Hanoi (VNA) – Productivityimprovement plays an increasingly decisive role in Vietnam’s GDP growth as itcontributed up to 89 percent to national GDP growth this year, Prime MinisterNguyen Xuan Phuc has said.

Speaking at the Vietnam Development Forum 2017,themed “Leveraging productivity growthfor sustainable development”, in Hanoi on December 13, the Government leadersaid Vietnam needs support and policy consultation from developmentpartners, business communities as well as domestic and foreign experts to seekmeasures to increase productivity.

“Improving productivity means not only increasing the productivity of workers butalso enhancing the efficiency of capital use”, he said, adding that in thecontext of globalisation, productivity improvement is the cornerstone for enhancingthe competitiveness of every country.

Regarding key solutions to productivity improvement, the PM stressed that it isnecessary to strongly reform the banking system and financial markets in thedirection of increasing scale, transparency and fair competition, whileimproving access to capital resources of small and medium sized enterprises, farmersand ethnic minority groups.

He applauded recommendations by experts thatVietnam needs drastic reform of the state-owned enterprises which hold a large amountof capital of the economy, but do not use money effectively.

To increase labour productivity, the Vietnamese Government always gives priorityto allocating budgets for and encourage enterprises to invest in training andeducation in order to improve labourers’ skills and creativity, he stated.

Attention has also been paid to reforming salary and wage regime and caring forthe material and spiritual lives of workers in businesses, especially those inconcentrated industrial zones, he added.

Vietnam will drastically restructure the economy and shift labour from the low-productivityagricultural sector to the industrial and services sectors, towards more sustainablenational productivity and higher-value production with fewer resources.

The Government is also paying heed to improving the total–factor productivity (TFP)by increasing investment in scientific research, application of advancedtechnologies, infrastructure development, and smart connection; while promotingregulatory reform, bettering State governance capacity and improving businessclimate, he said.

On the basis of the TFP improvement, Vietnam will get an opportunity to overcomethe middle income trap, he stressed.

For successful productivity improvement, Vietnam has actively promotedinternational integration and effectively tapped opportunities brought by freetrade agreements (FTAs), especially new-generation ones such the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement forTrans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the RegionalComprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), he said.

The leader affirmed the Government’s standpoint of maintaining socio-politicalstability, consolidating the macro economy, promoting democracy for all people,stepping up anti-corruption fight and making every effort to realise 17 UNsustainable development goals.-VNA