Massachusetts (VNA) - Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinhattended a policy dialogue on developmentorientations of Vietnam in the 21st century with professors of the Harvard KennedySchool in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 14 (US time) as part of hisworking trip to the US.            

Speaking at the dialogue, Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung said in 2019, he led a delegation of researchers to the Harvard School to listen to experts’opinions about the development strategy for the country. The delegation thenstudied and presented information on sustainable development. Accordingly, inorder to achieve sustainable development, it is necessary to achieve sustainability not only in the economy but also in culture,society and among human beings.

Vietnam defines the target ofplacing the people as the subject with all policies revolving around the peopleand benefiting the people, Dung said.

“Vietnam sees that rapid andsustainable development must be based on new motivations. Apart from mechanismsand infrastructure, it is necessary to supplement two new motivations in thethree breakthroughs that are science and technology and innovation, andcultural value of Vietnamese people,” he said.  

Professor David Dapice appreciatedthat the participation in international trade agreements is a wonderful successof Vietnam. Millions of agricultural workers have moved to work at factories.However, as the majority of the production materials of Vietnam are imported, the country’s export products were affected by the outbreak of theCOVID-19 pandemic with borders closing or in case of trade tensions. Therefore,the professor said Vietnam needs to develop domestic inputs and diversifysources for export.

Professor Dapice evaluated that Vietnam’s trade surplus with the US could reach 100 billion USD this year. He said Vietnam needs to promote foreigndirect investment (FDI) attraction, trade exchanges with other countries andeducation and training cooperation, in order to create competitive advantagesin ASEAN.

In addition, the economy’s openingmust be maintained, attracting more talents and creating favourable conditionsfor investors, he said.

Many localities of Vietnam are inremote areas without favourable infrastructure, making it hard for them to getaccess to and attract FDI so the professor suggested the country test theapplication of property tax, allowing localities to use property tax forinvestment without the use of State budget.

Speaking at the discussion,Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Nguyen Thi Hong admitted thatinternational integration brings many opportunities for Vietnam but the countryalso has to face many challenges. The bank must increase forecasts to putforward synchronous policies in line with the reality, and resolutely not usemonetary policy to create competitive advantages in trade.

With that consistency, Vietnam hasrecorded impressive results in curbing inflation alongside a relatively highgrowth rate. The foreign exchange market is stabilised which is a bright spotto help improve Vietnam’s credit rating.

Medical professor David Golanspoke highly of Vietnam’s COVID-19 prevention and control measures. Since thefirst days of the pandemic, Vietnam decided to apply social distancing, limittravel and enhance the response of medical establishments. Doctors and nursesare the most vulnerable so Vietnam focused on equipping and protecting them tolimit infections. The Ministry of Health mobilised final-year medical students to join the fight againstthe pandemic.
          
TheHarvard Medical School donated 700,000 USD to helptrain 5,800 students who then were mobilised to pandemic-hit localities of Vietnamto help strengthen their medical systems. He proposed Vietnam set up abiomedical research centre to help transfer technology and build strategicbiomedicine.

At the dialogue, PM Chinh answered questions of experts and students from the Harvard Kennedy School. He affirmed Vietnam’sconsistent policy of innovation which must be inherited, renewed and developed.

The Government leader stressed theneed to have an innovation ecosystem, initially having mechanisms, resourcesand human resources in order to encourage everyone to join innovation. He alsosaid it is necessary to have international cooperation to create an innovationecosystem.

Regarding the development of thedigital economy, PM Chinh said cyber security isa global issue and Vietnam is boosting international cooperation and improvingits own capacity to deal with emerging issues. He stressed that internationalexperts could help to complete mechanisms and technology relating to cybersecurity, particularly in human resources training.

At the event, a representativefrom the Harvard Kennedy School announced that the school is cooperating withSovico Group to build and sponsor an initiative on Vietnam’s climate policy.The project focuses on research and training to strengthen the recoverycapacity of cities in Vietnam in response to climate change and to developrenewable energy./.