Special edition

Vietnam’s Sustainable Development Strategy Orientation was approved by the prime minister in Decision 153/2004/QD-TTg dated August 17, 2004.

Many local communities have benefited from the sustained development process

Its overall target is: "To attain material sufficiency, cultural and mental affluence, equality for citizens and the entire society’s compromise, and the harmony between human and nature. Development means the close and harmonious combination of economic development, social development and environmental protection."

Over the past six years, Vietnam has notched up laudable economic, social and environmental achievements. Economically, the country has maintained its relatively high economic growth. In 2010, the country’s per capita gross domestic product (GDP) hit $1,168, which lifted Vietnam out of the groups of developing low-income countries. All of the economy’s sectors have seen remarkable development. The economic sectors’ structures have shifted from the state-owned sector’s gradually reduced contributions to GDP to the private-owned sector’s gradually increased contributions to GDP.

Socially, Vietnam has made encouraging progress in the fields of poverty reduction, family planning and health care, education and training, and employment generation. Special importance has been attached to social security amid rocketing market prices and the threat of natural disasters, reducing influence of these negative factors on people’s life and production.

By late 2010, the poverty rate sat at below 10 per cent, with 1.7 million poor households. Population increase gradually slowed and remained at 1.14 per cent in 2010. The quality of health care at clinics at all levels, and especially in central and municipal levels, had improved greatly. Preventive medicine, epidemic controls and food hygiene and safety from the central to grass-roots levels have also been strengthened.

There has also been a rise in the quality of education and training. In the past five years, over eight million labourers have been provided jobs. Vietnam’s human development index has seen continued augmentation: in 2008, the country was ranked 105 among 177 countries with an index score of 0.733 points. The country has also met almost all Millennium Goals and outpaces its commitments with the international community.

As for natural resources and environment, the country’s legal system on natural resources management and environmental protection is being revised to reach sustainable development targets.

Measures for protecting natural resources and environment for sustainable development have been intensified. International cooperation in natural resources and environment has also proved fruitful. Environmental quality in some areas has improved, contributing to bettering people’s life and boosting sustainable development in this country.

However, Vietnam’s pursuit of sustainable development is still faced with the following limitations:

The economy’s quality and effectiveness remain low, with growth being measured quantitatively and not qualitatively. The productivity of social labour remains far lower than that in regional countries. And economic growth still relies on a certain extent on foreign loans.

There is also an ever-present danger of poor people falling back into poverty in some difficulty-hit areas. There have been no breakthroughs in employment generation. The country’s population structure has changed substantially and there is an ever more serious sex imbalance. The production, management and use of medicines remain problematic. Meanwhile, the national education system is not synchronous, with the education quality failing to meet the country’s development requirements.

Meanwhile, environmental issues including pollution of earth, water and air, deterioration of ecological diversity, rampant natural mineral exploitation and lax solid waste management frustrates people.

While there is a lack of those in charge of state management over natural resources and environment, the existing managers are of low quality. Awareness of environmental protection and sustainable development remains limited at many levels of society. Environmental violations and natural resources management violations can be seen every where.

Future tasks for sustainable development

Economics

1. Ensuring macro-economic stability and the economy’s big balances, while implementing the economy’s re-structure.
    
2. Shifting the growth model from quantitative development to harmoniously quantitative and qualitative development. Mobilising and effectively using resources to attain sustainable and high growth.
    
3. Developing a green economy where a low-carbon growth model is pursued. Encouraging sustainable production and consumption, while combining financial and economic tools and solutions, information, consultancy and instructions to shape an environmentally friendly lifestyle where consumption is sustainable and we save the natural resources and protect the environment.
    
4. Ameliorating economic sectors in a modern manner with high-tech technology which uses less energy. Boosting scientific research and renovating technology in industrial and agricultural sectors.

Society

1. Poverty reduction must be connected to increased growth and development. The poverty reduction policy must be targeted to not only ensure social stability but also propel development and social equality.
    
2. Ensuring equal and effective provision of health care services, while carrying out population and family and planning policies to a high standard.
    
3. Creating a safe and healthy environment for children to comprehensively develop their physical, mental and spiritual life, while organising assistance services for protecting and taking care of children.
    
4. Ensuring sexual equality in all facets of social life while gradually bridging the gender divide and erasing gender-related prejudice.
    
5. Continuing the construction of Vietnam’s advanced culture deeply imbued with national characters, and ensuring all citizens’ rights to religious freedom under the law.
    
6. Bettering the quality of human resources and comprehensively renovating education and training.

Natural resources and environment

1. Continuing improvement of the legal system governing natural resources management and environmental protection.
    
2. Improving environmental quality and taking the initiative in preventing the adverse impacts of natural disasters, while effectively coping with climate change.
    
3. Stringently inspecting and punishing environmental violations when it comes to resources such as earth, water, air, minerals, the sea and islands.
    
4. Effectively managing, using and exploiting natural resources and intensifying forest protection and development.

Some solutions for sustainable development in the coming time

1. Perfection of policies for sustainable development: The National Sustainable Development Council and the sustainable development offices at different echelons are to be streamlined, so that consultancy for sustainable development can be made effectively. Also, there is a need to build and carry out the country’s 2011-2020 sustainable development orientations and national plan for sustainable development, as well as sectors’ and localities’ action plans for sustainable development. It is also necessary to devise and complete legal documents, mechanisms and policies to support the implementation of sustainable development.
    
2. Interweaving sustainable development principles in strategies, planning and plans for development of the country, sectors and localities.
    
3. Boosting education about sustainable development, propagating information and raising people’s awareness of sustainable development, improving management capacity about sustainable development for managers at all levels, enterprises, socio-political and vocational organisations and for the general public. Also, we need to enhance the role and responsibility of mass media agencies in disseminating sustainable development information.
    
4. Mobilising resources to carry out sustainable development and effectively use those resources.
    
5. Building a supervision and assessment system for implementing sustainable development, and an information and data base for sustainable development.
    
6. Strengthening the combination between ministries, sectors, localities, enterprises, social and vocational organisations in implementing the country’s Sustainable Development Strategy Orientation.
    
7. Mobilising the participation of the whole population in sustainable development implementation, enhancing the role and responsibility of socio-political organisations, socio-vocational organisations and the Vietnamese enterprise community in carrying out sustainable development and providing consultancy and making proposals about sustainable development.
    
8. Strengthening international cooperation on sustainable development.