IMF Deputy Managing Director: Always closely following Vietnam's impressive successes

Welcoming IMF Deputy Managing Director Kenji Okamura and the IMF delegation to visit and work in Vietnam, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh believes that this visit of the delegation will continue to contribute to further tightening the good relationship between the two sides in the coming time.

Regarding the situation in Vietnam, the Prime Minister said that after the war and embargo, Vietnam, from a poor and backward country, has risen to achieve great achievements. In recent times, Vietnam's macro-economy has been basically stable; inflation has been controlled; growth has been promoted; major balances of the economy have been ensured; public debt, government debt, foreign debt, and budget deficit have been kept below the safety threshold; people's material and spiritual lives have been improved; and the happiness index has increased by 11 levels.

Faced with current common difficulties and challenges, Vietnam advocates flexible adaptation, perseverance, and steadfastness in maintaining macroeconomic stability, controlling inflation, promoting growth to reach the target of 8.3-8.5% in 2025, and ensuring major balances of the economy. To achieve this goal, Vietnam implements a proactive, timely, flexible, and effective monetary policy; an expansive, focused, and key fiscal policy; and a harmonious, reasonable, and effective combination of monetary and fiscal policies.

Vietnam focuses on streamlining the apparatus and organization of two-level local governments; implementing three strategic breakthroughs in institutions, infrastructure and human resource training, towards "open institutions, smooth infrastructure, smart governance"... towards the goal of becoming a developing, upper-middle-income country by 2030 and a developed, high-income country by 2045.

To promote growth, Vietnam renews traditional growth drivers such as investment, export, and consumption; at the same time, promotes new growth drivers such as green economy, digital economy, knowledge economy, circular economy, sharing economy, etc.

Regarding major, strategic infrastructure projects that Vietnam has been, is, and will continue to implement in the coming time, the Prime Minister said that, along with internal resources being fundamental, long-term, and decisive, Vietnam determined that mobilizing external resources is important and a breakthrough. These include attracting direct and indirect investment; supporting technology development cooperation; institutional reform; human resource training; and smart governance.

Appreciating the increasingly close and substantive cooperation between Vietnam and the IMF, the Prime Minister affirmed that Vietnam always appreciates the active and effective support of the IMF in the process of innovation, opening up and international integration, which has made an important contribution to strengthening macroeconomic stability, controlling inflation, promoting growth, as well as improving the capacity for macroeconomic management and operation.

Thanking the Prime Minister for taking the time to receive the delegation, IMF Deputy General Director Kenji Okamura said that since his first visit to Vietnam in 1995, he has closely followed Vietnam's impressive successes, especially in economic growth.

The IMF delegation's visit to Vietnam this time aims to learn more about Vietnam's path to success, and at the same time promote the long-standing relationship between the IMF and Vietnam through specific, practical and effective activities and projects.

The IMF Deputy General Director shared and discussed with the Prime Minister issues in macroeconomic policy management, financial mobilization for major projects and programs, and public debt control.

Appreciating Vietnam's endogenous strength and wishing to promote the Vietnam - IMF relationship to develop more substantially in the coming time, Mr. Kenji said that the IMF supports Vietnam's development initiatives and hopes that Vietnam will consider the IMF as a policy advisor.

With its prestige, the IMF will have a voice, connect international financial organizations, discuss with the business community about Vietnam's correct policies on economic development, contributing to helping Vietnam mobilize development resources from outside for major programs and projects.

Informing IMF Deputy General Director Kenji and the working delegation about the orientations for economic restructuring, growth model innovation, and capital mobilization solutions, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that Vietnam advocates developing the capital market, forming an international financial center, striving to upgrade the stock market; developing the corporate bond market, construction bond market; developing various types of real estate markets, science and technology, piloting the crypto asset market, etc.

The Prime Minister said that Vietnam mobilizes large amounts of finance to invest in projects and programs that are transformational and situation-changing in the spirit of "harmonious benefits and shared risks". In particular, Vietnam ensures the interests of investors and sponsors; ensures financial liquidity at any time and ensures system safety; creates conditions for safe, healthy and effective investment capital sources.

Believing that the existing good relationship between Vietnam and the IMF will continue to be strengthened and further promoted in the coming time, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh asked the IMF to continue providing policy advice and risk warnings to Vietnam; strengthen cooperation, technical assistance and training for Vietnam; expand cooperation and human resource training for Vietnam to improve its capacity for international integration; implement programs to support Vietnam in adapting to new international economic conditions; and have a voice for investors and donors to increase cooperation with Vietnam.