HÀ NỘI -- Speeding up public investment is a focus of the Ministry of Planning and Investment to promote socio-economic growth this year, Minister Nguyễn Chí Dũng said at the ministry's conference on Thursday in Hà Nội. The ministry said a substantial amount of capital was injected into the economy last year, contributing significantly to developing comprehensive infrastructure systems, particularly in accelerating the progress of key national and inter-regional transport projects and major urban infrastructure works. The ministry estimates that the disbursement of public investment reached around 95 per cent of the plan in 2023, equivalent to nearly VNĐ676 trillion (US$27 billion), a record high. Dũng said that public investment disbursement this year will be sped up to achieve the rate of more than 95 per cent of the plan for the full year, which will play a role in stimulating investment flow from different sectors into the economy. At the conference, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính asked the ministry to innovate thinking and quicky grasp emerging issues of the world and the country to provide long-term, visionary policy advice to promote socio-economic growth. "The ministry must take the lead in attracting foreign investment, developing new economic models and promoting innovation, contributing to economic transition and improving the position of Việt Nam in the global arena," Chính said. The PM also asked the ministry to speed up digital transformation to enhance labour productivity and national competitiveness towards building an autonomous and integrated economy. Dũng said at the conference that the ministry will promote the strategic vision of development, innovation and new reforms in accordance with the new context. "The thinking of innovation is the root of all policies to consolidate and release internal forces and take advantage of external forces to help us go faster and more sustainably," Dũng said. Although the economic growth was positive in 2023, it was below the average growth target of the 5-year economic plan for three consecutive years, making it challenging to fulfil the growth target of the 2021-25 period, he said. He also pointed out that there are risks of falling into the middle-income trap and challenges from population ageing, not-as-expected industrialisation and modernisation, inefficient use of resources and below-expectation development of the economy. "There are also problems to be tackled in attracting foreign investment in the new global and regional context with strategic competition between major economies and the global production shift." Although foreign investment was a spotlight of the Vietnamese economy last year, the linkage between the foreign invested and domestic sectors remained weak, failing to promote technology transfer and improve the position of Việt Nam in the global supply chain. Solutions for the future "There are opportunities in challenges. If we know how to take the opportunities, the challenges will turn into driving forces for the country's socio-economic development. To do this, it will require the crystallization of creativity, solidarity, and persistent and continuous efforts," Dũng stressed. Dũng said the focus would be placed on promoting the development of a competitive, innovative, autonomous and integrated economy which grows rapidly and sustainably on the basis of science and technology innovation and digital transformation. Besides speeding up public investment, the ministry will enhance the analysis capacity to timely develop macro-economic management policies to promote economic growth in line with ensuring stability and major balances as well as controlling inflation. Regional planning will be completed in the first half of this year to create new space for growth. The ministry will continue removing difficulties for enterprises and investors by cutting business prerequisites and improving the business environment. Preparations in term of human resource will be geared up to attract investment flow into the semiconductor and chipmaking industry. As private investment is forecast to continue facing difficulty in 2024, public investment will remain an important growth driver, Dũng stressed. The ministry will also be focusing on developing the international and regional financial centre projects and completing the regulation framework for investment support funding to attract investment in prioritised sectors. Efforts will be enhanced to promote innovations, start-ups, digital transformation and economic restructuring. -- VNS