General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong (Photo: VNA)

Paris (VNA) – Secretary General of theFrance – Vietnam Friendship Association Jean-Pierre Archambault has expressedhis interest in Vietnam’s sound choices for development, which were mentionedin an article on several theoretical and practical issues on socialism and thepath towards socialism in Vietnam by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong.

In an interview recently granted to the Vietnam NewsAgency in Paris, Archambault said Trong pointed out that Vietnam's development path is “national independence andsocialism”, “not choosing capitalism”, and “development of socialist-orientedmarket economy”. He said these are sound choices that were decided early and have beenmaintained continuously since the 20th century.

Commenting on Vietnam’s renovation cause and developmentof socialist-oriented market economy, Archambault said Vietnam has achievedconsiderable progresses. Over the past decade, Vietnam’s economy has grown by6-7 percent annually with low inflation rate. The rate of poor households wasreduced to below 5 percent from 58 percent in 1993. In 2010, Vietnam became amiddle-income country with an average income of 2,100 USD per capita.

According to him, it is necessary to review the history to gainan insight into Vietnam’s beginning, thus better understanding its efforts.

He added that Vietnam is still facing challenges such asimproving production capacity and competitiveness, uneven development in urbanand rural areas, mitigation of climate change impacts.

In the near future, he suggested Vietnam pay more attention tovocational training, application of artificial intelligence and tap strengthsin health care.

In his opinion, Vietnam succeeded in regional and globalintegration thanks to strong political determination of high-ranking leaders. Thecountry formed diplomatic ties with nearly 200 nations and engaged in tradewith over 200 countries and territories, and signed strategic partnershipagreements with many countries worldwide, including France.

Vietnam has played an active role in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Asia-PacificEconomic Cooperation (APEC) and was hailed as one of the most dynamic economiesin the region, contributing to propelling the global economy, he said.

The Secretary General added that Vietnam’s election as anon-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the 2020-2021tenure with 192 out of 193 votes has affirmed its stature on internationalarena and the community’s trust on the country’s foreign policy.

﷽ With closer ties in tertiary education and health care, heexpressed his belief that bilateral ties will further grow in the near future,particularly in economy./.