The role of the state in industrialization and modernization in Taiwan during the process of international economic integration in the period 1961-2003 - Lessons learned and the possibility of application to Vietnam

First, about the goals of industrialization and modernization

Our Party has determined that the ultimate goal of industrialization and modernization in Vietnam is to build our country into an industrialized country with a modern technical infrastructure, a reasonable economic structure, advanced production relations, consistent with the development level of the productive forces, high material and spiritual life, solid national defense and security, a rich people, a strong country, a fair and civilized society. Based on specific conditions, the country's position and strength, and objective requirements, our Party has determined that the general goal by 2020 is for Vietnam to basically become a modern industrialized country.

Second, on the roadmap, steps and methods of industrialization and modernization

Our Party and State have gradually defined a clear roadmap and steps in industrialization and modernization. Regarding the roadmap, the first stage is to stabilize the socio-economic situation and create the necessary premises for industrialization. The next stage is to promote industrialization and modernization with the goal of rapid and sustainable economic development; building an independent, self-reliant economy and proactively integrating into the international economy. Regarding steps, industrialization and modernization in Vietnam has both sequential steps and leaps. In particular, accelerating the industrialization of agriculture and rural areas is a major and urgent task of the industrialization and modernization process, at the same time, it is necessary to take advantage of increasingly applying new achievements in modern science and technology at a higher level to promote economic growth and shift the economic structure in a dynamic and effective direction. In particular, in the face of fluctuations in the domestic and international situation and urgent demands of the country, our Party has determined: i) Shorten the industrialization and modernization process on the basis of taking advantage of favorable opportunities created by the international context, in other words, carry out industrialization and modernization based on integration; ii) Shorten the industrialization and modernization process on the basis of the country's potential and comparative advantages;

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iii) Officially affirm that knowledge economy is an important factor of the economy and industrialization and modernization.

At the same time, our Party also affirmed that Vietnam carries out industrialization and modernization based on a market mechanism with state management in a socialist orientation with the participation of many economic sectors. The State has officially recognized market relations as the decisive factor in the allocation of social resources through the market price system. The market is the direct force determining the process of formation and development of industry structure, while the State plays an intervening and supporting role through policies and measures to create and regulate the market, ensuring that the market economy can promote the highest efficiency while limiting the negative aspects of the market economy. Resources for industrialization and modernization are all resources both domestic and foreign, in which education - training and science - technology are the top national policies. The driving force for industrialization and modernization is the sum of material and spiritual factors that create the strength to best exploit all resources to promote economic development at a high, sustainable and effective speed.

Third, on State policies to promote industrialization and modernization

Implementing the Party's policies, guidelines and viewpoints on industrialization and modernization, over the past time, our State has gradually returned to performing its proper functions, which are: Guiding development, providing and maintaining the legal framework for the economy, providing economic and social infrastructure services, maintaining macroeconomic stability... With the cause of industrialization and modernization, the State plays both the role of the subject and the role of creating a favorable environment to promote industrialization and modernization.

In fact, the role of the State in orienting socio-economic development is increasingly emphasized. The State has focused on planning socio-economic development strategies, building and managing the implementation of planning and development plans, mainly medium- and long-term plans to achieve socio-economic goals. At the same time, the State performs the function of regulation and adjustment through policies, macroeconomic regulation tools, through programs and projects to create space.

widely developed for economic entities and also to mobilize and effectively use resources for industrialization and modernization. Specifically:

- The policy of building a socialist-oriented market economy institution aims to ensure macroeconomic stability and create a legal corridor for the operation of entities implementing industrialization and modernization. With the view that industrialization and modernization are the cause of all people, and that the entities implementing industrialization and modernization are all classes of people and all economic sectors, over the past time, our State has gradually perfected the system of legal documents to create a legal basis for the formation of policies and principles for building and operating a socialist-oriented market economy. A series of economic laws such as the Enterprise Law, the Budget Law, the Land Law, the Investment Law, the Law on Science and Technology, etc. have been promulgated. The innovation of the State's mechanisms and policies has created a favorable legal corridor, ensuring respect for the legal property rights and the freedom of investment and business in accordance with the law of economic sectors. The State has proposed policies and solutions to create various types of markets including capital market, labor market, goods and services market, real estate market, technology market, etc. to create conditions for the development of the market economy. Administrative reform policies have also been gradually implemented to increase publicity, transparency, simplicity, and convenience for investment activities. The State's policies and solutions have contributed to creating trust and motivating and encouraging all citizens and businesses of all economic sectors to invest in developing production and business, implementing industrialization and modernization.

