Foreign press highlights Vietnam’s 12th National Party Congress

(NHANDANONLINE)The12thNationalPartyCongressoftheCommunistPartyofVietnam(CPV)cameunderthespotlightinaseriesofarticlesrecentlypostedbyforeignpressoutlets.

TheRussian“People’sNews”newspaperonJanuary20carriedastorytitled“Vietnamconfirmsrenewalpolicy”.

ThearticlestatedthatVietnam’s12thNationalPartyCongress,startingfromJanuary20,willcontinuetoaffirmthecountry’sintegrationintotheglobaleconomy,anditspursuitofasocialist-orientedmarketeconomy.

Italsohighlightedtheadoptionofthe“DoiMoi”(reform)policyatthe6thNationalPartyCongressoftheCPVinDecember1986,whichmarkedthestartofVietnam’sintegrationintotheglobaleconomy.

TherenovationhasbroughtremarkablegrowthfortheSoutheastAsiancountry,thearticlesaid,addingthatVietnamhasevolvedintoamiddle-incomecountryfromoneofthepoorestnationsintheworld.

ThearticlecitedstatisticsfromtheWorldBank,revealingthatthepercapitaincomeofVietnamincreasedto2,052USDin2014,fromonly220USDin1990.

Despitemacro-economicdifficulties,thecountryhasgainedsignificantattainmentswithagrossdomesticproduct(GDP)growthof6.68percentin2015.Vietnamissettingastrongtargetforannualeconomicgrowthof6.5-7percentbetween2016and2020.

ThearticlesaidthatVietnamsignedafreetradeagreement(FTA)withtheEurasianEconomicUnionin2015,andatthesametimebecameengagedinothereconomicmechanisms,includingtheTrans-PacificPartnership(TPP)Agreement.

China’sXinhuaNewsAgencyonJanuary20alsocarriedastorypraisingVietnamforit’sremarkableachievementsduringtherenewalprocess.

Thearticlesaidthatthe12thNationalPartyCongressoftheCPVwillcreateastrongmomentumforthecountrytofurtherdevelop.

Itnotedthatduring30-yearsofrenovation,theCPVhasgraduallyreinforcedthesocialist-orientedmarketeconomy,whichhadcreatedapremiseforthecurrentimmensechanges.

VietnamrecordedanannualaverageGDPgrowthof7.3percentbetween1990and2010,thearticlecited,sayingthatdespitenumerousdifficulties,thecountrystillreachedaGDPgrowthof6.68percentin2015,whiletheinflationratewascurbedtobelow5percent.

Anumberofimportantcontentsofthepoliticalreportsubmittedtothe12thNationalPartyCongresshighlighttheimportanceofbuildingastrongandtransparentParty,inadditiontointensifyingcorruptionprevention,thearticlesaid.

Thearticleunderlined“internationalintegration”asoneofthefocalpointsintheexternalaffairspolicyofVietnaminrecentyears.

ItsaidVietnamandChinaareneighbouringcountriesthatshareacomprehensivestrategicco-operativepartnership.

Thetwocountrieshavewitnessedsignificantprogressintheirrelations,withtwo-waytradetopping95.82billionUSDin2015.ChinahasbecomethebiggesttradepartnerofVietnamoverthepast12years,whileVietnamwasthesecondlargesttradepartnerofChinainASEANin2014.

Thesameday,Japan’sKyodoNewsAgencyrananarticleinformingreadersthatVietnamhadconvenedthe12thNationalPartyCongressonJanuary20,withapreparatorymeeting.

ItsaidtheCongress,whichisheldonceeveryfiveyears,isexpectedtopromotethecountry’srenewalprocessandreaffirmthetargetoftransformingVietnamintoamodernindustrialisedsociety.

DuringtheCongress,delegateswilladoptthepoliticalreport–whichguidelinesVietnam’spolitics,economics,anddiplomacyoverthenextfiveyears,aswellaselectnewleaders.

Vietnam’seconomicgrowthhasbeenquitestableinrecentyearsthankstostrongexports.ThisisexpectedtoincreasefurtherinthecomingyearsduetotheTrans-PacificPartnership(TPP)Agreement.

However,Vietnammightfaceanumberofchallenges,includingterritorialdisputeswithChinaontheEastSea,aswellasdevelopmentgapswithSingaporeandThailand,accordingtotheJapanesenewsagency.