Taking Stock, July 2016 : An Update on Vietnam's Recent Economic Developments
Global economic activity is showing little sign of improvement in 2016, but growth in the emerging East Asia and the Pacific remains resilient. In Vietnam economic activity moderated in the first half of 2016, mainly due to the impact of a severe d...
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| Format: | Report |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Hanoi
2016
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2016/07/26575455/taking-stock-update-vietnams-recent-economic-developments-special-focus-promoting-healthy-productive-aging-vietnam http://hdl.handle.net/10986/24922 |
| Summary: | Global economic activity is showing
little sign of improvement in 2016, but growth in the
emerging East Asia and the Pacific remains resilient. In
Vietnam economic activity moderated in the first half of
2016, mainly due to the impact of a severe drought on
agricultural production and slower industrial growth. GDP is
projected to grow by 6 percent in 2016 with inflationary
pressures contained and the current account in balance. The
fiscal deficit is projected to remain high this year but
then tighten over the medium term, reflecting the
government’s fiscal consolidation plans. The baseline
outlook is subject to external and domestic risks. The speed
of demographic transition in Vietnam poses new challenges
for policymakers, employers and citizens, some of them
urgent. There are also significant challenges for
healthcare and aged/long-term care systems. The health
delivery system will require a fundamental reorientation
towards more emphasis on primary care and reduced reliance
on hospital care in order to manage the increase in
non-communicable diseases exacerbated by aging. There will
need to be reforms of human resource policies and programs
for the health sector, requiring new graduate and
post-graduate training programs for general practitioners,
as well as retraining of existing cadres. Reorientation to
primary care and case management will also benefit from
reforms in provider payment mechanisms for health services,
strengthened gate-keeping modalities to control unnecessary
hospital usage and admissions, and improved coordination of
care across levels of the health system. There will also be
a need for efficiency improvements in areas such as
pharmaceutical procurement and prescription practices, as
well as greater focus on managing conditions of age such as
dementia. Growing demand for aged care will also require
proactive public policy, with an emphasis on home- and
community-based care and defining of appropriate roles for
the state, the private sector, communities and households. |
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