Vietnam strives for a GDP growth rate of over 7% for 2024

Addressing the ongoing 8th session of the 15th National Assembly (NA) on November 12, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh highlighted socio-economic issues, including GDP growth, public investment, power supply, innovation, and human resources training, among others.

The PM was quoted by the Vietnam News Agency as saying that the economic situation is on a positive trend in October and outperformed that of September. The 10-month results were better than those recorded during the same period of 2023 in most areas.

Given the encouraging performance over the last 10 months, from now to the year’s end, the Government will work to sustain momentum, striving for a GDP growth rate of over 7.5% in the fourth quarter and over 7% for the whole year so as to achieve and surpass all the 15 key socioeconomic targets for 2024 set by the NA and create an impetus for 2025 and the entire 2021 - 2025 period, the Government leader added.

He went on to say that as public investment is one of the growth drivers, the Government and the PM have issued drastic directions since the start of the year to accelerate its disbursement, which has reaped certain results.

However, according to the PM, the disbursement remains sluggish as only 52.29% of the planned capital was allocated during the 10 months, compared to the 56.74% in the same period last year. The figure stood at only 27.88% when it comes to official development assistance (ODA) capital. As many as 29 ministries and central agencies, along with 21 localities have this rate lower than the national average.

The leader pointed out causes of the problem and pledged that the Government will continue strengthening directions to speed up public investment disbursement to raise the rate to over 95%.

With regard to short- and long-term power supply, PM Chinh said electricity demand is forecast to rise sharply, by 12 - 13% in 2025 and even higher in the following years. Therefore, the Government will press on with perfecting legal regulations to tackle hindrances to power projects.

In the long run, to ensure sufficient power for fast and sustainable socioeconomic development, the Government has been proposing competent authorities reactivate the nuclear power project and strongly boost offshore wind power. It has also proposed the NA amend the Law on Electricity to facilitate the development of power sources and grid.

The Government hopes that the NA will adopt the revised version of the Electricity Law at this 8th session to remove institutional obstacles in a timely manner, the PM added.

Talking about the promotion of science - technology, innovation, and high-quality human resources training, he said the Government and the PM have released many directions on the implementation of relevant mechanisms, policies, and plans, obtaining marked results, yet the set targets haven’t been reached.

With the viewpoint that developing high-quality human resources, science - technology, and innovation is a target, an impetus, and also an important resource for development, the Government will continue stepping up the perfection of mechanisms and policies for the development of scientific - technological infrastructure. It will embrace risks and maintain perseverance in scientific - technological research and innovative activities. The Government will also work to strongly foster national, regional, and local innovation systems and startup ecosystems, PM Chinh affirmed.

At least 20% of the total State budget spending will be earmarked for education and training. Breakthrough policies will be adopted to attract, retain, and support talented persons at all levels and in all sectors and localities, especially the sectors serving as new growth drivers such as digital economy, green economy, circular economy, and knowledge-based economy.

Resources, especially public - private partnerships, will be efficiently mobilized and used for training high-quality human resources to meet international standards and market demand, the Government leader added.