The Government leader made the call at a banking conference held in Ha Noi on Thursday, the day Viet Nam officially became the 150th member of the World Trade Organisation.
The Prime Minister said he appreciated the banking system contributions to the country dynamic economic growth last year, which stood at almost 8.2 per cent despite numerous difficulties such as world price fluctuations, natural disasters and epidemics.
"The banking industry has managed to develop the monetary market and expanded the number of banks, thus contributing to stabilising exchange rates and curbing inflation to below the economic growth rate," said the Prime Minister.
He praised commercial banks for making profits and upgrading their management capacity to international standards.
The Prime Minister called on commercial banks to this year increase their competitive edge, control risks, open new services and list their shares on the stock market to strengthen their financial portfolio in an effort to compete when the country opens up the commercial banking sector to international rivals.
He also urged the State Bank to help the Government in national monetary policies on exchange rates, banking interest and inflation control in order to stabilise the monetary market. Efforts should be made to develop a strategy on banking development in line with WTO commitments, thus contributing to national industrialisation and modernisation, said the Prime Minister.
Source: VnEconomy, 15/01/2007