- Policy to promote economic restructuring: To overcome the imbalance in the economy, our Party has proposed a policy to gradually shift the economic structure towards industrialization and modernization. The 6th Party Congress (1986) proposed a policy to implement three target economic programs on food, consumer goods and export goods. The 7th Congress (1991) advocated promoting three major economic programs with higher content than before and gradually building

Building a new economic structure according to the requirements of industrialization. The 8th Congress (1996), 9th Congress (2001) and 10th Congress (2006) advocated shifting the economic structure towards industrialization and modernization on the basis of promoting the country's strengths and comparative advantages associated with fundamental technological innovation, creating a foundation for rapid and sustainable growth of the entire national economy.

Thus, for each stage, the content of economic restructuring has been specified. This is the basis for the State to adjust investment policies, identify and select important economic sectors and fields in the orientation of establishing a new economic structure and in the orientation of allocating investment capital from the State budget along with policies and solutions to attract diverse resources of the whole society for development investment in order to gradually create a dynamic and effective economic sector structure. Currently, the key content of economic restructuring in our country is to promote the industrialization of agriculture and rural areas with the aim of ensuring food security and developing commodity agriculture. At the same time, forming an industrial structure based on the country's potential and comparative advantages, focusing on strongly developing the processing and manufacturing industry; selectively building a number of key industries associated with the development trends of science and technology of the era.

- Capital mobilization policy for industrialization and modernization: Recognizing the importance of capital for industrialization, modernization and economic growth, capital strategy is identified as number one in our country's growth strategy. The State has gradually planned a system of mechanisms and policies to mobilize capital for development investment. The implementation of multi-sector economic policies has contributed to untying and liberating the productive forces, creating a mechanism to mobilize diverse capital sources from the whole society for development investment, mainly opening up development opportunities for the private economic sector both domestically and internationally. Specifically:

+ Increasing budget capital for development investment: The State has gradually adjusted tax policies to ensure increased budget revenue.

The proportion of development investment expenditure in state budget expenditure has been gradually increased; the targets, structures, and investment fields using state budget capital have been adjusted, prioritizing infrastructure construction, science and technology development, education and training, etc. In the period 2000 - 2004, development investment expenditure accounted for about 30% of total state budget expenditure5 .

+ The policy encourages domestic economic sectors to invest in developing production and business through gradually perfecting the legal environment, eliminating discriminatory treatment in terms of taxes, credit conditions and interest rates... ensuring a stable and transparent macro environment in accordance with international practices, with the specific conditions of the country to create a healthy and fair business and competition environment between enterprises of different economic sectors. The State has adjusted tax policies to enhance the role of tax tools in encouraging enterprises to use profits for reinvestment, application of high technology, new techniques...

+ Policy to improve the investment environment to increase FDI attraction: The State has developed a master plan for attracting foreign capital. At the same time, the State has completed the legal system on foreign investment; innovated administrative procedures and working methods in the stages of the process of reviewing and approving investment projects using foreign capital; improved and built an equal investment environment between domestic and foreign investors; built and developed industrial parks and export processing zones; implemented preferential tax policies...

+ The State has had policies to reform the financial and banking system to improve the efficiency of providing credit capital for development investment; develop the system of commercial banks, credit institutions, investment funds...; implement the roadmap to open the financial and banking services market according to commitments.

5 General Statistics Office, Statistical Yearbook 2006, p. 84

The Government's commitment to gradually remove restrictions on the operations of foreign bank branches in Vietnam, expand the operations of Vietnamese commercial banks in the regional and international financial markets; and build and develop the stock market has created the ability to attract capital sources in society for investment and development.

