Vietnam’s economy valued at over US$262 billion this year
Vietnam’s economy valued at over US$262 billion this year
The size of the Vietnamese economy has expanded to more than US$262 billion in 2019, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc told a national teleconference held in Hanoi today, December 30.
The meeting was also attended by Party General Secretary and State President Nguyen Phu Trong; Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan; and other senior Government and Party officials, reported the local media.
The Cabinet leader Phuc said the national economy had grown 9.3 times from 1986 to nearly US$250 billion in 2018.
Vietnam’s digital economy has quadrupled over the past five years and is expected to account for 20% of gross domestic product (GDP) in the next five years.
This year is the second consecutive year that the Vietnamese economy has expanded beyond 7% amid the global economic slowdown while core inflation picked up by 2.79%, well below the ceiling set by the National Assembly.
Public debt has dipped to around 56% of GDP from the 2018 figure of 64%. Meanwhile, the trade surplus has soared to an all-time high of nearly US$10 billion, fueled by the strong growth of exports, Phuc remarked.
This year, the State Bank of Vietnam brought in a total of US$20 billion, taking Vietnam’s foreign exchange reserves to roughly US$80 billion, a record figure to date, he noted, adding that the figure was unimaginable a decade ago.
The PM stated that more than 1.1 million new jobs need to be created next year, which is a major challenge for the central and local governments.
The Government aims to create job opportunities for all laborers, especially those in the rural and mountainous areas, and to encourage entrepreneurial spirit, according to Phuc.
Even developed countries still have a gap between rich and poor. However, Vietnam follows a socialist-oriented market economy, so the Government is striving to ensure that no one is left behind in the country’s economic development.
He pointed out that the country’s annual income per capita has reached nearly US$2,800. Including the size of the informal economy, the figure would surpass US$3,000, compared with the average US$3,996 among high-income countries.
Vietnam needs to sustain high economic growth over the next two decades to turn itself into a high-income country by 2045, the year that marks the 100th anniversary of the country’s independence, he said.
AVG-MobiFone case deters corruption: Party chief
Harsh punishments for corrupt high-ranking officials will serve as a deterrent against similar behavior, stated Party chief and State President Nguyen Phu Trong at the teleconference.
Trong was referring to State-owned MobiFone's acquisition of a stake in the private pay TV provider Audio Visual Global JSC (AVG), for which two former ministers of information and communications have been given long prison terms, including a life sentence.
The case was unprecedented in several of its aspects. The case is the first to see two ex-Cabinet leaders being punished for bribery rather than the usual charge of negligence with serious consequences. Also, the State recovered the highest value of assets at VND8.5 trillion (US$368 million).
The case is a wake-up call and a deterrent for future crimes, he said, adding that the Central Steering Committee for Anti-Corruption is taking charge of many cases.
He stressed the Government and its agencies should not be afraid to root out corruption for fear it will hamper economic development.
On Saturday, Nguyen Bac Son, aged 66, who led the Ministry of Information and Communications between 2011 and 2016, was sentenced to life in prison for accepting a US$3 million bribe from former AVG chairman Pham Nhat Vu and 16 years in jail for violating regulations on the management and use of public investment leading to serious consequences.
His 59-year-old successor, Truong Minh Tuan, was sentenced to six years behind bars for economic mismanagement and eight years for taking a US$200,000 bribe, bringing the total to 14 years. Tuan took up the ministerial post in 2016, before being suspended in July 2018.
