Vietnam highly entrepreneurial country: OECD official

“It would be important for Vietnam to make sure that the domestic reform process is going on and is executed well otherwise some of the entrepreneurial opportunities that the country has might not work,” he said on the sidelines of the ongoing APEC CEO Summit from November 8-10.

Vietnam also plays its part in the multilateral system, including APEC and ASEAN, he said, adding that the future is bright for countries like Vietnam. 

According to the official, Vietnam is among many countries benefiting from globalisation.

“We can see people getting better jobs in places like Vietnam. So the energy around globalisation will continue but we need to explain it better, we need to make sure that more people benefit from it,” said he.

“We have to make sure we have good social protection system, good learning and re-skilling so that more people feel that they have a stake in the success of globalisation,” he added. 

He also expressed his belief that Vietnam will work well in improving human resources’ skills, which are good for the country in the 21st century, especially in the digital age. 

“Making sure that our young people are resilient to changes so that they can move jobs, making sure that young people in particular and also mature age people in the economies have more digital skills,” he stressed.

Regarding MSMEs’ contribution to APEC economies, he said they are the backbone of every economy in APEC and the world as well. 

He shared that in New Zealand, his country, more than 90 percent of businesses are micro and small enterprises.

“They are real job engines in any economy,” he said, adding that one of the measures to support them is to make sure that everybody, including women, migrants and those who might be disadvantaged in the labour market can play, and small businesses can access to finances.

“That’s the kind of thing we should all be thinking about in APEC economies,” he suggested.