Vietnamese economy to recover fast this year: UNDP representative

There are promising signs for Vietnam and its economic recovery this year, Caitlin Wiesen, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) representative in Vietnam has said.
Vietnamese economy to recover fast this year: UNDP representative ảnh 1Illustrative image (Source: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) –There are promising signs for Vietnam and its economic recovery this year, Caitlin Wiesen, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) representative inVietnam has said.
In an interview granted to Vietnam Investment Review, the official also spoke highly of the Vietnamese Government’s efforts to put the security and safety of the peopleas a priority during the pandemic, especially the government’s leadership inthe rapid and equitable deployment of COVID-19 vaccines. The vaccinationcampaign has enabled the government to open up further for business andtourism, she said.

Wiesen noted that lastyear, Vietnam introduced two support packages for those affected by lockdownsand social distancing, the first worth 2.7 billion USD and thesecond, 1.13 billion USD.

She highlighted thatgrowth will accelerate this year, as tourism, transport, and other services areopen. However, it is unrealistic to think that there will be an immediatereturn to the growth path experienced before the pandemic. The official pointed tomultiple challenges including a climate crisis; rising fuel prices; supply chaindisruption due to prolonged lockdowns; and the knock-on effects of the war inUkraine.

The government,therefore, plays an important role in ensuring growth is sustainable beyondthis year. This will include an increasing supply of long-term finance,facilitating growth among domestic firms through technology upgrades and publicinvestment, and increasing climate finance, among others, she said.

To meet theobjective of achieving high-income status by 2045, Vietnam needs to invest alarger share of national output into national competitiveness, increasing valuein domestic industries, and upgrading technological and innovationcapabilities, the official suggested.

Regarding the UNDP’scommitments to Vietnam in realising its goals of becoming a high-income economyby 2045 and reaching net-zero emissions by 2050, Wiesen said that to supportthe development of strong domestic productive capabilities, the UNDP isconducting research with the Ministry of Planning and Investment on linkingpublic investment to development outcomes, strengthening the domestic capitalmarket, and restructuring national development banks.

To support Vietnam’scommitment to reaching net zero emissions by 2050, the UNDP is undertakingseveral actions for a just climate transition. Last December, the UNDP andother partners reaffirmed our commitment to Vietnam and the country’s effortsto achieve the new climate targets, she noted.

The UNDP is ready towork collectively with the like-minded donor group on the nationally determinedcontributions to support the government to mobilise international resources,including a combination of increased public and private investment, drawing onofficial development assistance and concessional loans to reduce costs toVietnam, and providing needed expertise, knowledge, and technology toaccelerate the green transition and improving the regulatory environment for ajust energy transition.

It is supporting theMinistry of Natural Resources and Environment to revise the National ClimateChange Response Strategy to align with the net-zero carbon emissions target by2050. The strategy will link Vietnam’s pledges on clean energy, methanereduction, coal phase-out and forest protection to reach the targets by 2050and convert them into concrete actions.

Building on existingprogrammes with the Green Climate Fund and Global Environment Facility financedprojects, the UNDP is working closely across key ministries to map out thenecessary interventions in each sector and region and to mobilise the mostup-to-date and reliable scientific information on current and forecastedimpacts of climate change.

The UNDP isdeepening its partnership with the Vietnamese government to protect vulnerablegroups from the impacts of climate change with integrated storm and floodresilient programmes in coastal provinces, water management in the centralhighlands and environmental governance in the Mekong Delta region, to ensure thatno-one is left behind in the process of adapting to climate change.

The agency is alsodeveloping a major new project that aims to build resilience for coastalcommunities and implement natural-based solutions in mangrove and coralprotection while supporting local livelihoods and eco-tourism, Wiesen added./.
VNA

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