Vietnam continues to work on ensuring sustainable and balanced trade relations with the US, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has said. The US Department of Treasury’s conclusion over the lack of evidence to suggest Vietnam has been manipulating its exchange rate for unfair trade gains shows strong efforts of the country’s entire political system in this issue. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. Photo: Nhat Bac Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh gave the remarks at a recent meeting with the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV). “In the coming time, the SBV and other government agencies should continue to work with the US sides in drafting an action plan to ensure sustainable and balanced trade relations between the two countries,” said Chinh. On this issue, SBV’s Governor Nguyen Thi Hong said the main objective for monetary policy management is to ensure stable macro-economic conditions and keep inflation under control. “The move is aimed at supporting economic growth and address concern of businesses and people, while ensuring the safety for banking operation,” added Hong. Credit-to-GDP ratio over 140% Referring to credit as a core issue in the management of banking policies, Hong said the SBV would continue to channel credit inflow into priority fields, instead of risky businesses such as real estate or stock market. Among key measures, Hong said the central bank will continue reducing the ratio of short-term capital for medium- and long-term loans (currently at 40%), or imposing the limit for loans in stock market investment. Hong revealed the country’s credit-to-GDP ratio has reached over 140%, the highest among lower middle-income countries. “Such situation would put pressure on macro-stability,” stated Hong, urging the PM to provide instruction towards the harmonization between monetary and capital markets. While small and medium enterprises (SMEs) make up 90% of the total number operating in Vietnam, their access to capital remains …
Huge moose
Ministry seeks to cut social insurance contribution period to obtain pension
In a draft amendment to the Law on Social Insurance, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs suggested the period for paying social insurance premiums, to enter a retirement fund, should be reduced to 15 years and then to 10 years, for people to enjoy retirement pensions. As per the existing law issued in 2014, contracted laborers must pay social insurance for the full 20 years so they could obtain a pension when they retire, currently at 60 years and three months for men and at 55 years and four months for women. The ministry said the regulation is too "tight" as 20 years is a long period and many cannot work that many years under contracts only to pay enough insurance premiums. As a result, many have stopped halfway, choosing to give up on the retirement pension. In the long run, a large number of old people without pensions would create huge pressure on social welfare and healthcare funding. Vietnam is currently among the most rapidly aging countries in the world. It officially entered the aging phase in 2011 when the number of people over 60 made up 10 percent of the population. That ratio climbed to 12 percent in 2019 for a population of 95 million and is expected to rise to 17.9 percent in 2025, and to more than 20 percent in 2038. By then, the nation would officially become an aging country. If the mandatory period of social insurance contribution is shortened to 10 years, the policy would encourage more people to purchase insurance, said the ministry, which targets that by 2030, 60 percent of those of working-age would obtain insurance compared to only around 33 percent, or more than 16 million, as of March this year. Once the social insurance fund grows bigger, laborers could head towards a future more certain of getting access to their retirement pensions, said the ministry. The ministry has submitted the draft amendment to the government and will collect public opinions until June 16. The amendment, as expected, will be …
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5G: an opportunity to develop the ICT industry
Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung said that 5G is not just an opportunity to improve connection services and change Vietnam's telecommunications rankings, but also an opportunity to develop the country's ICT industry. VietNamNet would like to introduce the full text of the speech by Minister Hung at the conference on Vietnam’s reform and innovation in November 2018: Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung speaks at a conference on Vietnam’s reform and innovation. In 1990, the world witnessed the rise of 2G technology. Only three years later, in 1993, Vietnam launched the 2G mobile phone network. In 2000, 3G technology appeared in the world, but it was only in 2010, 10 years later, that all of the three largest carriers in Vietnam opened their 3G mobile phone networks. And when 4G came out, the story was almost the same. Until 2018, eight years after the world saw the appearance of 4G technology, we did not grant new frequencies to make 4G - the 4G network that carriers opened in 2017 due to the accumulation of 3G frequency. And what was the result? Thanks to the early adoption of 2G technology and the promotion of competition, Vietnam's mobile networks used to be in the top 50 in the world. But when it switched to 3G and 4G technology, because of lagging behind in terms of technology and the lack of new competitive factors, Vietnam's telecommunications ranked 108th. For example, in terms of broadband mobile subscribers, in 2017 the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) ranked Vietnam 115th out of 193 countries and territories, which meant that Vietnam was below the world average. The 5G technology is coming, and this is an opportunity for Vietnam to change our rankings. To change rankings, we must go first. Not being first on a national scale, we can be first in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The Ministry of Information and Communications advocates providing 5G frequencies for testing from …
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