HANOI, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- "In many ways, China has a longer development experience than Vietnam and hence Vietnam can learn from China's development experiences and economic model," said an official of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Vietnam.
Eric Sidgwick, ADB Vietnam Country Director, made the remarks in a recent exclusive interview with Xinhua in Vietnam's capital of Hanoi.
According to the official, China has been relatively successful in improving its competitiveness and human skills.
"China is beginning to become a more important player in both high-tech and research and development (R&D) areas, which will help prepare for future growth," said Sidgwick.
The economist advised Vietnam not to just replicate existing production models in the manufacturing and assembly sector, but learn from China about methods of innovation and application of R&D to create new products.
"Vietnam can learn from what is going on in China and see if the model is compatible with what is happening in Vietnam and how that model may be adapted into a Vietnamese context," said the economist.
The ADB official also stressed "being the leader in some areas of this growth paradigm is certainly something that Vietnam can learn from China."
Specifically, Sidgwick proposed Vietnam to seek ways to "marry improved skills with access to finance, improved technology to lower costs."
At the same time, Vietnam is being urged to push the frontiers of knowledge and research technology to create new products that can supplement the products that the country already has.
Regarding the current situation in China, the expert said"China is re-balancing its growth model, away from exports and moving to domestic consumption and domestic demand."
The ADB official said this shift would be a good thing too for Vietnam in the short term. Vietnam can help supply China's domestic demands with its exports, and import goods and services for its manufacturing sector at lower prices from China.
In the longer term, the economist said if Vietnam's imports from China keep growing steadily, China can offer more benefits to Vietnam as another market for Vietnamese products and as a source for some Vietnamese imports.
