Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh and his entourage held a discussionwith leading professors at Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts,on September 18 on Vietnam’s economic growth strategy.

In an open atmosphere, the Harvard professors suggested Vietnam changeits growth model from focussing on investment and bank credits to onerested on renovations.

They also highlighted thecrucial need for reforming economic institutions, with a focus onstate-run enterprises, public investment policy and the banking sector.

Regarding the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)negotiations, Professor David King advised Vietnam and other negotiatingcountries to pay special attention to the US public.

Collaboration with groups in the US that share the same interestsshould be boosted in a joint effort to accelerate the signing of theagreement, he said.

The US scholars acknowledgedVietnam’s socio-economic development successes and global economicintegration, holding out hope that Vietnam would maintain its positivegrowth in the coming years.

During the discussion,the Vietnamese officials and the US professors also talked about thecurrent political situation in the US; compared Vietnam to countries of asimilar development level, like India and Indonesia; and came up withlessons for Vietnam’s economy.

Deputy PrimeMinister Vu Van Ninh is on a working visit to the US from September15-19 in a bid to move the negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnershipagreement (TPP) forward and bolster the two countries’ economic ties.-VNA