The statement was made by Ousmane Dione, country director of World Bank in Vietnam, during a conference held on Thursday in Hanoi, themed ‘Enhancing Competitiveness, Realising Sustainable Development Goals’.

The event was co-organised by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), Vietnam Business Council for Sustainable Development (VBCSD) and the World Bank.

“Megatrends are regional or global in nature, and they are sustained and transformational forces that can re-define our world by changing the rules of the game,” Dione said.

Four specific megatrends Dione mentioned comprised of shifting trade patterns, rising knowledge economy, climate change, and an aging population.

“Megatrends present risks and opportunities, and the trick is to figure out how to leverage them to work in Vietnam’s advantage.”

Ousmane Dione also introduced key findings from the World Bank’s report ‘Vietnam’s future jobs’, which emphasised the effective exploitation of the mentioned megatrends and how these trends would affect Vietnam’s jobs structure and economic reform process.

“Jobs have been a fundamental part of Vietnam’s rapid transformation to a modern, globally integrated, middle-income country,” Dione said.

“The world is on the cusp of new opportunities that could further shift Vietnam’s jobs picture. The rise of the Asian consumer class, especially in China, a shift toward knowledge economies, new trade partners and patterns, automation in the workplace, and aging all threaten Vietnam’s current jobs structure, but they also offer opportunities.”

To help Vietnam’s resilience to megatrends and effective implementation of sustainable development goals as well as improving competitiveness, the four types of capital – institutional, human, physical, and natural – must be developed and deployed efficiently, equitably, and effectively, he said.

At the event, VCCI Chairman and co-chair of the Vietnam Business Council for Sustainable Development (VBCSD), Vu Tien Loc, said that Vietnam would accelerate the economic reform process and become a high-middle-income country within the next two decades, with impressive achievements in social justice and equality and effective state management.

He emphasised the consensus and concerted efforts of all social classes, the effective support and cooperation of related parties and international organisations.

The conference also focused on issues and solutions to promote public-private partnerships, recommendations from the business community and international organisations to promote the implementation of the Government’s action programmes to improve productivity and competitiveness, towards sustainable development in the digital era.

The event was attended by more than 650 delegates, representing governmental agencies, ministries, localities, research institutions, international organisations and business associations.

Within the framework of the conference, the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the VCCI also announced the Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 (P4G), a new global partnership initiative aiming to facilitate and leverage strategic global public-private partnerships to contribute to the implementation of the 2030 Global Sustainable Development Goal through the implementation of Green Growth.