Through 80 years of fighting for independence and building the country, Vietnam has proved the impossible to be possible as every time people thought that the country was not going to succeed, it managed to find a way to breakthrough it.
This is the view shared by Clement Ngu, journalist at Nikkei Asia in the UK in a recent interview with Vietnam News Agency correspondents in the UK ahead of the 80th anniversary of Vietnam’s National Day.
Clement said this could be seen in the Vietnamese leader, Ho Chi Minh, in the early 1940s and 1950s, in the American war later and in the post-war fight against poverty. It can also be seen today as the country expects an 8% growth rate this year and aims for double-digit growth next year after continuously exceeding expectations for socio-economic growth in the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s.
Clement pointed out that since Doi Moi (Renewal) in 1986, Vietnam’s GDP has increased 100 times while GDP per capita grew by more than six times from under 700 USD to nearly 4,500 USD in 2023.
The country has also lifted millions out of poverty, he said, citing the fall in poverty rate from 80% in the early 1990s to under 5% by 2020, halving poverty 12 years ahead of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals.
Vietnam also hit a symbolic milestone by the late 1980s when it transitioned from a food importing country to a major agricultural exporter thanks to the introduction of Contract 10, a mechanism that paved the way for agricultural development through decollectivising farming and giving autonomy to farmers.
In the 2000s, a wave of State-owned enterprise reforms and a boom in private enterprises made the private sector a vital driver of jobs and innovations.
Regarding foreign relations, Vietnam has been an active member of the international community, open to international collaboration and contributing to global peace processes, Clement said, citing the 2019 Summit between Presidents Kim and Trump in Hanoi or the recent visits by top leaders from China, Russia and the US within nine months as examples of Vietnam’s active role of a peace maker.
Clement believed these showed the unique position and strength of Vietnam in leveraging and working with different countries and dealing with competing powers in an era of great power competition, turning rivalries into win-win for Vietnam.
Meanwhile, socio-economic achievements prove the openness of the people and leaders at central and local levels to trade and the private sector, allowing and supporting the development of private enterprises while adopting mechanisms to attract international investors.
Clement believed Vietnam’s ambitious goal of becoming a developed nation in 2045 is viable as the country is doing and on track to achieve it given a stable political leadership and the implementation of major resolutions, including Resolution 68 on development of the private sector./.
