The Government should perform well its role as the coordinator and executive director of the economy and limit its direct interference as the owner of businesses to facilitate economic development, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly’s Economic Committee Nguyen Duc Kien said.

In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency, the Vice Chairman said the Government’s role is very important for the country to achieve its economic targets this year.

On the part of businesses, he said they should take the initiative in joining the global value chain in order to expand their market and produce more products with high added value.

Kien noted that there are favourable conditions for economic development in 2015 thanks to the promulgation of a series of laws in line with the 2013 Constitution. In addition, the expected signing of many free trade agreements during the year also opens up good prospects for market expansion.

At the same time, the lawmaker explained that the GDP growth target of 6.2 percent for 2015, higher than the 5.9 percent recorded in 2014, was set taking into account the expected positive effects of policies issued in 2014 on removing difficulties for enterprises. In addition, several national key projects will become operational this year, giving a boost to the economy.

Looking back on 2014, the NA Economic Committee Vice Director underlined the fact that it was the first time in several years the country achieved most socio-economic goals, despite the impacts of regional and global situation, particularly China’s illegal placement of its oil rig Haiyan Shiyou 981 inside Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone. He noted that the country also deal with incidents related to Haiyan Shiyou 981 in a timely and appropriate manner, maintaining the trust of both domestic and foreign investors.

The lawmaker pointed to the breakthrough made in the disbursement of public investment and Official Development Assistance (ODA) capital, while exports achieved a growth rate desired by many regional countries.

According to Kien, the 5.9 percent GDP growth in 2014 was at the medium range in ASEAN in terms of overall rate, but the low level in terms of absolute growth. However, the figure should be considered in the context that more than 213,000 domestic enterprises reported no turnover and tax-generated activities during the year, he said, adding that this shows there is still room for a higher growth rate it the country finds suitable solutions to help those enterprises rise out of difficulties.

The lawmaker also hailed the improvement of social security in 2014 despite economic difficulties.-VNA