"How will Vietnam surprise the world in the next 5 years?"

The WEF President expressed that he had visited Vietnam many times and each time he witnessed huge changes. “Looking to the future in the coming years, some people are concerned that emerging economies will be adversely affected by the slowdown of the global economy. World institutions have also reduced their forecasts to only 3.5% for global economic growth. So, what will be the consequences and impacts on Vietnam when the global economy slows down in 2019 and in the medium term, what new drivers will help Vietnam grow if Vietnam cannot rely solely on the traditional growth of the past based on exports?”.

According to the Prime Minister, in a condition where Vietnam is deeply integrated into the international economy with many free trade agreements, fluctuations from trade conflicts in the world also affect all countries. Vietnam supports multilateral free trade and must also recognize those trade conflicts to organize production and business development in the best and most effective way so as not to reduce the proposed growth momentum. Therefore, Vietnam will continue to develop rapidly, sustainably and inclusively on 4 bases.

The first is socio-economic stability, especially better macroeconomic stability. This is an important foundation to reassure domestic and international investors and improve resilience to fluctuations in the world economy.

The second is to continue to innovate the growth model based on innovation and digital transformation of the economy on the basis of strong restructuring in each enterprise, each industry, each field, especially promoting science and technology factors and strengths in Vietnam, such as agriculture, tourism and especially the information technology sector.

Third is to build better legal institutions, towards a modern market economy, in line with international practices and standards as committed in FTA agreements, the latest of which is the CPTPP that Vietnam is implementing.

Fourth, continue to deeply integrate with the world and regional economy to promote its potential and strengths in the integration process. Improving competitiveness in the new conditions is the 4.0 industrial revolution.

“So, in the context of current trade tensions, are you concerned that trade wars could have negative impacts on Vietnam?”, Mr. Brende asked.

The Prime Minister said that Vietnam is actively promoting 5 major growth drivers for development in the coming time amid concerns about the slowing growth of the world economy. Firstly, promoting internal strength with the strength of a market of nearly 100 million people with increasingly high incomes, a middle class accounting for 13.5% of the population and the aspirations of the people, especially the youth, under 35 years old accounting for 60% of the population, is an unlimited resource for Vietnam's development.

The second is the driving force from institutional and legal reforms that facilitate development. A “development-creating” government will strongly encourage the dynamism and creativity of people and businesses, promoting the entrepreneurial spirit to seize the opportunities of the 4.0 industrial revolution.

Third is the driving force from the private economy. By 2020, Vietnam will have over 1 million operating enterprises, including many large-scale private corporations that are growing strongly in the domestic and foreign markets in many important industries such as manufacturing, telecommunications, aviation, banking-finance, agricultural processing, iron and steel, tourism, etc. At the same time, continue to effectively attract FDI, create connections and effective cooperation between FDI and private enterprises.

Fourth is the new driving force from digital economic development and innovation. The government is ready to accept new things, new technologies, breakthrough development of infrastructure, broadband internet infrastructure, 5G network, big data, artificial intelligence, etc. Fifth is the driving force from deep international integration.

“Vietnam has grown strongly. In the future, after many years of growth and at the same time improving the quality of life of the people and the environment without having a negative impact on growth. How can we ensure inclusive growth while still being environmentally friendly?” Mr. Brende asked.

The Prime Minister emphasized that Vietnam is determined not to trade the environment for economic benefits. In addition to preserving a good living environment for the people, Vietnam must develop sustainably and maintain better macroeconomic stability. In addition, it will focus on training human resources, especially young human resources, to meet the requirements of the 4.0 industrial revolution.

“So how ready is Vietnam for the 4.0 revolution? We know that new technology, robot technology can replace workers, change the way of production. Therefore, a country needs to develop quickly to be able to take the lead in the 4.0 revolution. According to the Prime Minister, what are the challenges of the 4.0 industrial revolution for Vietnam or do you see it as having more opportunities to be able to take shortcuts?”, the WEF President asked.

The Prime Minister said that every revolution of ours has its challenges. “The 4.0 industrial revolution has huge challenges, as you said, for labor and employment. But we see that labor and employment are always very big problems and labor, especially skilled labor, is always lacking in an aging society. Therefore, to solve this problem, we need vocational training and innovation for all classes, especially the disadvantaged, so that they can have new jobs. I believe that this is not the most decisive challenge, but the Government's way of solving the problem for workers to have stable jobs. We should not worry too much about this problem affecting employment without vigorously carrying out the 4.0 industrial revolution.”

According to Mr. Brende, one of the areas that Vietnam has reformed to prepare for the 4.0 industrial revolution is related to State-owned enterprises when some enterprises are operating inefficiently. “So, how important do you think the reform of State-owned enterprises is in the context of increasingly fierce competition in the 4.0 industrial revolution?”

Affirming the policy of strongly reforming State-owned enterprises with a roadmap and strict steps, without causing loss of assets, the Prime Minister said that previously sensitive sectors such as banking, finance, telecommunications, and insurance are also being strongly equitized, so that the private sector, including foreign investors, can participate more in this process.

This is also one of the solutions to promote growth.

“So how will Vietnam surprise the world in the next 5 years?”, Mr. Brende asked the final question in the dialogue.

The Prime Minister replied, “We have a national aspiration for development. First of all, in the current context, we maintain growth momentum, improve people's lives and are a reliable address for all foreign and domestic investors to do business in Vietnam in the most favorable and safest way. Vietnam will have a stronger reform and innovation program in legal institutions as well as the business environment. We consider the success of investors as the success of the Government. Therefore, we strengthen dialogue, continue to reform institutions and laws, protect the legitimate rights of investors, so that the investment and business atmosphere of investors in Vietnam is more positive, solve more jobs, contribute to better development, maintain continuous growth momentum in the current complex world context. That is what the Government commits to the people and investors. I think that, in the current international context, maintaining our current high growth rate is also an effort, if not a surprise.".