Vietnam's Economy Scale Is Set to Reach Up to $1000 Billion USD

On the afternoon of November 4, following the speech on orientations regarding the 14th National Congress Document by General Secretary To Lam, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh contributed many opinions during the group discussion on the draft Document and further clarified issues of concern to National Assembly delegates.

"Soft Borders" Expand Wherever Vietnamese Planes Fly

The Prime Minister emphasized that the spirit of national unity is a crucial foundation for serving national interests and creating the country's combined strength. Drawing from his experience at international conferences, the government leader noted that when Vietnam shares the spirit of unity, partners always express strong support. Even within Southeast Asia, unity is the basis for upholding multilateralism, promoting cooperation, bringing mutual benefits, and opening the door for dialogue instead of confrontation.

He also analyzed the three strategic breakthroughs identified in the previous term: infrastructure, human resources, and institutions. According to the Prime Minister, the new requirement is to "elevate" these three breakthroughs—meaning not just continuing them, but clarifying their content, increasing their effectiveness, and amplifying their reach to create stronger momentum for economic development.

 The Prime Minister of the Government of Vietnam, Mr. Pham Minh Chinh

Regarding strategic infrastructure, the Prime Minister stated that investment in the past term was significantly higher than before (a 55% increase), focusing especially on expressways and roads, and soon the North-South high-speed railway. However, he stressed that the most important thing is for ministries, sectors, and localities to be more proactive in building institutions, rather than solely waiting for the Central Government. He cited the shift in assigning some localities the role of direct investors for major projects. For the upcoming railway project, the Government will continue to promote coordination between the Central and local levels, while accelerating the mobilization of private capital through Public-Private Partnerships (PPP).

The Prime Minister emphasized that decentralization must go hand-in-hand with resource allocation, enhanced supervision, inspection, and improved implementation capacity. He also noted that infrastructure investment requires enormous capital, necessitating mechanisms to attract social resources.

Besides road infrastructure, the Prime Minister suggested greater attention to inland waterway infrastructure, especially in the Mekong Delta. He proposed developing a port system master plan along rivers to reduce logistics costs, which currently account for 17-18% of GDP in Vietnam, compared to only about 11-12% in many other countries.

In the aviation sector, the Prime Minister stressed the need to diversify airport construction and establish more airlines to encourage self-management and competition. He gave the example of Van Don Airport, which was originally projected to cost 7.5 trillion VND over 5-7 years but was built by the private sector in just over 2 years with a final cost of just over 5 trillion VND.

An Economy of a Thousand Billion, Catching Up with Other Nations

On promoting growth, the Prime Minister stated that growth must be linked to the economy's size, sustainable development, macroeconomic stability, inflation control, and ensuring major balances like the budget, public debt, and debt repayment capacity.

He argued that macroeconomic stability is not only a foundational condition but also a new growth driver, alongside traditional drivers like investment, consumption, and export. He also highlighted the role of new sectors like the digital economy and the green economy in creating development momentum.

Citing the experience of South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan (China), the Prime Minister asserted that to narrow the development gap, Vietnam needs a breakthrough in growth speed—one that is both fast and sustainable—because the country started later. He remarked that if other countries achieved growth of 9-10%, Vietnam must also aim for a similar figure to catch up.

While acknowledging that setting a high growth target is a huge challenge amid natural disasters, the Prime Minister affirmed, “we still have room to strive.” He explained that when growth is achieved, the economy’s scale, labor productivity, and per capita income will all increase, thereby improving people's lives. The 10% growth target until 2030, he reiterated, was carefully calculated with the expectation of raising the economy's size to $800 billion to nearly $1,000 billion USD, helping Vietnam narrow the gap and catch up with developed nations in the region.

In the field of lawmaking, the Prime Minister affirmed that this is one of the key drivers for enhancing the economy's competitiveness. According to him, the mindset must change from merely "managing or controlling" to "creating conditions for development."

He cited the example of drafting eight decrees related to financial centers, requiring strong innovation because Vietnam is behind and needs superior competitive mechanisms. Similarly, in implementing investment projects, the most difficult issue is land clearance and resettlement. Therefore, policies for reasonable temporary residence, adequate compensation, and harmonization of the interests of the people, businesses, and the State are necessary.

The Prime Minister also shared his view on the direct contracting mechanism: it should be boldly implemented, provided it is transparent, impartial, and effective. He suggested that "a clear direct contract is better than a formal bidding process," emphasizing that what matters is that officials dare to take responsibility.

Evaluating the operation of the two-level government system since July 1, the Prime Minister assessed it as the right step, helping to streamline the apparatus, shifting from "management" to "creation and serving the people," supported by digital transformation. However, due to the decades-long habits of the administrative system, a roadmap is needed to complete functions, tasks, and powers, linked to building job positions, and arranging and training suitable cadres. He noted that the capacity of local officials in management, legal knowledge, and digital transformation skills is still uneven, requiring classification and further training to enhance performance and better serve the people.