(VEN) - Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang spoke to Vietnam Economic News about a hectic year full of the challenges and what 2012 will hold for the economy.
 The economic upheaval in unpredictable world has affected Vietnam's economy. Could you tell us about the efforts made by the Ministry of Industry and Trade in 2011? We've still not entirely escaped the impacts of the crisis, and previous recession, and the world economy in 2011 continued to suffer, the economy experienced high inflation; the euro zone was stretched by the public debt crisis in some countries; the US economy remained unstable, there were wars and instability in the Middle East and North Africa, natural disasters in Japan, and floods in Thailand, together with the global financial risks and budget deficits in Europe and some developing countries worsening, all of which make fiscal tightening a general global trend, with a severely negative impact on the recovery of many countries.
Vietnam is no exception to the strong influence made by unpredictable changes in the world economy. High inflation, gold and foreign exchange rate fluctuations, increased prices of input materials, and high interest rates have affected the production and enterprises. Under these circumstances, to ensure the successful implementation of the objectives and assignments, with proper and timely guidance from the Government, the ministry has tried its efforts in the guidance and administration over the production and business activities of the sector and advised the Government in many important decisions to ensure macroeconomic stability.
How has the ministry developed the solutions to stabilize the macro economy under these circumstances?
In terms of controlling inflation and ensuring market stability, the ministry has always closely monitored price fluctuations, market supply and demand of essential commodities; and promulgated proposed directives to relevant units according to their assigned job functions and tasks to ensure adequate supply of essential commodities to the market between now and Lunar New Year. In addition, the ministry has cooperated closely with ministries, branches, localities and enterprises in balancing supply and demand and market regulation, fertilizer operations and coordinated with the Ministry of Finance on pricing some essential goods, focusing on gas, electricity, and milk prices. The ministry frequently and drastically directs the market management forces in the country to strengthen inspections and particularly to control retail prices, foreign exchange businesses, speculation and hoarding, to stabilize the market.
Regarding exports, 2011 surpassed the export growth over the previous year. Total export turnover in 2011 reached about US$96 billion, an increase of 33 percent over 2010, surpassing the target set by the National Assembly by 10 percent. The export commodities are abundant in variety, with competitive prices. Made in Vietnam goods are present in over 220 countries and territories. Besides traditional export markets like the US, Japan, the EU and ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries, our exports also reached into new markets like Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.
Along with the export growth rate which was higher than the growth rate of imports, the trade deficit declined, both in absolute turnover, and in the rate of deficit. In 2011, the estimated trade deficit was about US$10 billion, equal to 10.4 percent of export turnover, lower than the target set out by the National Assembly (not exceeding 18 percent of export turnover) and by the Government (less than 16 percent of export turnover). This will be a positive signal to continue hitting the targets set for 2012.
Last year was the first implementation year of the five-year socioeconomic development plan (2011-2015). With all the efforts and achievements in the past year, we are looking forward to a new passage in the next years with better results, contributing to the economic development of the country as well as achieving objectives set out by the Party and the Government.
What are the focal points for the ministry in 2012?
To achieve the objectives of the National Assembly and the Government, the industry and trade sector in 2012 should focus on the implementation of important tasks: economic restructuring associated with innovation in the model of growth, productivity increases, quality, efficiency and competitiveness of the economy. It is to make important contribution in the implementation of the major breakthroughs in the five-year plan from 2011 to 2015 and the socioeconomic development strategy of 10 years from 2011 to 2020; specifically it is to get involved in creating a competitive environment, equality, and administrative reform, restructuring of state enterprises, development of human resources, especially highly qualified people to serve the industrial development and trade, to build synchronized modern infrastructure systems, focusing on power production and distribution systems./.
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