Improved infrastructure vital to national development
VOV.VN -Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has underlined the necessity of seeking new resources for national development by reducing institutions and mechanisms that hinder the country’s infrastructure development.
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Those in attendance also included Deputy Prime Ministers Vuong Dinh Hue, Pham Binh Minh, Trinh Dinh Dung, Vu Duc Dam and other leaders from a number of relevant ministries.
Since 2012, the Government promulgated an action programme to carry out this resolution with major investment on transport infrastructure, electricity supply, irrigation networks, climate change adaptation and urban development.
The cabinet leader acknowledged infrastructure development over the past years while pointing out shortcomings in the field such as asynchronous planning and slow-paced implementation of some projects.
Poor infrastructure with traffic congestions and hospital overload is also impeding the country’s development, he noted, and underlined the need to improve mechanisms and institutions for effective infrastructural development by promoting public-private partnership (PPP) form as proposed by the Ministry of Planning and Investment.
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At the conference, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City leaders proposed solutions to develop infrastructure facilities at Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat airports and inner-city ring roads to reduce traffic overload and congestion.
They also suggested promoting closer coordination among ministries and localities to ensure the common use of the infrastructure of sectors so as to avoid wastage, especially infrastructure of urban transport, electricity and water supplies and and telecommunications.
The Asian Development Bbank (ADB) estimates that emerging economies in the region will need to invest as much as US$26 trillion through 2030 to build transport networks, boost power supply and upgrade water and sanitation facilities. Vietnam, among the fastest-growing nations in the world, is upgrading infrastructure to attract more foreign investors as it aims to become Asia's next Tiger Economy.
Vietnam needs roughly US$480 billion through 2020 to build 11 power plants with a total capacity of 13,200 megawatts and about 1,380 km of highways as well as undertaking other environment, health and education projects.
Vietnam's public and private sector infrastructure investment averaged 5.7% of gross domestic product (GDP) over recent years, the highest in Southeast Asia and compares with 6.8% in China, according to the Asian Development Bank. Indonesia and the Philippines spend less than 3% whereas Malaysia and Thailand spend even less at below 2%.
The economic scale has grown to over US$218 billion and the public debt/GDP ratio dropped to 61%, it is essential to continue seeking financial resources from official development assistance (ODA) or other forms such as Government bonds, and international bonds for infrastructure development, which are substantial resources for infrastructure development, PM Phuc noted.