Czech newspaper commends Vietnam’s reform achievements

Prague (VNA) – Parlamentnilisty.cz, an e-newspaper of the Czech Republic, has recently run an article praising the achievements Vietnam has recorded over the past 30 years of reform.

The article, titled: “Achievements of 30-year reform in Vietnam,” said the Southeast Asian nation had fallen into a socio-economic crisis for a decade before it started the reform policy.

The situation began to be handled at the sixth Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam in 1986, which, the article said, played an important role in Vietnam’s development as it oriented new ways of thinking in economic development and introduced a new legal system with improved regulations that met international standards.

The political reform was carried out in accordance with the economic growth level, the article said, stressing new directions that focused on stable and high economic growth, and people’s better living standards.

Vietnam is one of the few countries that have successfully conducted reform and maintained their economic growth at a stable and continuous pace, according to the article.

It cited the country’s annual GDP growth of around 7 percent during the 30-year period, and 7.4 percent in the last decade.

Mentioning Vietnam’s social development and poverty reduction, the article said more than one third of the country’s total social investments was allocated to the tasks of poverty alleviation, human resources development, education, science and technology, health, culture and other similar targets.

The newspaper quoted the UN’s assessments as saying that Vietnam is one of the countries worldwide that have taken the lead in the fight against poverty and met the requirements of the UN Millennium Development Goals.

The poverty rate in Vietnam reached 58 percent before the effectuation of the reform policy, but now drops to 9 percent, it noted.

The article also commended Vietnam’s fruitful achievements in foreign affairs, saying the country has established diplomatic relations with nearly 180 countries and trade ties with more than 160 countries and territories across the world.

Currently, Vietnam is an active member of many regional and international organisations and forums like the UN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, it said.

The article concluded that such achievements have proven Vietnam’s sound decision to follow the path of reform, which has created a firm socio-economic foundation for the country to continue pursuing socialism.-VNA