PM’s team: ’Race with time’ to restructure economy     Việt Nam can no longer rely on the increasing investment by the public sector and exploitation of natural resources to drive its economic growth in the future, the Prime Minister’s newly established economic council warned in its very first meeting. - VNA/VNS Photo Doãn Tấn HÀ NỘI - Việt Nam can no longer rely on the increasing investment by the public sector and exploitation of natural resources to drive its economic growth in the future, the Prime Minister’s newly established economic council warned in its very first meeting. The team leader, Dr Vũ Viết Ngoạn, told PM Nguyễn Xuân Phúc during the Saturday meeting that the country should focus on strengthening investment efficiency and labour productivity in order to bring Việt Nam back to the path of economic growth of over seven per cent. “The restructuring process of the economy is in a race with time,” Ngoạn said. “Unless we have practical measures to realise the Government’s orders and set the whole administrative system in motion, we won’t be able to achieve key economic goals set by the 12th Party Congress.” Dr Vũ Thành Tự Anh, director of research at the Fulbright Economics Teaching Program in Vietnam, agreed that economic restructuring is a must for development, especially when the balance of payments, the State budget and the currency are stretched thin. According to the council members, short-term and medium-term policies should take into account two fundamental issues: eliminating difficulties and reducing business costs while improving the performance of the State-owned business sector. Prof Dr Trần Ngọc Anh of Indiana University in the US suggested the PM develop a table tool tracking the work of the ministries and local authorities to monitor how the PM’s and Government’s policy orders are carried out. Also attending the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Vương Đình Huệ said several measures suggested by the consultants were similar to those the Government was implementing, proving that the Government was on the right track so far. Huệ, however, asked the team to work on particular issues, such as the reasonable growth level that can be expected, or the roles of the State and the private sector in a socialist-oriented free market economy like Việt Nam’s. PM Phúc welcomed all the suggestions, agreeing with the experts on the need for administrative reform to create a better investment environment. He said that he believed the team would become a key channel in developing new economic policies and measures. - VNS PM sets up economic council HÀ NỘI - Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc on Saturday decided to establish his own economic consulting team of 15 prominent experts. The head of the team is Dr Vũ Viết Ngoạn who just left the position of Chairman of the National Financial Supervisory Commission. Five members of the team are economic professors from foreign universities: Prof Trần Văn Thọ from Japan’s Waseda University, Dr Trần Ngọc Anh from the United States’ Indiana University and Prof Vũ Minh Khương from the National University of Singapore. The other two are Prof Nguyễn Đức Khương from France’s IPAG Business School and Dr Vũ Thành Tự Anh, Director of Research at the Fullbright Economics Teaching Programme in Việt Nam. The team also includes Trương Văn Phước who is the new Chairman of the National Financial Supervisory Commission, former Planning and Investment minister Bùi Quang Vinh, and Dr Vũ Bằng, former chairman of the State Securities Commission. The other team members are Dr Trần Du Lịch, former head of the HCM City Institute of Economic Research, Prof Trần Thọ Đạt, rector of the National Economics University together with Dr Trần Đình Thiên, Head of the Việt Nam Institute of Economics, and Dr Nguyễn Đình Cung, President of the Central Institute for Economic Management. Also joining the team are Prof Nguyễn Xuân Thắng, Director of the Hồ Chí Minh National Academy of Politics and Prof Nguyễn Quang Thuấn, President of the Việt Nam Academy of Social Sciences. — VNS