He made the statement at an online meeting between the government with localities on December 29.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc
At the meeting, the PM said that Vietnam has achieved many economic records in 2017 in foreign direct investment (FDI) disbursement, export value and the newly-established enterprise number along with the high number of international tourists.
Vietnam’s GDP growth was estimated at 6.81% this year, surpassing the National Assembly’s set target of 6.7% and this has also been the highest rise over the past decade.
In the year, the FDI disbursement reached USD17.5 billion, a decade record high.
Vietnam welcomed 13 million international tourists in 2017, up 29% on-year.
However, the PM mentioned that besides the achievements, Vietnam faced many negatives. This year, Vietnam saw the highest number of cases related to officials prosecuted for corruption and violating state management regulations.
The country faced serious consequences of natural disasters which caused 389 deaths and 668 injuries and missing with the total loss of around VND60 trillion (USD2.64 billion), up 1.5 times against last year.
“We can’t be satisfied with what we have gained when our per capita income estimated at just USD2,385 in 2017. The figure is too low. We should consider this a weakness and we need to improve it,” the PM noted.
According to the PM, Vietnam needs to try to achieve the GDP growth of around 6.7% in 2018 as set by the National Assembly.
He also highlighted the importance of simplifying administrative procedures, raising labour productivity as well as paying more attention to poor and disadvantaged people.
