GDP per capita figure beautiful, but…

GSP is not the only figure that shows the development level and the richness of a nation. The most important things are growth quality and people’s living standards, not a beautiful GDP figure,” said Dr Nguyen Minh Phong from the Hanoi Socio-Economics Development Institute when asked to comment about Vietnam’s GDP per capita in 2008, for the first time, exceeding $1,000. 

According to Phong, a country cannot be considered a rich country if 90% of GNP falls into the hands of just 10% of the population. Many other indexes are used to calculate the wealth of a nation, including the human development index (HDI), the genuine progress indicator (GPI) and Gross National Happiness (GNH). 

Dr Phong said that it is first necessary to be sure that GDP per capita in 2008 exceeds the $1,000 per annum threshold, given that there are two ways of calculating GDP per capita. One considers current prices and the other considers original prices. However, Phong said the possibility that Vietnam, for the first time, would exceed the $1,000 threshold, was still significant. 

Meanwhile, Dr Le Dang Doanh, a senior economist, said that the achievement gained by Vietnam proves to be very modest compared to the progress made by South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore. Doanh said that the gap between the GDP per capita of Vietnam and other regional countries remains big. 

Doanh said that poor people don’t care about the GDP growth rate, they just think that previously, they could purchase one kilogramme of meat, but now they can buy 0.5kg only with the same amount of money. 

“Commodity prices and daily expenses are the only things most poor people are interested in,” Doanh said. 

Sustainable growth is the most important thing 

Vietnam’s GDP per capita has nearly reached the threshold for medium-income countries. However, experts are still concerned about for how much longer Vietnam can maintain its rapid economic growth and obtain sustainable development. 

Dr Phong said that the GDP per capita may reach $2,000 if the government borrows a lot of money, and builds a lot of roads; however, quality growth is the more important matter. 

Phong added that it is necessary now not to look at the beautiful GDP growth figure, but at the nature of the figure. It would not be significant if GDP grew rapidly but businesses’ competitiveness remained low.