Premise for Vietnam to "continue writing the triumphant song" in the new year

(Source: VNA)

The country entered the Spring of the Pig 2019 on February 5 with a New Year's greeting poem by General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong:

“This spring is better than the previous springs.
Victory and good news across the country
The whole country happily celebrates the New Year
Triumphant we continue the song"

Previously, on the occasion of the 89th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of Vietnam (February 3, 1930 - February 3, 2019), the General Secretary and President also wrote an article highlighting the achievements that Vietnam had made in 2018, evaluating three years of implementing the Resolution of the 12th National Party Congress and pointing out a number of important tasks in 2019.

Reality shows that the wish of the General Secretary and President - "we continue to write the song of triumph" in 2019 - is not just a simple New Year greeting but is based on the solid premise of the outstanding results achieved in 2018.

In the past year, our country has completed and exceeded 12/12 socio-economic targets set by the National Assembly. This is of great significance and this is one of the 10 outstanding events of Vietnam in 2018 voted by VNA.

First of all, Vietnam's GDP growth rate last year reached 7.08%, the highest in the past 10 years. The value of exported goods reached 238 billion USD with a record trade surplus of 7.2 billion USD. State foreign exchange reserves were over 60 billion USD, also a record number. The economy in 2018 was estimated at over 5.5 million billion VND (about 240 billion USD), 1.3 times higher than in 2015. GDP per capita was 2,580 USD, not really high but increased by nearly 200 USD compared to the previous year.

To better understand Vietnam’s efforts to achieve a GDP growth rate of 7.08%, we must look to other countries in the region. According to data from the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in 2018, Japan’s GDP is forecast to increase by 1.9%, South Korea by 2.8%, Thailand by 4.1%, Malaysia by 4.8%, Indonesia by 5.2% and China by 6.3%.

Not only achieving high GDP growth, Vietnam has also made progress in the field of economic restructuring. In 2018, the agriculture, forestry and fishery sector accounted for only 14.6% of GDP, the industry and construction sector held 34.3%, the service sector contributed 41.2%...

Besides, to move forward, Vietnam must also remove obstacles on the way forward. One of those obstacles is corruption, which, according to General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong, we must "fight without compromise" and "have no forbidden zones".

The fight against corruption, waste, bureaucracy and negativity has been intensified in 2018. Corruption cases and serious economic cases have been handled very strictly, in accordance with Party regulations and State laws.

From the 12th Party Congress (January 2016) to the end of 2018, that is, in less than three years, more than 60 high-ranking officials under the Central Committee's management were disciplined, including 5 incumbent Party Central Committee members, three of whom were removed from the Central Executive Committee, one Politburo member was expelled from the Party and sentenced to 30 years in prison...

In terms of foreign economic relations, Vietnam in 2018 created an important premise to pave the way for new steps in 2019. On November 12, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and related documents were ratified by the 14th National Assembly at its 6th Session. This agreement will help Vietnam in 2019 and the following years to expand export markets, attract investment, promote growth, and reform policies in a more transparent and open direction.

Vietnam's political prestige and capacity to organize major international events in the eyes of the world were further strengthened after our country hosted the Regional Conference of the World Economic Forum with the theme: "ASEAN 4.0: Entrepreneurship and the Fourth Industrial Revolution". The event took place from September 11 to 13, 2018 in Hanoi and was considered "the most successful of the 27 ASEAN regional conferences of the World Economic Forum" according to Mr. Borge Brende, Chairman of the World Economic Forum.

Several prestigious international economic and financial organizations, foreign press and experts have made objective assessments of Vietnam that are similar to the optimism about the country's prospects that General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong expressed in his article on the occasion of the 89th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh speaks at the closing session of WEF ASEAN 2018. (Photo: Lam Khanh/VNA)

On the website of the World Economic Forum (WEF), expert Peter Vanham wrote an article titled “The story of Vietnam’s economic miracle”. He commented: “Vietnam is currently one of the stars in the galaxy of emerging economies… Vietnam’s efforts have been recognized by the world.

In the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report, Vietnam rose from 77th in 2006 to 55th in 2017. The World Bank's Ease of Doing Business ranking placed Vietnam at 68th in 2017, up 36 places from 104th in 2007. The World Bank commented that Vietnam has improved in all areas from enforcing contracts, increasing access to credit, paying taxes and trading across borders..".

The British magazine specializing in finance and trade - Economist - assessed that "Vietnam is an example for countries that want to develop".

“Which Asian country has grown for decades, lifting millions out of poverty? Which Asian economy, despite its high rural population, will be the continent’s next growth engine? Most people would answer China for the first question, and India for the second. That means they are ignoring a country that stands out both for its past success and its future potential. That is Vietnam. With a population of more than 90 million, since 1990, Vietnam has become the country with the second highest per capita growth rate in the world. If it can maintain this 7% rate over the next decade, Vietnam will follow the same trajectory as other Asian tigers such as South Korea and Taiwan (China). This is a great achievement for a country that has gone through decades of war and was at times as poor as Ethiopia.”

The famous American business magazine - Forbes - commented that Vietnam has become the hottest investment destination in Asia.

According to Forbes, in 2018 Vietnam received 17 billion USD in foreign direct investment (FDI) commitments, a huge number for an emerging market and compared to a gross domestic product (GDP) of 250 billion USD.
Forbes said there are many reasons to be positive about Vietnam's economic prospects in the long term.

Mr. Eugenia Victorino, an expert at Australia & New Zealand Banking in Singapore, commented on Bloomberg (USA): “Vietnam is an example in shifting economic momentum from agriculture to exports. We have seen Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia trying to learn from Vietnam’s model in attracting FDI to revive exports”…

Positive reviews from the world, the excitement and optimism from an insider's perspective make bright colors the dominant tone in the overall socio-economic picture of Vietnam today.

As affirmed by the General Secretary and President, despite many difficulties, challenges and limitations, our country's position and strength have been strengthened, the country is flourishing and its fortunes are on the rise.

"The country has never had the fortune it has today!"./.