Vietnam’s industry is developing too slowly and is still reliant on many foreign-invested enterprises, says Nguyen Van Binh, head of the Party Central Committee’s Commission of Economic Affairs (Photo: enternews.vn) Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam’s industry isdeveloping too slowly and is still reliant on many foreign-investedenterprises, said NguyenVan Binh, head of the Party CentralCommittee’s Commission for Economic Affairs.
He was speaking at a conferenceheld in Hanoi late last week on national industrial development policies until2025 with a vision to 2035.
Between 2006 and 2015, the country’s total industrial productionvalue rose 3.42 times, while the industrial portion of the GDP remained stableat 31-32 percent.
While this has created jobs and contributed to socio-economicdevelopment, “industrial production growth has been weak andunsustainable; and industrial labour productivity, especially in the processingand manufacturing industries, has been low,” Binh said.
But the growth of average labour productivityin the industrial sector, especially in manufacturing, has been at a low levelof 2.4 percent a year, lower than that of the economic growth rate of 3.9 percentin the 2006-15 period, he noted.
In comparison with othercountries in the region, Vietnam’s industrial productivity lags behind,Malaysia’s and Thailand’s is 6.4 times greater, and that of the Philippines is3.4 times higher.
Binh stressed the need to develop a comprehensiveindustrial policy framework to promote and improve the quality of nationalindustrialisation and modernisation during the 2016-25 period.
Nguyen Duc Kien, vice chairman of the National Assembly’s Economic Committee, agreed. “It is time tochange the thinking and create a favourable investment environment for alleconomic sectors to develop industries,” Kien said.
Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai said Vietnam should continue to update its mechanisms and policies to createa favourable environment for attracting investment.
“Furthermore, the country must clearly definethe role of economic components in industrial development to appropriatelyorient development policies, promote the application of new technologies,facilitate labour restructuring, improve the quality of industrial humanresources and diversify financial resources for industrial development,” Hai added.
Experts also discussed experiences in developing industrial policies incountries such as Japan, the Republic of Korea and Thailand, as well asidentifying opportunities and challenges for industrial development.
Participants proposed several orientations forindustrial development policy, including adjusting the investment structure,selecting key sectors to set investment priorities, facilitating supportingindustry development and protecting domestic production with technicalbarriers.-VNA
VNA
