Vietnam Infrastructure Working Group launched

Addressing the event, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung said the country’s socio-economic development strategy for the 2011-2020 period describes infrastructure development as one of the key tasks as well as one of three strategic breakthroughs needed to achieve, focusing on transport and urban infrastructure.

Justin Wood, head of Regional Agenda for Asia Pacific and member of the Executive Committee at the WEF, said infrastructure is foundation of any economy so it needs to be developed by cooperation between public and private sectors. What Vietnam must do is to create a common space for both public and private sectors to work together in this field.

He hoped Vietnam IWG would act as a facilitator for the government and enterprises to work together, share ideas and make recommendations for more effective and successful public-private partnership.

The WEF will help Vietnam navigate the next phase of growth in the fourth Industrial Revolution; and one of the seven pillars in the cooperation is to make policy recommendations on future of long-term investment, infrastructure and development, which will be done by the working group, he said.

Vietnam IWG consists of senior executives from both public and private sectors to facilitate interaction and partnership among stakeholders in financing and developing infrastructure projects.

This year, the working group plans to examine and identify issues on policies to assist the drafting of a law on public-private partnership (PPP) investment while making recommendations in four key areas, including building legal framework for and implementing PPP projects.