The Vietnamese Government has adopted a wide range of economic policies and measures aimed at curbing the economic slowdown, stimulating growth and promoting social welfare and sustainable development.

Vietnam ’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Bui The Giang, delivered the statement at the General Debate of the UN’s Economic and Financial Committee in New York on October 5.

He said, for the first 9 months of this year, Vietnam managed to keep inflation under control, at 5.08 percent, increase export turnover by 23.2 percent and industrial output by 13.8 percent, while its GDP growth rate in the 3rd quarter of this year reached 7.16 percent.

The country’s acreage of newly planted forests has increased by 4.1 percent, more than 300,000 jobs were created in the first half of the year, and the number of foreign visitors coming to Vietnam in the first eight months rose by 35.3 percent, the ambassador added.

However, he noted that Vietnam still faces a lot of challenges, ranging from how to enhance its capacity to sustain economic growth, improve efficiency in the economy, narrow development gaps, ensure a clean and green environment and mitigate and adapt to climate changes.

Vietnam highly values cooperation with all members of the international community to surmount these challenges and pledged to work closely with the committee’s leaders and other member states to come up with effective solutions to common issues on the global development agenda, said Giang.

The Vietnamese representative also highlighted the outcomes of the UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which was held in New York two weeks ago, especially actions for achieving the MDGs by 2015.

He emphasised the necessity of finding ways at a national level to enable countries, especially developing countries, to support poor and vulnerable people as well as achieve the internationally agreed development goals, including the MDGs.

Developed countries should do more to honour their commitments to assist developing countries by increasing ODA, promoting trade, rescheduling debt, transferring technology, promoting financial flows and facilitating participation of developing countries in the international financial arena.

Meanwhile, developing countries should, enhance their capacity, improve governance and economic and financial operations, including more efficient use of increasingly scarce resources.

According to the diplomat, the UN should be in the vanguard of development and multilateral mechanisms. Its role should be strengthened to generate feasible development solutions and programmes and to tap into the required resources needed to ensure solutions and policies in a well coordinated, coherent and effective manner.

The UN also needs to play a fundamental role in reforming the structure of global governance and respond to global challenges./.