Prime Minister: We need to think about the 'lessons' Formosa left behind

“Multinational corporations play an important role in designing the rules of the game and mastering the global value chain. However, the Ministry of Industry and Trade needs to propose mechanisms to attract investment from multinational corporations. Regarding the environment, the Formosa lesson leaves us with something to think about in order to attract growth,” the Prime Minister said.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Ministry of Industry and Trade is the least "complained"

"Over the past 6 months, preparations for the election have been carried out nationwide to elect 21 new members of the Government. Many difficulties have occurred such as droughts and major natural disasters with terrible devastation in the South, Central and Central Highlands. We also had to deal with incidents in the Central region that took up a lot of time when the Prime Minister alone had to hold 17 meetings to handle the situation," the Prime Minister said.

“In the context of changing leadership at all levels from central to local levels as above, combined with the objective difficulties, the growth achieved is not good, but maintaining it is a great effort. In that growth, there is an important direct contribution from the industry and trade sector,” said the Prime Minister.

According to the Prime Minister, the industry and trade sector has achieved a number of achievements such as: many industries and exports have grown well, domestic market organization continues to receive attention, success in promoting international integration, actively negotiating Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), initial successful trade promotion...

“Don’t think I don’t know which ministry is complained about the most, but the Ministry of Industry and Trade is the one that is complained about the least by businesses. Many localities are promoting industrial production and finding ways to grow. Many associations have a voice in giving policy advice to the Government. Many companies are proactive and have made progress in the context of foreign competition. Those are the successes of the industry and trade sector,” the Prime Minister emphasized.

Need to restructure the apparatus

However, the head of the Government also pointed out some shortcomings and limitations such as: industrial growth was only lower than the same period last year, commercial fraud and food safety violations still existed while the management of multi-level sales and counterfeit goods was not strict, causing chaos and frustration in society.

The Prime Minister also emphasized that within the industry, the restructuring and innovation of enterprises is slow and ineffective. The Ministry of Industry and Trade has many large enterprises but equitization is slow, the proportion of equitized capital is still low. There are still many shortcomings in personnel work, creating negative public opinion, affecting the reputation of the industry.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister also assessed that the Ministry of Industry and Trade's staff apparatus is cumbersome and needs restructuring. Accordingly, the Prime Minister requested that the Ministry of Industry and Trade immediately restructure the apparatus of dozens of Departments, Divisions, universities, colleges, corporations, and state-owned corporations.

He also said that communication work for businesses about integration is still inadequate, not taking full advantage of the opportunities it brings. Meanwhile, the organization of the domestic market still has many shortcomings, causing some large businesses to fall into the hands of foreigners.

“We have not exploited the opportunities and are mistaken. After the agreement with the WTO, we breathed a sigh of relief, but the problem is that the organization has not been done well in practice, awareness and action are still inadequate. As a result, the policy mechanism is still slow, and policy incentives have not been promoted. FTAs ​​certainly bring international opportunities but must go hand in hand with institutional and policy reforms,” he said.

Need to think about Formosa "lesson"

The industry and trade sector also needs to change in industrial management, increase productivity based on innovation, apply high technology, and upgrade the economy. At the same time, it is necessary to mobilize the private sector to participate in the country's industrialization, creating a driving force for development.

“We are still confused, you must work with the spirit of entrepreneurship, for businesses. We also need to innovate the way of planning and building strategies. If we continue to follow the old way of thinking, we will fail,” the Prime Minister added.

However, the head of the Government also noted that: “We cannot develop at any cost, we need to end the mechanism of asking for and giving, not subsidizing. We need to have a new mindset, dealing with market subjects, and not limit ourselves to the region but must reach out to the ocean.”

“Multinational corporations play an important role in designing the rules of the game and mastering the global value chain. However, the Ministry of Industry and Trade needs to propose mechanisms to attract investment from multinational corporations. Regarding the environment, the Formosa lesson leaves us with something to think about in order to attract growth,” he said.

According to Dan Tri