- On science and technology development policy

With the viewpoint of considering science and technology as the foundation and driving force for promoting industrialization, modernization and national development, our Party and State have soon identified the key role of science and technology. In recent times, many important documents on strategic orientations and mechanisms and policies for science and technology development have been issued: Resolution of the 2nd Central Conference, Session VIII (1996); Conclusion of the 6th Central Conference, Session IX (2002); Law on Science and Technology (2000); Strategy for Science and Technology Development in Vietnam to 2010 (2003)... The State has made many efforts to innovate science and technology development policies, focusing on the following contents:

+ Innovating the science and technology management mechanism: Building and organizing the implementation of research on science and technology programs in a focused and key direction, more closely following the tasks of socio-economic development; Gradually increasing the proportion of state budget expenditures and diversifying investment sources for science and technology development; Deploying the application of financial autonomy for public science and technology organizations; Expanding the initiative for science and technology officials in signing contracts for scientific research and technology development; ...

+ Create a legal environment that facilitates businesses to confidently invest and innovate technology: The State has policies to encourage and promote R&D activities, incentives for FDI activities associated with advanced technology transfer activities; Establish and encourage the establishment of technology support organizations

technology such as technology support centers, vocational schools... contribute to training, improving skills, understanding and knowledge of technology for workers; Encourage and support skills training activities and build science and technology infrastructure...

+ Forming institutions to support the development of the technology market. Legal regulations on science and technology contracts, technology transfer activities, and intellectual property have been issued to facilitate the commercialization of scientific and technological achievements.

In general, the State's policies have contributed to promoting the development of science and technology, especially creating an environment for business entities to access new technology, invest in development and transfer technology, thereby contributing to improving the efficiency of production and business activities.

- On human resource development policy

Human resources are considered one of the most important resources for the success of industrialization and modernization in our country. Our Party has affirmed that education and training is the top national policy to develop human resources to serve the cause of industrialization and modernization. To concretize the Party's guidelines and policies on education and training development, the State promulgated the Education Law (1998), approved the Education Development Strategy 2001-2010 (2001) and a series of education and training reform programs at all levels. At the same time, the State increased budget expenditures and implemented the policy of socializing education and training to develop a complete and unified national education system including all levels and training levels from preschool to post-graduate; Implement universal primary education and accelerate the progress of universal secondary education; Expand the scale of university education; Diversify types of secondary and vocational schools. In particular, recently, the State has focused on developing vocational schools, increasing equipment and modern facilities for work.

Vocational training. The State also has a policy allowing domestic educational and training institutions to cooperate with foreign educational and training institutions in educational and training activities and has a policy of sending people to study abroad using the State budget, expanding the form of self-funded study abroad.

In addition to the policy of developing education and training, the State has a policy of reforming the salary regime to increase income for workers, implementing social policies such as health care to contribute to improving the physical and mental health of the workforce. The mechanism of labor recruitment in state management agencies and in enterprises has also been innovated to improve the efficiency of human resource use on the basis of encouraging the material and spiritual benefits of workers.

Policies and measures from the state have created conditions to mobilize all resources from the state and all classes of people for investment in education and training development. In 2000, education and training expenditures accounted for 11.63% of the total state budget expenditures, in 2002 this figure was 12.04% and in 2004 it was 11.83% 6 . The proportion of social funding sources contributing to the total education budget has been increasing, reaching about 25% in 2000 [7, p. 68]. The Vietnamese education system has initially been diversified in terms of types, methods and sources.

resources. The infrastructure for the education and training sector has been gradually improved. The form of training cooperation with foreign countries has contributed to attracting more foreign resources in human resource training activities for Vietnam, strengthening the infrastructure, acquiring advanced training technology, training and fostering the team of teachers and lecturers. The increase in the number of people studying abroad has contributed to providing the economy with a workforce trained according to advanced foreign training programs. The quality of education and training has also changed a lot. The rate of trained workers in different types and levels has

6 General Statistics Office, Statistical Yearbook 2006, p. 84