Vietnamese and foreign experts discuss the country’s continuing renewal process and economic development with Thoi bao Kinh te Vietnam (Vietnam Economic Times)

Vo Dai Luoc, official from the Prime Minister Office’s Research Department:

In the new content, the challenge facing Vietnam in the renewal process is that the country hasn’t had an administrative system suitable to a market economy.

What is an administrative system suitable to a market economy?

This question has been asked many times. For example, an administrative system needs a strong legal system suitable to a market economy and it should be open and transparent.

The problem is that Vietnam is in the process of change. We need time to acquire and establish modern values.

Our transitional administrative system includes both new and old values.

We can not immediately dispense with all old values because they had become habits going hand-in-hand with many people’s interests.

The new values are correct and advanced but we can not immediately integrate all of them into the system, because not all of the people agree with and accept them.

Le Dang Doanh, from the Ministry of Planning and Investment:

Vietnam urgently requires renewal. The country is making all efforts to renew.

This desire of the people has to become political determination, with suitable policies for this desire to be implemented.

I agree with the point of view that the Vietnamese development road and its potential are increasing people’s capacity.
Some think that Vietnamese renewal always leads to disputes. I think that renewal everywhere has many sides and having disputes is a good thing.

I think we must discuss these issues with each other to boost renewal in new fields and in new contexts.

The renovation process is not easy. For example, under the Enterprise Law in 2000, 186 kinds of licenses were abolished, but there are many more now, numbering more than 700. So, we need to renew further.

This renewal process must comply with World Trade Organisation (WTO) commitments. The renewal process will be further developed if we can promote people’s creativity and capacity. Vietnam will develop even faster if the people’s creativity is respected and used.

Former American Ambassador to Vietnam, Pete Peterson:

In an effort to “level the business playing field” and ensure greater consistency, the Government must place a high priority on the creation of a strong, transparent business-regulatory system. While the system of regulation should fall somewhat short of a pure “laissez faire” policy, it should be broad enough in scope to allow the exercise of a relatively open market process that stimulates competition, productivity and efficiency. The legislative and Government decision-making processes must be streamlined to ensure that Vietnam is able to respond to political and economic opportunities as they arise.

The Government must also seriously address the problems associated with corruption that continue to cast a huge black cloud over the Government and the business community.

Vietnam will experience ever-increasing international competition in the future and it must create a political, business and industrial environment that is able to react quickly, effectively and efficiently to the competitive challenges it will face. In that regard, quality control will be become increasingly important for Vietnam’s industries.

Professor David Dapice, Department of Economics, Tuffs University and Fellow at the Vietnam Programme, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University:

Renewal has been a great success, propelling Vietnam from being a poor backwater to a leading developing country. Productive forces throughout the population and across the country have been liberated, improving most aspects of life for most people. Where serious reform has been allowed and pursued, it has succeeded. Where it has been avoided or curtailed, there have been setbacks. Looking to the future, more reform is likely to pay more dividends in purely economic terms. The question might be if there is a political consensus to pursue reforms. That probably depends on how the further reforms are pursued.

In order to induce provinces to support reform, a different set of incentives is needed. Public investment should be more responsive to provincial reform rather than to provincial backwardness.

Vietnam News dated 10 July 2006.