Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (second, left) greets executives of multinational groups at the Vietnam economic dialogue in Davos on January 23 (Photo: VNA) Davos (VNA) – Prime Minister NguyenXuan Phuc chaired a dialogue with executives of nearly 40 multinational groupsin Davos, Switzerland, on January 23 (local time), an activity within theframework of the ongoing World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting 2019.
The dialogue was themed “Fostering Dynamics andInnovation in the 4th Industrial Revolution”. This was the first time thecountry had coordinated with the WEF to organise a Vietnam economic dialogue onthe sidelines of a WEF annual meeting in Davos.
Opening the event, WEF Managing Director OlivierSchwab highlighted the robust economic growth of Vietnam over the last 30years, noting that the development of the country’s business community has beenclearly shown at this time’s WEF.
He affirmed that the WEF hopes Vietnam willfurther integrate into the international community and enhance coordinationwith the WEF in the future.
Welcoming leaders of multilateral groups to thedialogue, PM Phuc attributed Vietnam’s economic achievements to the politicaland social stability, strong determination to reform and good macro-economy formany years, along with the continuous and fast growth of the gross domesticproduct (GDP) – almost 6.7 percent each year. In 2018, the country’s economygrew by 7.08 percent and per capita GDP reached 2,600 USD, the leader said.
Vietnam has worked out favourable mechanisms andpolicies to facilitate development and remove difficulties facing enterprises,and its business climate has been improved strongly, he noted, adding that thetotal trade revenue approximated 480 billion USD with a trade surplus of 7.4billion USD last year.
The country has become one of the world’slargest producers of consumer goods, including electronics, textile-garment andfootwear. It is currently home to 26,000 foreign direct investment (FDI)projects totally worth nearly 350 billion USD of many major firms like Siemen,Novatis, Carlsberg, Mitsubishi, Toyota, Samsung, LG, Exxon Mobil, Ford and GE.
The PM affirmed that the Vietnamese Governmentalways takes heed to opinions of foreign enterprises and pledges to form atransparent legal framework that is approaching to advanced internationalstandards.
Vietnam and the European Union (EU) are workingactively towards the early signing and ratification of the EU-Vietnam FreeTrade Agreement (EVFTA), he added, asking the EU companies at the dialogue to helpaccelerate this deal’s signing.
Regarding Industry 4.0’s strong influence on eachenterprise, PM Phuc said Vietnam considers this a big opportunity whencountries compete by innovation, not only by traditional factors like freetrade, size, experience, labour and investment capital.
Vietnam has become one of the countries with thelargest optical cable network coverage as nearly 1 million km of cables havereached villages, communes and districts nationwide, internet users account for60 percent of the population, and up to 98 percent of the population havegained access to 3G and 4G mobile networks.
To prepare for Industry 4.0, Vietnam will pilotthe 5G technology this year and commercialise it in 2020, turning itself intoone of the pioneers in the application of this technology, he said.
PM Phuc called on international firms to come toVietnam and make Industry 4.0 products here.
Vietnam will take the lead in building a policyframework that is receptive to new technologies, PM Phuc stressed, adding thatit will strongly step up the public-private partnership to create breakthroughand environmentally friendly services and products.
Calling Vietnam one of the best investmenthavens in the changing world, he invited investors to the country, stressingthat it always opens its door to them.
At the dialogue,representatives of multinational groups said Vietnam is their important marketand production hub.
Stressing their support forthe EVFTA, they expected the Vietnamese Government will continue creatingfavourable conditions for their operation in the country.
A representative from Dutchbrewing company Heineken, which has invested in Vietnam for 25 years, said theSoutheast Asian nation hosts its most creative production facility in theglobe, voicing its hope for further assistance from local authorities.
British-Dutch consumer goodscompany Unilever considers its 24-year operation in Vietnam a big success andis proud of the business, said its representative.
A representative of Germanindustrial manufacturer Siemens projected Vietnam’s potential to make a greatleap in auto and mechanical manufacturing, adding that the group is willing tostand side-by-side with Vietnam in these sectors.
Siemens suggested theVietnamese Government increase investment in infrastructure and boost humanresources capacity to make use of technologies transferred by the company.
Anthony Ping Yeow Tan,co-founder and CEO of Singapore-based technology company Grab, said Vietnam isthe second country that it has invested in to develop networks.
He noted Grab has so farpoured over 100 million USD into the country, developing technological centreswith hundreds of engineers and generating jobs for 150,000 partners. Grab is ahappy investor in Vietnam and proud to be present here, he stated and asked howthe Vietnamese Government thinks of new technological business model like Grab.
In response to the question,Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung said Grad is afresh business model that makes strong impact on traditional ones. He announcedthat the Government’s policy related to the fourth industrial revolution tendsto support new business models based on technology, so Grab and similar modelswill receive positive treatment.
Further elaborating on this,PM Phuc affirmed that the Vietnamese Government is willing to assist breakthroughideas and models, which include innovative values, startup spirit and improvedtrend that help bring more benefits and convenience to the people.-VNA
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