Inaugural seminar on multi-dimensional review of Vietnam

Hanoi (VNA) – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) held an inaugural seminar on the multi-dimensional review of Vietnam in Hanoi on February 26. 

Deputy Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son highly appreciated the support of the OECD in kickstarting this important review.

Jan Rielaender, head of Multi-dimensional Country Reviews (MDCR) for the OECD, said that through the review, Vietnam will have an opportunity to learn from the experience and knowledge of other countries’ reform processes, while the other 53 member nations of the OECD will also gain a better understanding of Vietnam and learn from its successes and challenges, as well as share their know-how.

He recommended that Vietnam take on its sustainable development goals as an important target which must be achieved by 2030. Each nation should map out its own path and define its most important targets, he suggested.

World Bank Country Director for Vietnam Ousmane Dione evaluated Vietnam as having the most encouraging development steps in the world since its reforms process began.

The rapid growth of its gross domestic product (GDP) in 2018 is also a good signal for Vietnam, he said.

He suggested Vietnam further develop the private economic sector; build on its national reform capacity; increase resilience to climate change; develop a modernised institutional system; connect domestic and foreign businesses; create a more favourable business environment; and promote innovation.

Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue hailed the OECD for actively coordinating with the Vietnamese government, ministries, and sectors to soon inaugurate the multi-dimensional review of Vietnam, which is important to the building of the Vietnam development strategy through 2030 with a vision to 2045.

According to Hue, besides promoting economic growth, Vietnam also pays special attention to developing other social fields which enables the public to join the nation’s socio-economic development.

For a long time, budget collection has only increased by 10-12 percent, while the state budget expenditure for social security activities has reached 23-25 percent.

The Deputy PM cited the UN Development Programme’s report in 2018 which stated that Vietnam has gained a lot of progresses in human development and multi-dimensional poverty reduction. The country’s human development index (HDI) has increased consecutively for over the past 27 years.

The multi-dimensional review of Vietnam should point out which areas are bottlenecks in the development of Vietnam and share new emerging development trends in the world, he suggested. –VNA