Minister of Finance works with leaders of Nghe An province

On the afternoon of July 17, the Ministry of Finance delegation led by Mr. Dinh Tien Dung - Member of the Party Central Committee, Minister of Finance, worked with Nghe An province on the implementation of the State budget and financial tasks in 2020 and the development of the State budget estimate for 2021; the fight against smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods in the province.

Working with the delegation on the side of Nghe An province were comrades: Thai Thanh Quy - Alternate member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee; Nguyen Duc Trung - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; Le Hong Vinh - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, together with leaders of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation, the Provincial People's Council and a number of departments and branches. Photo: Thanh Duy

2020 BUDGET COLLECTION FACING MANY DIFFICULTIES

In the first 6 months of 2020, in the context of facing many difficulties and challenges, especially the outbreak of Covid-19, with the focused and active leadership and direction of Party committees and authorities at all levels, the direction of socio-economic development of the province still achieved positive results.

Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Duc Trung said: The growth rate of gross domestic product (GDP) in the first 6 months of the year reached 2.69%. State budget revenue in the area in the first 6 months of 2020 is estimated at 6,964.5 billion VND, reaching 47.3% of the central government's estimate and equal to 94.4% compared to the same period in 2019. Nghe An is also among the localities with the highest disbursement rate of public investment capital in the country.

The province also focused on implementing well the task of preventing and fighting the Covid-19 epidemic, as well as promptly supporting businesses and people in difficulty, creating momentum for socio-economic recovery and development.

Comrade Nguyen Duc Trung - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee spoke at the meeting. Photo: Thanh Duy

The local budget expenditure estimate for 2020 assigned by the Provincial People's Council is 27,118.85 billion VND, of which the first 6 months of the year is estimated to have implemented more than 14,223 billion VND, reaching 52.4% of the estimate assigned by the Provincial People's Council.

However, due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, the 2020 budget collection task will face many difficulties. It is expected that this year's budget collection will not reach the estimate assigned by the Provincial People's Council.

In addition, tax arrears remain high due to the impact of the pandemic on the ability to pay taxes on time. Allocating local budget resources to ensure funding needs to support people facing difficulties during the Covid-19 pandemic will be a burden on the provincial budget balance.

The province also reported to the working delegation on the situation of preventing and combating smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods in the province;...

Comrade Le Hong Vinh - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee reported to the Ministry of Finance's working delegation on the implementation of financial and state budget tasks in 2020 and the development of the state budget estimate for 2021; the work of combating smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods in the province. Photo: Thanh Duy

At the meeting, the province proposed that the Ministry of Finance consider providing additional support beyond the regular expenditure norms for Nghe An province to ensure border security; support funding for Vinh city to spend on urban administration, Nam Dan district to build a model new rural district; develop Cua Lo town into a coastal tourism urban area;...

In addition, the province proposed that the Minister and the Working Group consider and submit to competent authorities additional support mechanisms for localities with a large number of beneficiaries of policies on a number of special regimes; support people facing difficulties in preventing and fighting the Covid-19 epidemic, including Nghe An province - a locality facing difficulties in balancing funding sources for implementation;...

Regarding investment attraction policy, Nghe An has currently attracted two industrial park infrastructure investors, VSIP and WHA Industrial Zone 1 - Nghe An, to the Southeast Economic Zone. At the time of attracting these two investors, the province, based on the provisions of the law on investment and current regulations at the time of attraction, committed to exempting land rent in the industrial park throughout the project life cycle.

However, after attracting these investors, the Government issued Decree No. 35/2017/ND-CP regulating the collection of land use fees, land rent, and water surface rent in economic zones and high-tech zones; accordingly, the economic zone area is determined to be a district-level area.

Meanwhile, VSIP Industrial Park and WHA Industrial Zone 1 - Nghe An are located in districts and cities of Nghe An that are not identified as difficult areas; therefore, when applying Decree No. 35, land rent is only exempted for 11 years. The province has sent a document to the Ministry of Finance and hopes that the Ministry will report to the Prime Minister to consider allowing Nghe An to apply the mechanism of exemption and reduction of land rent for industrial parks in economic zones to create favorable conditions to attract investors.

Provincial Party Secretary Thai Thanh Quy speaks at the meeting. Photo: Thanh Duy

At the meeting, Provincial Party Secretary Thai Thanh Quy also discussed some contents about the socio-economic situation of the province, as well as the difficulties in implementing some important targets during the term such as growth rate and average income per capita.

The Provincial Party Secretary affirmed that the province has always created solidarity, unity and high collaboration, thus facilitating leadership, direction and operation; at the same time, he proposed a number of contents such as: The Ministry of Finance should pay attention to and direct units to inspect and assign the 2021 State budget revenue estimate to Nghe An province in line with the actual budget revenue situation of the province; support the province with funds to invest in fisheries service infrastructure, complete the Radiotherapy Center of Nghe An Oncology Hospital, etc.

NGHE AN HAS ACHIEVED THE "DUAL GOAL"

Concluding the meeting, in the general difficult conditions due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung acknowledged the results of socio-economic development of Nghe An, in which the growth rate of gross domestic product (GDP) in the first 6 months of the year reached 2.69%, especially agriculture still maintained a fairly high growth rate; social security was focused on solving, social safety was maintained.

Besides the achieved results, comrade Dinh Tien Dung shared Nghe An's concerns about difficulties in implementing some economic development targets.

"We have initially accomplished the dual task," Minister Dinh Tien Dung assessed the results of Nghe An's task implementation in the first 6 months of the year and suggested that the province continue to promote it in the coming time.

Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung speaks at the meeting. Photo: Thanh Duy

Accordingly, Nghe An needs to continue to strive to achieve the highest level of socio-economic targets, including the implementation of budget revenue estimates.

The Minister of Finance also requested the province to continue implementing budget savings; continue to direct all levels and sectors to coordinate well in preventing and combating smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods in the province.

Regarding the province's recommendations, comrade Dinh Tien Dung also responded specifically, in which the Ministry's units will grasp the specific situation of localities and closely review it to make appropriate adjustments regarding the allocation of the State budget revenue estimate for 2021.

At the meeting, the provincial leaders thanked the Minister, leaders of the Ministry of Finance and the units of the Ministry for their attention, sharing and support for Nghe An.

Nghe An commits to making maximum efforts to fulfill the highest socio-economic targets in 2020, including financial and budgetary targets.