Hanoi (VNA) – Country Director of the AsianDevelopment Bank (ADB) Eric Sidgwick has recommended Vietnam push ahead withrestructuring its economy to maintain stable growth in the medium and longterms.

In a recent interview with the Vietnam NewsAgency, Sidgwick said growth must be inclusive and growth benefits should beshared widely. Additionally, it must also be sustainable in terms ofenvironment. Therefore, Vietnam should press on with economic restructuring.

The country needs to be able to adapt tochallenges as it could face different shocks, including climate change andvulnerability in trade, he said, making six suggestions to the VietnameseGovernment, the first of which is to continue to maintain macro-economicstability.

He also urged the continued upgrade ofinfrastructure in all fields, from energy, transportation, urban development,smart city building to climate change response, noting that cities will be thebiggest contributor to economic growth. Furthermore, focus must be paid to notonly quantity but also quality of infrastructure development.

Thirdly, the ADB official called on theGovernment to continue developing the financial sector, consolidating thebanking system and expanding the capital market, including both the governmentand corporate bond markets, to promote people’s financial access.

[Vietnam’s economy to expand 6.8 percent in 2019: ADB]

Fourthly, Vietnam should pay due attention toclimate change as it is vulnerable to this global phenomenon, and fifthly, itis also necessary to develop people’s skills, especially through tertiary andvocational education, which is particularly important amid the FourthIndustrial Revolution, Sidgwick noted.

Lastly, the ADB Country Director also suggested theGovernment continue improving the business climate as well as its role as aleader, an advisor and a purveyor of services so as to facilitate operations ofdomestic businesses, including private firms. Notably, it is criticallyimportant for the Vietnamese Government to step up administrative reforms andenhance its efficiency and effectiveness to become a truly action-orientedgovernment, thus creating a favourable environment for the private economicsector.

In its recently released Asian DevelopmentOutlook 2019, the ADB predicted Vietnam’s economic growth rate at 6.8 percentthis year and 6.7 percent in 2020.

Sidgwick said 6.8 percent is a good growth rate,and the ADB believes that all fields of Vietnam like agriculture, fisheries,livestock farming, construction, manufacturing and services are operating welland they will sustain their performance in 2019.

Even when the growth rates in 2019 and 2020moderate compared to the fast pace of 7.08 percent in 2018, they are still highand reflect sustainability, according to him.-VNA