Top official discusses need to free up resources for industrial development

Top official discusses need to free up resources for industrial development

Many Vietnamese made industrial products are exported on a large-scale, but a number of synchronous solutions are required to build a strong industrial sector.

Increased competitiveness

According to Vice Chair of the Party Central Committee's Economic Commission Nguyen Duc Hien, Vietnam’s industries have developed intensively, with a number of industrial products exported on a large-scale occupying a strong position in the world market. According to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the global competitiveness ranking of Vietnam’s industrial sector increased from 58th in 2015 to 42nd in 2019.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai emphasized that Vietnam’s industrial competitiveness has significantly improved, and UNIDO's Industrial Competitiveness Report has moved Vietnam from the group of “developing economies” to the group of “emerging industrial economies”.

However, the Deputy Minister also frankly admitted that the process of industrialization and modernization still faces difficulties. The domestic industry remains weak by and large, while the competitiveness of domestic enterprises is low, resulting in low added value of its products. In addition, the technological level of domestic industrial enterprises is still limited. A survey by the Ministry of Industry and Trade on the readiness of Vietnamese industries for the 4th Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) shows that most Vietnamese enterprises have not joined the revolution and industrial enterprises have a low access level to all pillars of a smart manufacturing sector.

“The reason of the above bottlenecks is the lack of a complete, synchronous and attractive legal framework and policy mechanism; lack of linkages between the domestic business sector and the FDI sector and the world market,” Deputy Minister Hai explained.

Clearing the bottleneck

The 13th National Congress of the Communist Party set a goal for the proportion of the manufacturing industry in the GDP to reach 25 percent by 2025. It also set out tasks including accelerating industrialization and modernization based on science and technology, innovation and technological achievements of the Industry Revolution 4.0; restructuring the industry sector, promoting the transformation to digital technology, improving the autonomy of the economy and its capacity to participate deeply and effectively in global value chains.

Developing high-tech industry is an inevitable direction

Hai said Vietnam must realize industrialization and modernization with a new mindset and new approach. The Ministry of Industry and Trade will focus on a number of main tasks, first among them perfecting the legal system to create a driving force for a sustainable industrial development, freeing bottlenecks and resources for industrial development.

Second, using resources rationally for sustainable and efficient industrial development, associated with environmental protection, green growth, improving the capacity and pro-activeness of localities, strengthening linkages between localities and regions; promoting industrial restructuring towards increasing added value.

Third, providing support to improve the competitiveness of industrial enterprises, especially developing human resources, innovation associated with practical needs of domestic industrial enterprises, promoting the application of digital technology and transformation in industrial enterprises to achieve a smart factory model, and making private industrial enterprises an important driving force for further development of the country.

Finally, strengthening linkages between domestic enterprises, the FDI sector and the global market in order to take advantages of opportunities offered by free trade agreements and the 4th Industrial Revolution to help domestic industrial enterprises penetrate the global value chain.

VietNam Economic News