According to the report on the national socio-economic development plan for 2016-2020, the average GDP per capita of Vietnam will stay at about 3,200-3,500 USD and the State budget overspending is expected at about 4 percent. The average GDP growth rate over the past five years exceeded 5.9 percent, according to Mr.Nguyen Xuan Phuc.
The report also mentioned other major tasks for Vietnam during this period including completing the socialist-oriented market economy institution in line with state rules on a market economy, and intensive and extensive international economic integration.
The report said that the government will focused on perfecting the legal system, developing human resources, especially creating a high-quality work force, in combination with scientific and technological development, as well as infrastructure construction.
In 2016, the important tasks for Vietnam are to overcome consequences caused by natural disasters, cope with climate change, and stabilise agricultural production and people’s lives. The government will employ urgent solutions to drought in central and Central Highlands regions as well as deal with coastal erosion and salt water intrusion in the Mekong Delta to minimise losses.
The government will also pay attention to developments of salinisation in order to give prompt guidelines to locals, helping them cultivate the 2016 summer-autumn crop.
About the implementation of the 2015 socio-economic development plan, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Phuc assesed that 12 out of 14 targets assigned by the legislature have been fulfilled or surpassed, excluding those on forest coverage and export growth rates. In 2015, the government imposed synchronous solutions to curb inflation, stabilise the marco-economy, and manage the monetary and fiscal policies. Especially, the GDP of Vietnam grew by about 6.68 percent, the highest since 2008, even higher than the 6.5 percent reported to the National Assembly and also higher the set target of 6.2 percent. The consumer price index (CPI) dropped sharply from 11.75 percent in 2010 to 0.6 percent in 2015, the lowest ever recorded over the past decade.
However, some limitations and weaknesses are still remaining which affected negatively on the implementation of five-year socio-economic development plan such as unsustainability in curbing inflation and balancing the economy, high budget overspending, rapidly increasing public debt and big development gaps compared with other regional countries.
Mr.Nguyen Xuan Phuc admitted that the annual average GDP growth rate of over 5.9 percent was still lower than the previous five-year period and a far cry from the set target of 6.5-7 percent, he admitted.
After hearing the reports, the National Assembly’s Economic Committee suggested the Government swiftly build specific programmes and projects to actualise targets set for the next five years, while making the best use of opportunities afforded by international economic integration.