The value of Vietnam's 40 years of Renovation is the growth of Vietnam's private economic sector. (Source: Quang Ngai Newspaper)

Achievements go hand in hand with human values

Innovation has brought about important changes. The figures on GDP, import and export, per capita income, urbanization rate… are all unprecedented in the thousands of years of history of Vietnam.

Dr. Tran Dinh Thien, former Director of the Vietnam Economic Institute, proudly summarized the achievements of 40 years of economic renovation in Vietnam. In the assessment of this expert who was directly present, experienced and contributed a lot of effort at important milestones of the Renovation process, the country has crossed an extremely important threshold.

“Up to this point, we can say that we have completely escaped poverty. Of course, there are still some people at the poverty line, but in principle, 40 years have achieved the goal of ‘becoming more decent and beautiful’ that President Ho Chi Minh entrusted in his Testament,” Dr. Thien shared.

Not only that, Dr. Thien emphasized, his desire to "stand shoulder to shoulder with the world's great powers" is also being achieved, with great achievements when Vietnam has gone along with the world, sharing responsibility with the world.

“It is because of going along with human values ​​that Vietnam has become much greater. Vietnamese people are raising themselves to achieve common values, the best values, the quintessence of humanity,” Dr. Thien said, mentioning Vietnam’s strategic partners, which are the largest, globally important countries, members of important trade blocs, and have positions… in the international arena.

Sharing with his contemporaries, Dr. Nguyen Dinh Cung, former Director of the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM), called “this decision to go along with the values ​​of humanity” the most vivid result of the process of innovation in thinking, transforming from planning and centralized subsidy thinking to market economic thinking.

Therefore, the value of Vietnam's 40 years of Renovation is the growth of Vietnam's private economic sector, the effectiveness of the State's role in the economy in a space of continuous innovation and reform for "market, market and more market", Dr. Cung shared.

However, frankly, economic experts emphasize that the achievements in changing the mechanism towards the market are still not completely complete, especially when there are still countries that have not recognized Vietnam as a full market economy, meaning that it has not yet met international standards and practices. Concerns that Vietnam's economy is still in the middle-income trap, the trend of falling further behind in many fundamental aspects compared to the economies that Vietnam wants to compete with and catch up with is evident...

In particular, experts are talking about Vietnam's market economic institutions still not being enough to handle development issues, the institutions still have many limitations, constraints, and bottlenecks...

“After 40 years, the private business sector has become a rescue force for the economy whenever it encounters difficulties, still developing resiliently even though it is not always favorable. But now, the private economic sector is struggling and facing difficulties…”, Dr. Thien pondered.

Aspiration for a rich Vietnam

“Vietnam will become a developed country by 2045. I firmly believe that,” Mr. Jonathan Hanh Nguyen, Chairman of the Imex Pan Pacific Group (IPP), repeated this sentence while participating in a workshop discussing the effectiveness of financial resources for economic development at the end of August 2024.

It is not by chance that he mentioned this. The presence of the leaders of the Central Economic Committee, leaders of many ministries and sectors, along with direct questions about what businesses need to develop, how to mobilize resources, many of which are currently stuck, raised many expectations for him.

Currently, he and his partners are continuing to wait for information about the Project to Establish an International Financial Center that they have cherished since 2014, submitted to all levels and sectors since 2016, and attended many workshops from local to central levels to answer hundreds of questions over the past 8 years. In particular, in October 2023, when the Prime Minister decided to establish a Steering Committee to develop the Project for a Regional and International Financial Center to advise the Government and the Prime Minister to research, direct, and coordinate the resolution of important, inter-sectoral tasks during the process of developing the Project, he hoped that there would soon be specific mechanisms and policies...

“The total amount of documents we collected and researched amounted to more than 20 kg, distilled into 700 pages of the project, condensed into 70 pages to present to leaders at all levels. What we want to say is that we have many policies, but without money, without the participation of resources from the private sector, it cannot be implemented. I have said this for 8 years, this year I am 73 years old, I don’t have much time left… I hope the Prime Minister will be decisive,” Mr. Hanh Nguyen confided.

The International Financial Center project proposed by IPP is expected to be located in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang, mobilizing capital of up to 120 billion USD. Moreover, this model will create a connection between domestic and international capital sources, improving Vietnam's capital mobilization capacity. In particular, this is an opportunity to attract international financial institutions and high-quality FDI capital flows, promote technology transfer, management capacity... and importantly, will raise Vietnam's position on the global economic map.

To kick things off, Mr. Hanh Nguyen said there was a written commitment to invest 10 billion USD, half for the Center in Da Nang and half for Ho Chi Minh City. Other investors also committed to the progress of investing in specific projects, with the principle that money must make money...

“Many people ask me how to attract investors, I say no need, because they have come to us, we just need a mechanism for them to put down their money. But the current ‘institutional shirt’ is too tight and investors cannot wait forever…”, this 73-year-old overseas Vietnamese businessman earnestly said.

Space of more magical steps

Mr. Hanh Nguyen's thoughts and the burning entrepreneurial spirit of generations of Vietnamese entrepreneurs are the reasons why Dr. Nguyen Dinh Cung believes that the Vietnamese economy will have more miraculous steps in the upcoming development journey.

He said that he had met and talked with many businesses and saw that they were making great efforts and looking for opportunities, especially those in the manufacturing, processing and manufacturing sectors. These businesses innovated, were creative, and were transforming green and digitally very strongly, because that was their business opportunity and future market…, not necessarily because of the green goal.

“Businesses must transform because their customers and partners demand it. But if the policy mechanism promotes the speed and efficiency of these activities, linking business opportunities with projects, works, and major goals of the country, then that is the role of the State in the market economy,” Dr. Cung explained.

In fact, the growth of the private enterprise sector during the years of Doi Moi has contributed to shaping not only the mark of Vietnamese goods and services on the international market, but also realizing many development strategies of industries and sectors, contributing greatly to the State budget. That is not to mention the role of the private enterprise sector in creating jobs, participating in social security activities, etc.

In reports from many localities, ministries, sectors and the Government, the stories of Thaco, Vinfast in the automobile industry, Hoa Phat in the steel industry, FPT in information technology, Vietjet in the aviation industry, TH True Milk in the dairy industry... are often mentioned. Even the process of shaping the development path of many localities and economic regions... has the shadow of many large enterprises and economic groups.

Currently, Mr. Cung believes that just having a mechanism for businesses, especially economic groups, including large state-owned and private groups, to participate in solving major national problems is the key to opening up unlimited development space for both the economy and businesses.

More specifically, Dr. Tran Dinh Thien acknowledged that the conditions for the private enterprise sector and domestic private corporations to be able to lead the chain, lead development, and connect with the foreign-invested enterprise sector are not too difficult, that is, solving the problem of capital costs, operating costs, and an equal business environment, no asking-giving, no sub-licenses...

“No private enterprise in any country can endure the high interest rates like in Vietnam, since the Doi Moi period. No enterprise anywhere can endure the high transaction costs like in Vietnam because of too many administrative procedures. Identifying the problem is not to criticize or criticize the policy, but to see that if we had a better policy, a more practical solution, this sector and this economy would grow much more strongly! This has been clearly identified and I hope it will be clearly identified in this summary of 40 years of Doi Moi,” Dr. Thien expressed his hope.

But this is also what makes experts and the business community recommend that the costs and losses that the economy must bear when the business sector has difficulty growing, grows slowly, or even does not dare to do so, need to be put on the table by policy makers to discuss the next stage of economic development, which is to enter the orbit of getting rich...