Hanoi (VNA) – Just one month after the founding of the Democratic Republicof Vietnam, on October 13, 1945, President Ho Chi Minh wrote a letter to the industrialand business circles in the country, in which he stressed their great role inthe cause of national construction.

“Whileother segments of the nation are working to regain full independence for thecountry, the industrial and business circles should work to build a firm andprosperous economy and finance. The Government, the people and I myself will doour best to help the industrial and business circles in this constructioncause,” he wrote.

Thereality over the past more than 70 years has proven that the President’s letterremains relevant nowadays, demonstrating his sound strategic guideline andinstruction to the cause of national construction, especially in the currenttrend of international economic integration.

PresidentHo Chi Minh’s thinking on the position and role of the industrial and businesscircles has been concretised in many guidelines and policies. The 6th National Party Congress (in December 1986) initiated the Doi Moi (Renewal) processwith a policy on multiple economic sectors.

Later,the 7th National Party Congress, and especially the second plenum ofthe 7th –tenure Party Central Committee attached importance to theprivate economic sector and encouraged its development without any limitationon scale and areas of operation in fields not banned by the law.

The8th National Party Congress (in July 1996) continued to affirm thelong-term consistency of the multi-sectoral economy policy based on equal treatmentfor all economic sectors.

Theissue of private economic sector was repeatedly tabled for discussion at the 9th,10th, 11th and 12th National Party Congressesin order to complete the policies and mechanisms facilitating the sector’sdevelopment in all economic branches and fields, and turning it into animportant driver of the national economy.

Theposition of the private economic sector has been affirmed not only in the Party’sdocuments but also in the 2013 Constitution. Article 51 of the constitutionstipulates: “1. The Vietnamese economy is a socialist-oriented marketeconomy with varied forms of ownership and economic sectors; the state economyplays the leading role. 

2. All economicsectors are important components of the national economy. Entities in differenteconomic sectors are equal before law and shall cooperate and compete with oneanother in accordance with law. 

3. The State shallencourage and create the conditions for businesspeople, enterprises or otherindividuals or organisations to carry out investment, production or businessactivities; and develop economic branches in a sustainable manner in order tocontribute to national construction. The legal property of individuals andorganisations engaged in investment, production or business activities isprotected by law and is not subjected to nationalisation.”

Continuing to affirm the position and role of the private economicsector in the socialist-oriented market economy, the 12th NationalParty Congress emphasized the completion of mechanisms and policies to encourageand facilitate the development of the private economic sector in most economicbranches and fields, turning it into an important driver of the economy.

The 12th National Party Congress’s viewpoint that the privateeconomic sector is an important driver of the national economy demonstrated abreakthrough in the Party’s perception compared to the previous period when theprivate economic sector was considered one of the drivers of the economy.

The fourth plenum of the 12th-tenure Party Central Committeecontinued to require boosting the private economic sector’s development in bothquantity and quality, so that it really becomes an important driving force ofthe economy.

The fifth plenum of the 12th-tenure Party Central Committeeissued thematic resolutions on perfecting institutions of thesocialist-oriented market economy, and on restructuring, reforming andenhancing the efficiency of State-owned enterprises. In particular, the plenumissued Resolution 10/NQ-TW (June 2017) on developing the private economicsector into an important driving force of the socialist-oriented market economy.The resolution is said to be a drastic step in renewing the thinking on the privateeconomic sector towards creating conditions for this sector to gain equalaccess to all opportunities and resources, particularly capital, land andnatural resources.

The resolution defined the general goal of developing the privateeconomic sector in a healthy, effective and sustainable manner, turning it intoan important driving force of the socialist-oriented market economy, helpingachieve rapid and sustainable socio-economic development, constant improve the people’sliving conditions, realize social progress and equity, ensure nationaldefence-security and early turn the country into an industrialised nation towardsmodernity.

To concretise the Party’s resolution, the Government issued Resolution98-NQ/CP on October 3, 2019 on a plan of actions to implement Resolution10/NQ-TW. The Government defined concrete tasks to develop the private economicsector, focusing on three major policies: creating favourable environment forthe private economic sector to develop; assisting the sector in innovation,technology modernization, human resources development and enhancement ofproductivity; and enhancing efficiency and effectiveness of State management.

Over the past two years, with the spirit of accompanying enterprises,the entire political system has taken drastic actions to support thedevelopment of the private economic sector. Many new mechanisms and policieshave been promulgated and solutions undertaken, all towards bettering the businessenvironment and timely tackling difficulties and obstacles for the developmentof the private economic sector in accordance with the Party’s guideline andpolicies./.