NA committee considers economic integration’s impacts

NA Chairman at the meeting (Photo:VNA)

The Government’s report on outcomes of international economic integration since Vietnam joined the World Trade Organisation (WTO) was scrutinised at the National Assembly Standing Committee’s 41 st meeting on September 18.

According to the NA’s Economic Committee, international integration, especially the participation in the WTO in 2007, has brought impacts on all domestic socio-economic aspects with remarkable outcomes.

It has opened up more opportunities for locals to raise their incomes. In 2014, average GDP per capita reached 43.4 million VND (1,931 USD) a year, up 2.93 times from that of 2007.

However, the process has caused negative impact on the environment, as accelerated mining and oil exploitation exhausted natural resources.

In addition, economic regulations and institutions, while much improved, have shown limitations in quality and enforcement, and economic policies are not strong enough to take advantage of opportunities brought about by international integration, especially those for the private sector. Meanwhile, administrative reform has yet to meet economic development requirements, and competitiveness of the nation and enterprises remains low.

Many Standing Committee members said that many points in the report, particularly the causes of problems, should be analysed deeper in order to find out solutions for the next stage of integration.

According to NA Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung, the report has yet to answer the question whether Vietnam’s 8-year WTO membership helps improve its economy and narrow development gap with other countries or not.

Meanwhile, Truong Thi Mai, Head of the NA Committee for Social Affairs, stressed the need for comparison with other nations in the region during the integration process.

Head of the NA Ombudsman Committee Nguyen Duc Hien asked for further clarification of the process’s impact on the agricultural sector, particularly human resources working in this field, poverty reduction and new-style rural area building.-VNA