Vietnam remains an attractive destination for diversification of regional and global supply chains, for which the OECD would further prioritize its partnership with Vietnam in the coming time.

Overview of the forum.

This is particularly significant as Vietnam has emerged as one of the region’s fastest-growing economies with an inflation rate below the regional average in a challenging world.

Secretary-General of the OECD Mathis Cormann stressed the view at the OECD-Vietnam High-level Economic Forum on October 18, as part of a series of events organized by the OECD from October 17-21 with Vietnam serving as the co-chair of the OECD-run Southeast Asia Regional Program (SEARP) for 2022-2025.

Cormann referred to OECD’s forecast for Vietnam’s bright economic outlook with a GDP growth to exceed 6% for 2022 and beyond.

This encouraging performance, according to Cormann, would come from the positive foreign capital inflows, as businesses from OECD members come to Vietnam to diversify their supply chains.

Amid a new wave of investment capital, Cormann called for Vietnam to further push for administrative reform to ensure sustainable growth and tackle challenges ahead, along with more efforts in infrastructure development, investment–trade facilitation, and multilateral cooperation.

Going into details on how to cope with the upcoming challenges, Cormann suggested that Vietnam address the ageing population with a better social welfare system.

With its high economic openness, Vietnam should further liberalize service markets to continue benefiting from global trade and focus on innovation, digitalization, science-technology, and high-quality FDI attraction.

Cormann mentioned Vietnam’s commitments at COP26, including the net-zero carbon emission goal by 2050. The agricultural sector should be considered an economic spearhead for Vietnam to boost productivity and adapt to climate change.

Sharing his view, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung noted Vietnam is on a firm recovery track despite severe Covid-19 impacts and rising geopolitical tension.

In this context, he said Vietnam would strengthen ties with the OECD in realizing commitments under a memorandum of agreements between the two sides.

Among priorities ahead, Dung noted the necessity for Vietnam to enhance the efficiency of state-owned enterprises while simultaneously expanding the development space for the private sector via improvements in the business environment.

Vietnam-OECD partnership for sustainable growth

On the same day, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh held a meeting with OECD Secretary General Mathias Cormann.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and OECD Secretary General Mathias Cormann. Source: VNA

At the meeting, Chinh urged the organization to continue to promote its role in policy consultation and macroeconomic policy coordination among countries for a better world.

According to Chinh, Vietnam stands firm in pursuing a socialist-oriented market economy, building a socialist rule of law and democratic socialism.

The prime minister noted these three pillars are essential for Vietnam to promote an independent and self-reliant economy that is actively integrating into the global economy.

"Vietnam would remain a credible partner for the global community for peace, cooperation, and development, in which every policy is for the benefit of the people," he added.

Chinh noted over 30 years, Vietnam's economic size has increased by 400-fold, and the country boasts a diversified trade network of 15 free trade agreements.

During the first nine months of 2022, Vietnam's GDP growth stood at 8.83%, the highest nine-month growth during 2011-2022, while inflation stayed under control and social welfare was ensured.

"This is thanks to the efforts of Vietnam's strong fundamentals and the support from international friends, including the OECD," he said.

Chinh expressed his support for OECD's view on development, saying this is for humanity's advancement, people's benefit, social progress, and equality.

For the coming time, he requested OECD to continue supporting Vietnam in training human resources, risk management, stabilizing the macro economy, and promoting sustainable growth.

Cormann, for his part, expressed his impression of Vietnam's development approach, in which people remain the core and the engine of growth.

He highlighted Vietnam's right direction in moving from a zero-Covid-19 policy toward socio-economic reopening.

The OECD's representative stressed that cooperation between the two sides is for mutual benefit and emphasized the commitment to further accompanying Vietnam in economic recovery toward green and sustainability.