Remove "bottlenecks" for economic breakthrough

Producing electronic components at Youngbag ViiNa Company in Binh Xuyen Industrial Park, Vinh Phuc. Illustrative photo: VNA

Voters and people still have many concerns and worries

According to the synthesis of opinions and recommendations of voters and people sent to 15th-tenure National Assembly commences 8th session of Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee, voters and people expressed their excitement when the country's economy continued to recover and develop thanks to the leadership of the Party, the drastic, flexible and effective management of the Government and the Prime Minister, the support of the National Assembly, and the efforts of all levels, sectors, businesses and people.

However, voters and people still have many concerns and worries. For example, the impact of storm No. 3 (Yagi) will make people's lives more difficult, with a high risk of falling back into poverty. Therefore, voters hope that the Party and State will have more fundamental policies, solutions and strategies to ensure people's safety against the great impacts of climate change, especially in the Northwest, Central Highlands, Central Coast and Southwest regions.

Furthermore, in the field of land and real estate, voters said that after 2 months of implementation, the implementation of the 2023 Housing Law, the 2023 Real Estate Business Law, and the 2024 Land Law still has some problems, and many local authorities have not issued guiding documents according to their authority.

In addition, voters who are workers and low-income people want to buy social housing, but by the end of 2024, the progress of investment projects is very slow, and the subjects eligible to buy social housing still have some shortcomings that need to be resolved promptly.

Also on this issue, the Government's Report on the implementation of the Socio-Economic Development Plan for 2024 and the forecast for 2025 has frankly pointed out that our country still has limitations and shortcomings and continues to face many difficulties and challenges. Macroeconomic stability still has potential risks.

Production and business activities are still facing difficulties when in the first 9 months of 2024, 163.8 thousand enterprises withdrew from the market, an increase of 21.5 percent compared to the same period last year; while production costs remain high, domestic purchasing power shows signs of slowing down.

In terms of finance, some credit programs and policies are being implemented slowly. Bad debt tends to increase as by the end of August 2024, the bad debt ratio of banks on the balance sheet was at 4.7 percent of total outstanding loans. The volume of corporate bonds maturing in 2024 is still high with the volume maturing in the whole year of 2024 being VND237.5 trillion, of which the fourth quarter of 2024 was VND76.9 trillion.

Furthermore, the disbursement of public investment capital is slow, with estimated payments by September 30, 2024 reaching 47.29 percent of the plan, lower than the 51.38 percent compared to the same period last year. Along with that, waste in the management of public assets, and land is still large; compensation, site clearance, and resettlement are still prolonged. Smuggling and trade fraud are complicated.

The Government's report also stated that there are still many obstacles in the institutions and laws that need to be resolved; there are still outstanding debts and delays in issuing detailed regulations and instructions for implementing laws and ordinances.

Decentralization and delegation of power still have many shortcomings, still concentrated in the Central Government, there is still a situation of "not being in the right role"; the reduction of some regulations, administrative procedures, standards, technical regulations, and business conditions has not been handled promptly. The quality of human resources has not met the requirements, especially in high-tech industries. The lives of many people are still difficult. Natural disasters, storms and floods are unpredictable...

Innovation in thinking to act

Regarding the causes of the above-mentioned existence and limitations, according to the Government's report, the objective cause is due to the unstable and unfavorable world and regional context; while our country's economy is highly open, its resilience is still limited.

The subjective cause is due to many institutional problems, especially in decentralization and delegation of power that are not strong, concentrated mainly at the Central level, between the Government and the National Assembly, there are still overlaps and duplications; the responsibilities of leaders in many cases have not been promoted; the work of grasping and forecasting the situation in some places and at some times is not close; the policy response of some agencies and localities is still slow. Administrative procedures are still cumbersome and congested. A large number of officials still have the mentality of avoiding, fearing responsibility, fearing mistakes, working half-heartedly, and low efficiency.

According to National Assembly deputies, 15th-tenure National Assembly commences 8th session, taking place from now until the end of November 2024, is a very important session with a large volume of legislative content, the most since the beginning of the 15th National Assembly term; with 31 draft laws and draft resolutions being discussed, of which the National Assembly will consider and strive to pass 18 draft laws, 3 draft resolutions on legal norms and discuss and give initial opinions on 10 other draft laws. Among them, there is 1 law amending 3 laws in the field of investment; 1 law amending 7 laws in the field of finance and asset management; the revised Electricity Law... are expected to be practical issues that are urgently needed.

Therefore, the legislative work is of great interest to the people with the desire to promptly remove difficulties and obstacles in institutions and policies, unblock resources, and overcome bottlenecks. According to delegate Thai Thi An Chung, Deputy Head of the National Assembly delegation of Nghe An province, the work of building institutions and laws must be consistent with reality, but in the context of many changes in the domestic and international markets, it is necessary to promptly adjust the legal corridor, speed up the progress of law making, not only the draft law but also the plan to organize the implementation of the policy after it is promulgated. At the same time, it is necessary to create more favorable conditions for the review agency to receive early information about policies and comments, to absorb and carefully study the criticism of people and organizations.

From an international perspective, although highly appreciating Vietnam's efforts and reforms, Dr. Peter J. Morgan, Asian Development Bank Institute (ABDI) recommends that Vietnam needs to invest more heavily in infrastructure, especially learning from Japan in economic restructuring, popularizing digital methods, and improving the quality of human resources.

Meanwhile, Ms. Dorsati Madani, senior economist of the World Bank (WB) in Vietnam, said that Vietnam will maintain high growth momentum in the context of low global growth in both 2025 and 2026, but Vietnam needs to continue to focus on disbursing public investment capital, especially in the fields of infrastructure, energy, and education.

Vietnam also needs to continue to focus on improving the investment environment, even in areas with many efforts such as telecommunications, electricity, and transportation.