Many experts have said Vietnam had set too optimistic targets based on its current capacity at a conference on Vietnam’s industrial policies during global integration.
Vietnam set too optimistic targets based on its current capacity
Kenichi Ohno from Japan's National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, who has been involved in the policy-making in 20 countries in Asia and Africa, said Vietnam’s industrial policies were the weakest that he had seen. The policies should have three period including planning, implementation and assessment. However, most policies in Vietnam never get past the planning process.
Policy makers hadn't gathered enough background information, developed strategies or content. There are many plans set with view toward 2035 even though it is next to impossible to predict how the markets will change by 2025 through increased global integration.
Plans are overly-detailed with an average of 13 to 18 tasks, and also try to micro-manage each industry, creating an overall muddle. "Vietnam should only focus on two to five key sectors and this decision must be made with detailed data," Ohno said.
He emphasised that the vision and the participation of the leaders as individuals are important to the planning.
Vu Thanh Tu Anh, director of research at the Fulbright School in Ho Chi Minh City, said Vietnam's economy had drastically changed, but the policies seem similar to those adopted 10 to 20 years ago. The authorities should ask for more opinions from the private sector.
Duong Dinh Giam, from the Vietnam Economic Science Association, admitted that they hadn't adopted clear priorities. "Every sector wants to be prioritised. It's useless if we don't have a good action plan," he said.
He went on to say that Vietnam's technology in many fields was out-dated, adding that low-quality human resources and the fact that enterprise size tended to be smaller made it impossible to achieve many goals outlined in plans. Giam suggested that Vietnam should aim to become a huge agriculture product supplier with a strong international brand. Support industry must also be prioritised.
Nguyen Van Binh, Chairman of the Party Central Committee's Commission for Economic Affairs, said even though Vietnam was still unable to achieve many goals, the method had changed. More effort would be placed on raising local competitiveness, science and technology.
However, he also admitted that the current policies were limited and not suitable to the integration period and the National Assembly had decided to review and revised the strategies.
