Socialist oriented market economy undeniable

Taking advantage of giving feedbacks to the draft political report for the 12^th National Congress of the Party, some people spread their opposition to the guideline of developing the socialist-oriented market economy (SOME). However, their views have been proved wrong both theoretically and practically.

The implementation of the guidelines of SOME development over the past 30 years has brought about significant and historic achievements. Institutions of SOME, particularly legal system, mechanism, policies, have been supplemented and gradually perfected, meeting the membership requirements of WTO, FTAs that Vietnam has been a signatory. The role, effectiveness, and competitiveness of the economic actors, of business types in the economy have been enhanced. Business and investment environment has been improved and made more equal and accessible. Market factors and types have been established more synchronously and operated smoothly and linked with regional and international markets. Almost all production prices are determined by market principles. State’s role has been adjusted to match market mechanism and promote democracy in socio-economic life. The mobilization and allocation of resources associated with strategies and plans for socio-economic development have been made more suitable with market mechanism, limiting and controlling monopoly. National economy is integrating more deeply and widely into the world economy at different scales and gradually adapts to principles and standards of the world market. Thereby, the country’s status and strength have improved significantly. The country has no longer been a low-developed one but a developing country with average income and an average growth rate of GDP at 6.6% since 1986. The economy’s size and potential have been increased from USD 6.3 billion in 1989 to USD 186 billion in 2014 and will reach USD 204 billion in 2015. Export turnover also increases 30fold from 1995 to 2014 and Vietnam has been listed among the top exporters in pepper, coffee, cashew, rice, seafood, textile, footwear, tea, etc., of the world. Infrastructure has been developed rapidly with new and modern projects being built. Economic structure has been changed positively towards modernization and industrialization. Industry and service account for 83% of GDP. Major achievements have been gained in the fields of social progress and equality. Vietnam is among the top countries to realize UN Millennium Development Goals. Social security and welfare are always paid attention to.  No program has been cut down even in the time of economic slowdown. The government has carried out 41 strategies and national programs on socio-economic development with priorities given to vulnerable groups. In the period between 2011 and 2015 alone, VND 364,000 billion have been spent on hunger eradication and poverty alleviation. Thereby, the percentage of poor households decreased sharply from 58% in 1993 to 6% in 2014 and below 5% is projected at under 5% in 2015. People’s spiritual and material lives have been improved greatly. Per capita GDP increases 21fold in comparison with that before the start of renewal and is estimated at USD 2,200 in 2015, narrowing the gap with other countries. Politics is stabilized; defense and security are strengthened; national sovereignty is safeguarded; external relations are widened and deepened; the country’s status and strength are increasingly improved in international arena. The country’s reality after 30 years of renewal is a persuasive evidence for the soundness of the guideline of developing SOE.

However, some people intentionally neglect those achievements to deny the Party’s guideline on SOME. They keep repeating their arguments that market economy is a product of capitalism and that market economy should not be socialist oriented and once choosing market economy we must choose capitalism. With this argument, they demand our Party openly declare its choice of capitalist market economy which in essence, demand the Party give up socialism to follow capitalism.

It should be noted that, the attribution of market economy to capitalism, considering it a unique feature of capitalism is unreasonable because market economy is just an economic model of human kind and able to exist in any social regimes. Therefore, the attribution of an economic model to a particular social regime is a mechanical and partial thinking. That thinking once leading us to socio-economic stagnation and crisis is now employed by hostile forces to destabilize our internal political ideology, hence we should be vigilant.

Market economy is the high development of commodity economy when both inputs and outputs of production are determined by market. Producing capacity when reaching a certain level will create objective conditions for the existence of commodity economy – the starting point of market economy. They are the division of labor and different ownership models of production supplies. These conditions still exist in socialism so the pursuit and development of market economy in Vietnam today is relevant to the objective reality and compliant with the rules of developing socialism from an economy with small productions.

The undeniable achievements after 30 years of renewal in light of SOE have proved that interests brought about by market economy are useful to the cause of building socialism in our country. This doesn’t contrast with socio-economic missions of the transiting period to socialism but fosters the accomplishment of those missions more effectively.