VINACHEM

Vietnam's GDP growth for this year is likely to reach between 7% and 7.5% providing that synchronous solutions, ranging from competent pandemic prevention and control to stable economic recovery and growth stimulation measures, according to both domestic and foreign organizations and experts.

Increasing investment in national targeted programs will have a great impact on economic growth.
Last year’s GDP growth of 2.91% can be viewed as an important base from which to create momentum for economic growth in the year ahead. Economic expert Dr. Nguyen Dinh Cung said that amid the current context, the nation must pay special attention to “recovery" and "stimulus" solutions in order to allow the national economy to grow in a rapid and sustainable manner.

With regard to economic recovery measures, 97% of the economy is made up of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and millions of individual business households. Indeed, all of them have recently experienced a challenging period due to the impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, therefore they still require support from the Government.

Dr. Cung recommends that, instead of using the "money package" to directly support local firms, the Government should approve tax and credit incentives for them, especially for those that invest in industries or new business models that follow Industry 4.0 trends and operate in the new normal.

“All the incentive policies need to be implemented immediately to reach businesses in time, which serve as a driving force behind strong growth in the coming time,” he emphasises.

Along with the recovery, Dr. Cung affirms that the Government also needs to launch immediate solutions in an effort to "stimulate" a fast-growing economy as a premise for growth during the 2021 to 2025 period, as well as sustainable growth for the entire economy in the long term. In line with this, State resources should be mobilised in order to effectively disburse public investment projects that result in immediate effects on both growth and growth stimulation.

“Currently the demand for and opportunities for public investment are too great and should focus on large-scale infrastructure projects. Now, scarce capital should be concentrated on those projects to increase the production capacity of the economy,” Dr. Cung outlined.

Concurring with this point of view, economist Dr. Luong Van Khoi emphasises that infrastructure projects associated with social security, such as investments in rural, mountainous, and island areas will help to reduce environmental harm. In addition, it will allow for greater climate change adaptation in the Mekong Delta in order to have a major impact coupled with sustainable growth.

“Increasing investment in national targeted programmes will have a huge impact. Firstly, it creates a very good infrastructure for remote areas to increase the exchange of goods. Secondly, people have financial resources and income, thereby stimulating consumption of domestic goods. This will help to boost domestic production as well as spur economic growth," Dr. Khoi stated.

According to Dr. Vo Tri Thanh, economic growth stimulus packages in the context of Industry 4.0 and the digital economy must also be closely linked with new development trends globally. In addition, there should be policies implemented to continue to support businesses and employees to overcome various difficulties.

Experts affirm that, along with the stimulus packages for economic recovery and growth through "money" resources, it remains necessary to promote the application of e-Government, whilst facilitating and reducing direct contact between public authorities, enterprises, and people.

There must also be two main points to be attached to, namely, developing e-commerce, whilst increasing digital transformation in terms of business operations, with a specific focus on the stronger development of new business models based on platform connections.

- VNN-