Economists call for new model of global integration

Low tech production and exports largely based on natural resources aroused concerns from economists at a workshop held in Hanoi on May 24, who called for new model of economic development, three years after joining the World Trade Organisation.

The Director of the Vietnam Economics Institute, Tran Dinh Thien, said that raw materials such as minerals, agricultural and forestry products and seafood are major hard currency earners while industrial exports such as garments, leather shoes, electronic appliances and computers are essentially subcontracted products with only a low added value.

Raw materials and low-tech products make up almost 82 percent of the country’s gross export value, excluding crude oil.

Thien said that the three years of WTO membership, especially 2009 which culminated with the global crisis, was a “test” for the national economy during global integration and examined the Government’s ability to cope with risks.

“It is now essential to build a new model of economic development to meet the emerging demand for global integration,” said the senior economist.

His view was echoed by former Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan, who warned that unless the Government came up with a new model to deal with any weaknesses, the national economy could not compete on a global scale.

Khoan pointed out the weaknesses that need to be changed for successful integration, including the poor quality of growth which has largely depended on investments, low competitive capacity, an ailing legal system, an inadequate infrastructure and poor human resources.

Professor Nguyen Mai, a former member of the Government’s Research Board, shared his views and proposed that the new Governmental programme include concrete measures and strategies for every partner and industry.

In regard to the country’s foreign direct investment (FDI) strategy, the Government should be selective instead of opening up the economy to every partner as seen at present.

The Government should ban all FDI projects on such as mining for minerals and coal for export and crack down a environmental polluters, he said.

The FDI policy should help domestic investors by setting up international production and marketing networks to help them develop on a global scale.

The Central Institute for Economic Management Research recently reported that the global integration process, especially the country’s WTO membership, has had a positive impact on the Vietnamese economy.

The nation’s economic growth, at just 5.3 percent in 2009 due to global financial crisis, was still ranked high as many other economies posted much lower or even minus growth rates.

Global integration has also helped Vietnam expand its foreign markets, speed up exports, increase the inflow of FDI, reform its legal system to become market-oriented economy, generate more jobs, alleviate poverty and increase access to input materials for businesses.

The workshop drew almost 260 participants from the Government office, the National Assembly, various ministries and industries and local administrations across the country.

VOV

Tags: Vietnam economic, Vietnam economy, Vietnam global integration