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PM: All socioeconomic targets within reach
  • | VET | October 24, 2017 10:02 AM
Reporting to the 14th National Assembly’s fourth session, on the current socioeconomic situation, which opened in Hanoi on October 23, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said that Vietnam is likely to fulfill all 13 socioeconomic targets set for 2017 based on economic performance in the first nine months of the year.

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc speaks at the 14th National Assembly’s fourth session which opened in Hanoi on October 23


He was quoted by the Vietnam News Agency as saying that of the targets, five are expected to exceed plans, including the trade deficit, which is forecast to stand at only 1.5 per cent compared to the expected 3.5 per cent. Total development investment is likely to reach 33.42 per cent of GDP, against a target of 31.5 per cent.

Export growth is set to hit 14.4 per cent, double the targeted 6-7 per cent. The total number of hospital beds around the country is to increase to 25.7 per 10,000 people against a goal of 25.5, while health insurance coverage is expected to reach 83 per cent while the target was 82.2 per cent.

The Prime Minister reported that the CPI rose 3.79 per cent in the first nine months and will be around 4 per cent for the year as a whole, with basic inflation standing at about 1.6 per cent. GDP growth in the first nine months was 6.41 per cent, with the annual figure to come in at about 6.7 per cent. The poverty rate, as calculated by a multidimensional approach, fell 1-1.5 per cent to 6.7-7.2 per cent.

These are great successes for the country, he said, especially in the context of it transforming its growth model towards reducing the exploitation of natural resources and strengthening the processing industry, high technology agriculture, and services and tourism.

He also sketched out goals for 2018, including GDP growth of 6.5-6.7 per cent and a CPI of about 4 per cent.

Total export revenue is to expand 7-8 per cent, while the trade deficit is to be below 3 per cent. Development investment from society is to stand at around 33-34 per cent of GDP.

The Prime Minister also set targets of curbing the poverty rate by 1-1.3 per cent on average and 4 per cent in poor areas, and keeping unemployment in urban areas at below 4 per cent.

The percentage of trained workers is to reach 58-60 per cent of the workforce. Social insurance card holders are expected to hit 85.2 per cent of the population.

The country will also strive to have 88 per cent of industrial parks and export processing zones having concentrated wastewater treatment systems, with forest coverage to be 41.6 per cent.

In order to reach the targets, he also outlined five major solutions, including strengthening macroeconomic stability, ensuring balance in the economy, and speeding up business and production as well as economic growth.

He also pointed to the need to restructure the economy in a consistent, comprehensive, and practical manner, along with making active responses to climate change and natural disasters, environmental protection, and natural resources management.

He also highlighted the necessity of building an effective and disciplined administrative system and drastically fighting corruption.

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