HANOI (VIETNAM) – By banking on its custom designed mix of free trade deals, privatisation and tight COVID-19 curbs, Vietnam aims to boost its economy over the next five years.
Armed with a number of free trade deals the ruling Communist Party on Monday formally approved ambitions to raise growth beyond an annual 6% in the pre-pandemic era to 6.5%-7.0% for the 2021-2025 period.
According to an economic development blueprint confirmed at its five-yearly congress, it said it would push its growing role as an important manufacturing hub for global giants such as e Samsung Electronics Co and Intel Corp.
Through these measures the Party aims to raise the country’s profile beyond a low-cost labour destination to a centre for science and technology. Vietnam is also aiming to expand and diversify export markets, the Party said.
The lofty 2021-2025 targets comes in the wake of its worst outbreak of COVID-19 in nearly two months, a reminder that future success will depend in the short term at least on keeping the virus at bay.
Despite the pandemic, in January, a unit of Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology Co Ltd, a key Apple Inc supplied, obtained a licence to invest $270 million in the country. Meanwhile U.S. chipmaker Intel said it raised its investment in Vietnam by $475 million to $1.5 billion.
The country will “focus on measures to basically complete the elements of a socialist-oriented market economy, better handling the relationship between the state and the market and society,” according to the Party’s economic blueprint.
Speaking after the congress, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong – re-selected to serve a rare third term as party chief on Sunday – said Vietnam would aim to be a fully developed country by 2045, and that an ongoing crackdown on corruption across party ranks would continue.
