Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam has been making serious efforts to realise the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) amid its current socio-economic situation, Deputy Prime Minister Le Thanh Long told the first meeting of the National Council for Sustainable Development in Hanoi on September 25.

Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc said the United Nations, countries, and international organisations highly value Vietnam’s efforts to achieve the SDGs. In the Sustainable Development Report 2024, Vietnam scored 73.32 in the SDG Index to rank 54th among the 166 listed countries, representing an improvement in both the score and ranking compared to 2023.

In Eastern and Southern Asia, Vietnam is only second to Thailand, showing the international community’s highly positive assessment of its achievements on the path to sustainable development, she noted.

At the meeting, council members looked into the current context’s impacts on the realisation of the SDGs worldwide. They also discussed Vietnam’s opportunities and moves to accompany the international community in responding to global challenges, its activeness in implementing the shared commitments stated in the Pact for the Future freshly adopted by the UN General Assembly, along with ministries and sectors’ efforts to achieve the SDGs.

Participants said that basically, policies of sectors and areas have comprehensively taken into account sustainable development issues and vulnerable groups such as low-income earners, ethnic minority people, children, and women to ensure that no one is left behind and work towards the global goals on environmental protection, natural resources, biodiversity, and climate change response.

However, the realisation of the SDGs still encounters certain difficulties and challenges. For example, social policies have yet to cover all groups or be carried out comprehensively, urbanisation and migration are heaping pressure on infrastructure, environment and social security, while the fast population ageing is causing a big burden on the social welfare system. Besides, the economy’s low quality and competitiveness are posing a challenge to economic growth. Climate change and natural disasters have also considerably affected people’s life quality and livelihoods, they pointed out.

Deputy PM Long, who is also Chairman of the council, acknowledged that there remain numerous challenges to the progress and quality of the SDGs implementation.

Given this, ministries and sectors need to carry out the programmes and plans issued by the Government and the PM in a more serious and effective manner. They also have to submit advice related to the areas within their remit to the council to help with organising the implementation of policies, strategies, and mechanisms on sustainable development, he said.

He agreed that a mid-term review of the implementation of the national action plan for carrying out the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development will be conducted in 2025. A national conference on sustainable development will also be propo💝sed to the PM./.