Vietnam should have policies to cope with global economic and financial challenges, said experts at a seminar in Hà Nội on April 23.
At the seminar, jointly held by the Vietnamese Finance Ministry, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Korea Asset Management Corporation, experts from Hong Kong, the Republic of Korea and Japan assessed the impacts of the global financial crisis on the economies of Asia in general and Vietnam in particular.
They put forward recommendations on macro-economic policies for Việt Nam in the immediate future as well as in the middle term, to deal with global challenges.
They also shared international experience in the restructuring of State-owned enterprises (SOEs) and emphasized the role of asset management companies in improving the capacity and operational efficiency of businesses.
According to Vietnamese Finance Minister Vương Đình Huệ, despite more satisfactory prospects in the first quarter of 2012, the world economy is still in difficult phase, with many risks and challenges.
ADB Vice Chairman Bindu Lohani said countries with strongly developing domestic markets but not those with huge overseas investments, will soon escape from the current crisis.
Although Việt Nam earns large profits from exports to developed countries, the country still needs to pay more attention to domestic and regional demand, he said.
The restructuring of SOEs is also one of the key measures helping Việt Nam overcome financial crises, Lohani said, adding that the ADB is joining the Vietnamese Government’s efforts in building strategies to reform SOEs, especially small and medium businesses.
He also stressed that Việt Nam should base its economy on domestic resources and have suitable financial tools to implement reforms.
Participants at the seminar said that the satisfactory developments of the world economic and financial situation will create new opportunities and challenges for Việt Nam to maintain its macroeconomic stability and economic growth.
In the first quarter of this year, the Vietnamese economy saw satisfactory signals such as a reduced consumption index, stable foreign exchange market, increased exports and a trade surplus of US $224 million.
ABD forecasts that Việt Nam’s economic growth will stand at 5.7% this year and be more than 6% in 2013./.