The Vietnamese government leader has called on all ministries to make more efforts to achieve this year’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth target of 5.8 percent while looking to a higher expansion rate for next year.

>> WB maintains Vietnam’s 2014 GDP growth forecast Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung made the call at a monthly cabinet meeting that closed on Thursday after two days of working. In his closing speech, the government head stressed that if great efforts continue, the socio-economic targets for 2014 are within the country’s reach. In order to achieve the 2014 targets, relevant ministries must remove all barriers to growth in trade, industry, agriculture, and the service sector, the premier said. At the same time, he added, easier access to loans should be given to businesses and the settlement of bad debts must be sped up. PM Dung said the government will keep giving priority to the restructuring of state-owned enterprises, public investment, commercial banks, and agriculture.

Incentives need to be applied to a number of important economic sectors while administrative reforms should continue so as to create a better business environment, he said.

Regarding social issues, the leader pushed for the extension of social welfare to all people, a reduction in hospital overcrowding, and sustainable poverty reduction in ethnic minority regions.

Based on the current economic performance, the cabinet agreed that the country will strive to achieve a GDP growth target of 6.2 percent in 2015. The meeting’s participants also concurred that the country’s inflation and budget deficit should be kept at a rate of around 5 percent while state revenue is expected to increase by 11 percent next year. They also set a target that the number of poor households will fall by 1.7 percent to 2 percent in 2015.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!