Vietnamese president addresses development summit

Themed "Promoting Sustainable Development", the roundtable is one of the six talks at the UN Summit which has convened world leaders to review two-thirds of the execution of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Triet said Viet Nam had sustained a high rate of economic growth over the past 10 years. The country had been hailed as a success story in implementing MDGs in Asia and the Pacific. According to the latest report from the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), Viet Nam has realised about 90 percent of the MDG targets, leading Southeast Asia.

The average GDP between 2000 and 2010 reached 7.2 percent and GDP per capita this year is estimated at US$1,200, three times higher than 2000.

This has helped Viet Nam to become a low middle-income country.

Along with economic growth, Viet Nam had paid particular attention to poverty reduction and social development, Triet said.

The President also shared his concerns with the international community over climate change, including threats to water resources.

He suggested nations and international organisations map out a strategy to properly and effectively use water resources because it was "vital to the social security of people and stability across the world".

Viet Nam shared the resource of the Mekong River with many other nations so the country would work with those in the basin to better use the resource for the benefit of people and sustainable development.

Triet also said economic growth required not only macroeconomic stability and a high growth rate but also the guarantee of economic security and growth quality, including investment efficiency. Economic growth needed to be harmonised with the implementation of social justice, poverty reduction, conservative energy use, environmental friendliness and taking the initiative in natural disaster prevention and control, he said.

To ensure sustainable development, the international community needed to revamp the current problematic financial and economic system, Triet told world leaders.

He also requested early interventions for food security, energy security, economic recovery and an increase in aid for developing countries to limit the impact of the financial crisis.