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| General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam and President Nguyen Phu Trong (Source: VNA) |
Trong noted that the country is still facing a lot of difficulties and challenges due to unpredictable developments in the regional and global situations, and latent risks in the world economy, especially in finance, monetary and exports due to impacts of trade wars, along with unsolved shortcomings and problems in the economy and social affairs.
The Party and State leader underlined several main tasks for 2019, including consolidating the macro-economy, controlling inflation, improving the capacity to respond to abnormal developments of the market, particularly the world economy, maintaining the growth pace and quality through the improvement of the business and investment environment, and raising the productivity, quality, efficiency and competitiveness of the economy in combination with stepping up growth model reform and economic restructuring.
The top leader underlined the need to speed up administrative reform, effectively remove barriers against production and business activities, develop various types of markets in a synchronous manner, push ahead with the rearrangement of State-owned enterprises, and encourage the involvement of all economic sectors at home and abroad in development investment.
It is also essential to complete the socialist-oriented market economic institutions, pay more attention to socio-cultural development and implement social progress and equality in every policy, Trong stated.
He emphasised the necessity to strengthen defence and security strength, protect independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the nation, ensure political security, social order and safety, and step up external relations activities.
He also asked for better building of the Party and political system, as well as better personnel work to choose really competent officials to leading positions.
The conference heard reports on the country’s socio-economic development in 2018, examined the Government’s performance during the year and discussed draft Government resolutions on tasks for 2019.
In 2018, Vietnam has fulfilled and surpassed all 12 socio-economic targets. The country’s GDP growth rate exceeded 7 percent, while the GDP scale reached 245 billion USD, and average per capita GDP rose to 2,580 USD. Exports were valued at 245 billion USD, up 13.8 percent year-on-year, posting a trade surplus of over 7 billion USD. The consumer price index growth was maintained at 3.54 percent. The household poverty rate decreased to 6.8 percent.
