Small- and medium-sized countries like Vietnam find it hard to select modes of cooperation and competition between the new and the old, said Dr Nguyen Manh Hung, from the Institute of World Economics and Politics, at a conference in Hanoi on December 9.

According to Dr Hung, economic restructuring and growth model shifting are potential long-term solutions, public debt control a medium-term priority, and curbing inflation an immediate duty to withstand challenges to economic growth.

He considered restoring confidence in market an important solution for Vietnam to regain growth momentum.

The conference that shed light on new international context and its corollary for Vietnam was attended by experts from research institutes, ministries, and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

Participants said the new international context should be reviewed from both economic and confidence angles. The world is facing two major crises – in the long term, the main concern is the crisis over the current development model and in the short term, the main concern is the crisis in confidence.

Ineffective efforts to stop the public debt crisis in Europe were discussed, as well as the consequential socio-political instability.

In developing countries, high inflation exerts a greater impact on the poor and those making low-incomes, they said.