering an even more fierce competition?

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President Truong Tan Sang:That's right. Looking back at the pre-renovation period, we see a closed, isolated, unintegrated economy that could not develop. Since then, the Party and the State have proposed policies and strategies for innovation and international integration to develop the country's economy. But integration requires competition. When signing trade agreements with higher criteria, we must accept competition at a higher level.

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Compared to the past 30 years of innovation, today, with the country's strength, the leadership and management experience of the Party and State, and with the Vietnamese business community that has also matured over many years of innovation, I firmly believe that the country's integration in the new period will be successful.

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We have to stand on our own two feet.

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- Opportunities often come and go very quickly; if we want to seize the opportunity, we must have a professional and quick-acting state apparatus. According to the President, what must we do to have an apparatus that meets this requirement?

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President Truong Tan Sang: When integrating, in addition to enterprises being the direct subjects entering into extremely fierce competition, there is also the state apparatus at all levels; this part has a very important role, requiring it to be commensurate and meet new requirements. The capacity, qualities and working style of the civil servant team must be much different from before, we must strive to improve it. The interaction between the two subjects, between the state apparatus at all levels and the business community is extremely important. The most worrying thing now is that the competitiveness of products, of enterprises and of our country's economy is still very low compared to the region and the world.

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With the new integration criteria, the challenge is even greater. It is necessary to improve the competitiveness of products, enterprises and the whole economy. Along with the efforts of enterprises, the responsibility of the State is very great. In the past, we have done relatively well in economic institutional innovation. Human resource training has also had results, but compared to the requirements, there are still many limitations. In the coming time, we must continue to promote the improvement of the effectiveness and efficiency of State management, meeting the requirements of the period of trade liberalization and deep integration of the country with higher criteria and levels than before.

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- Mr. President, in the next 5 years, mobilizing resources for development investment will face many difficulties, both from foreign and domestic sources. So in the next 5 years, what must we do to mobilize resources to meet development needs?

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President Truong Tan Sang: For a long time, we have clearly identified that to develop the country in the context of integration, there needs to be a close combination of domestic and foreign resources, in which we must not forget that domestic resources are decisive, external resources are extremely important. Integration but must build an independent, self-reliant economy, must stand on its own two feet. It is a fact that recently, external resources have increased rapidly while internal resources have increased slowly. But this is not due to the lack of domestic resources.

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I think that domestic resources are still very large, and we must continue to release these resources. For example, the National Assembly recently included in the law a requirement that sectors and levels must not hinder business freedom and minimize conditional business areas. Countries that have gone ahead to become developed industrial countries also rely mainly on domestic resources. Borrowing from outside is also to supplement, open up, and exploit internal resources. The ability to attract external resources is also very large. I think that in the near future, ODA and FDI sources may still increase, but we must not rely on them.

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We also know that after the 2017-2018 milestone, ODA interest rates will be completely different from the past 30 years, because our country has been ranked among middle-income countries, having to accept high interest rates. Borrowing is necessary, but paying back is not simple; a country that falls into a debt situation and cannot pay back the debt on time will lose its reputation and negatively affect the political, economic and social situation. The ability to attract foreign investment is also very large, but it needs to be selective and foreign investment must create spillover and promote the restructuring process of our country's economy.

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Any resource must be guarded against corruption and waste.

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- One of the fundamental adjustments to adapt to changes in resources is to fight waste and practice thrift, isn't it, Mr. President?

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President Truong Tan Sang: That's right. Along with the need to mobilize resources, fighting corruption and waste and practicing thrift must be a consistent policy and action of all sectors and levels. Any resource must be used to prevent and fight corruption and waste. Corruption and waste reduce investment efficiency, reduce the quality of construction works, damage officials, and make people lose confidence in the Party and the State.

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We are deeply concerned about the fact that corruption and waste still exist and must resolutely strive to keep our country out of the list of countries with high corruption in the world. All resources must be strictly managed and used effectively, including the resolute fight against corruption and waste. We must strive to overcome this weakness.

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- Mr. President, regarding the situation of corruption and waste, there is still a large number of corrupt officials in the apparatus. What solutions have we had to promote the work of preventing degradation, improve the quality of the staff, and meet the requirements in the new stages of development?

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President Truong Tan Sang:Faced with the degradation of a significant number of cadres and party members in the Party and in the state apparatus, the Party has taken many measures to combat it, the most concentrated of which are the measures in the Resolution of the 4th Central Committee (11th tenure) on a number of urgent issues in Party building today. This is a Resolution that has received the response and high appreciation of the entire Party, the entire people and the entire army. The entire Party, the entire people and the entire army have placed great expectations on achieving the goal set out in the Resolution, which is to prevent and repel this degradation and negativity.

