NA, Gov't officials consult with experts on socio-economic affairs

The event gathered heads of NA agencies, ministries, and ministry-level agencies; representatives of some international organisations in Vietnam such as the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the International Labour Organisation (ILO); along with economic experts and enterprises.

NA Vice Chairman Hai said opinions raised at the consultation are a precious source of information for the law-making body to make decisions on important socio-economic issues. The forum is also a place for experts, scientists, and officials to express their in-depth, independent, and constructive viewpoints to boost quality and sustainable socio-economic development.

He stressed that Vietnam has taken a number of measures to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, but the prolonged social distancing in many localities, including provinces and cities in key economic regions, industrial parks, and export processing zones, has caused considerable socio-economic impacts, including on businesses' operations and people's life.

There are signs that the Vietnamese economy has yet to catch up with the global economy in 2021. While the economy of the world and many countries has changed from contraction in 2020 to expansion this year, Vietnam's economic growth is forecast to fail to achieve this year's target and increase not much from 2020.

This problem needs to have its reasons identified to work out appropriate solutions, Hai said, adding that it is highly important to identify challenges so as to work out solutions and implement plans for the rest of the year and devise the ones for 2022.

He highlighted the Vietnamese Party and State's viewpoint of staying focused on containing the pandemic to protect people's health and lives, creating the foundation for recovering and developing the economy, and reviving economic activities to provide resources and conditions necessary for the COVID-19 fight.

The NA official emphasised that the economy and society are issues of national importance needing breakthrough solutions, asking participants for opinions and recommendations to help the Government build policies for the time ahead.

(Source: VNA)