Hanoi, (VNA)🌞 - “Vietnam needs to acknowledge its economic shortcomings. It needs to maintain stable and high economic growth before becoming the so-called dragon or tiger,” Head of the Party Central Committee (PCC)'s Economic Commission Nguyen Van Binh has said.

Vietnam’s economy has had a remarkable year of success, for the first time since 2008, economic growth reached 7.08% and is among the highest rates of growth for countries in the region and the world. However, Binh noted despite these achievements, it’s necessary to identify issues and plan for future development. Vietnam needs to acknowledge its economic shortcomings. It needs to maintain stable and high economic growth before becoming the dragon or tiger, the official said.

Clarifying FDI attraction strategy

Vietnam has achieved significant economic development, however to become a higher-income country, a breakthrough in policy is required, according to Head of the PCC's Economic Commission Nguyen Van Binh. He pointed out challenges while addressing the Vietnam Economic Forum 2019 themed "Strengthening the foundation for rapid and sustainable growth", held by the Government and the PCC’s Economic Commission. With the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) officially effective on January 14, Vietnam has had 16 Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) either already signed or under negotiation, opening up to more than 60 economies, in which 15 of 20 countries belong to the Group of 20 (G20). Serving as an important gateway to access to almost all major markets in the world, Vietnam has a great advantage to attract foreign investment, however, together with opportunities go challenges. "With weak and insufficient supporting industries, Vietnamese enterprises are involved in final stage of the production chain with low added value. Therefore, it will be a disadvantage when the FTAs take into account the rules of origin and the capacity of supporting industries,” Binh said. Vietnam needs to come up with an FDI attraction strategy while connecting local enterprises with FDI enterprises in the value chain and global production, thus exploring advantages of new generation FTAs, he said.

Opportunities in digital economics

The digital economy has become a driving force for economic development strategy.

According to the World Economic Forum’s "Our Shared Digital Futures൩" report in October 2018, the digital economy is expected to contribute about 60 percent of global GDP by 2020. The gap between the digital economy, and real economy, between the digital society and real society is becoming blurred.

Binh considers the situation an opportunity for Vietnam. “In the technological age and innovation, opportunities are divided equally for all countries. Vietnam needs to make good use of the opportunities offered by the digital economy, thus making the digital economy a new driving force for a fast and sustainable economic growth, ” said Binh. Sharing the view, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung, pointed out Vietnam’s advantages when converting to digital technology, saying "Vietnam's digital economy has seen rapid development thanks to relatively good telecommunication, information technology infrastructure system, high coverage and young population, who are mostly adaptable to high technology.” However, the Minister also stated that Vietnam is the slowest in ASEAN in terms of going digital. He underlined the need for direct instruction from the Government with a national strategy of digital transformation and digital economy, while facilitating new business models and innovation. The Prime Minister issued Directive 16/CT-TTg dated May 4, 2017 on strengthening the capacity to access the 4th Industrial Revolution. The Politburo issued Resolution. 23-NQ / TW dated March 22, 2018 on national industrial development policy. In the framework of the Forum, participants focused their discussions on development trend and impacts of artificial intelligence (AI) on the world economy, thus offering breakthrough solutions and international experience. The annual Vietnam Economic Forum, the third of its kind, is initiated by the PCC’s Economic Commission. Over the years, the forum has attracted international and local experts, contributing to planning national development strategies.-VNA