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In order for that “not small part” to no longer exist, all levels, all sectors, all cadres and party members, especially the leaders of Party committees, Party organizations, State agencies and the entire population must resolutely and seriously implement the measures to fight degradation and negativity set forth by the 4th Central Resolution (11th tenure) in a synchronous and continuous manner. I firmly believe that, no matter how difficult it is, if the entire Party and people are highly determined and persistently implement it, they will definitely win.

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- Mr. President, in its role as the ruling Party, the Party selects officials for the state apparatus, but when problems arise, who will take responsibility: Individuals or collectives?

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President Truong Tan Sang: I also answer very frankly like this: Both the collective and the individual involved must take responsibility. But currently, at all levels and in all sectors, collective responsibility is generally clear, while individual responsibility is not clear. Not only in personnel work but also in many other fields.

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Along with the country’s great achievements, many shortcomings and deficiencies have been revealed in many areas, including the field of personnel work. However, individual responsibility is unclear, causing frustration in society and even in the National Assembly forum. Now there are many Party resolutions, many state laws, and Vietnam’s institutional system has been much improved compared to 30 years ago.

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The current limitation is that both in the Party's policies, the State's laws and policies, and the regulations on personal responsibility are still incomplete. That is why, when something happens, the advantages are easy to find, but the disadvantages, personal responsibility, are extremely difficult to find. There is also the reason that the cadre management agencies do not properly evaluate cadres, are respectful, and avoid them. This must be corrected and the regulations must be strictly implemented once they are issued.

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A developed country will protect its territorial sovereignty.

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- Mr. President, the country is facing serious challenges regarding sovereignty and territorial integrity; could you please tell us what factors will help us overcome these challenges?

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President Truong Tan Sang: From the time our country had a few million people until now it has over 90 million people, throughout that long history, our entire nation has been united in heart and strength, united into a solid block so no enemy can defeat us. The great national unity and the internal strength of the country are the invincible source of strength for us to defend the Fatherland.

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Today, in the era of globalization, Vietnam wants to be friends with all countries in the international community, for peace, cooperation and development; our friends are increasing in number, the support of the international community for Vietnam's cause of innovation, construction and protection of the Fatherland is increasing. This is a great strength for us to firmly protect our sovereignty and territorial integrity.

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Continuing to implement this policy, making more friends and fewer enemies, closing the past and looking towards the future, the world's support for Vietnam will certainly increase; at the same time, our country will develop more firmly and stably, the country's internal strength will be strengthened, we will have more and more strength to overcome all challenges and firmly protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Fatherland.

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- Could the President elaborate on Vietnam's current position in the international arena?

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President Truong Tan Sang:In the context of many complex developments in the world and the region, Vietnam is still stable and developing, still a safe destination for many investors, this is the result of 30 years of innovation. More broadly, it is the revolutionary achievement of our people under the leadership of the Party. Thanks to the right policy, especially when we have a policy of innovation, domestic resources are promoted, combined with the mobilization of external resources, making our economy develop, and our socio-political stability. From a poor, underdeveloped country, Vietnam has become a middle-income country, highly appreciated by the world.

At the United Nations summit last year, I attended and met many delegates who shared the same assessment. The country's development achievements and correct foreign policy of diversification and multilateralization, Vietnam wants to be a friend and reliable partner of the international community, for peace, cooperation and development, and participate responsibly in regional and world issues have enhanced Vietnam's role, position and prestige in the international arena.

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- Mr. President, on the eve of the New Year, what message do you have or would like to share with the people of the whole country?

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President Truong Tan Sang: The new year 2016 is a pivotal year between the two terms of the Party Congress, the National Assembly, and the Government, a transitional year between the two five-year plans 2011-2015 and 2016-2020. In 2016 and the next five years, many advantages will increase, but difficulties and challenges will also be great.

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In that context, it requires the entire Party, the entire people and the entire army to strive harder and stronger, comprehensively promote the innovation process, develop the economy and society rapidly and sustainably; strengthen national defense and security; improve the effectiveness of international integration; build a clean and strong Party with leadership capacity and high fighting power; improve the effectiveness and efficiency of State management commensurate with the period of deep integration and high criteria, continue to improve the people's lives and mastery. In particular, it is necessary to focus on improving the efficiency of resource use, the competitiveness of enterprises and the economy; step up the fight to prevent and repel corruption and waste, strengthen people's trust in the Party and the State... as shown in the documents of the 12th National Party Congress.

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On the occasion of the Spring, I would like to wish all compatriots, comrades and soldiers nationwide and overseas Vietnamese to unite as one, to devote all their intelligence, strength and ability to contribute to the successful implementation of the cause of innovation, to build and firmly protect our beloved Vietnam in the new period.

- Thank you very much, Mr. President!

According to Vietnamplus