Regular Government press conference January 2015

On January 30, Minister, Head of the Government Office, Government Spokesperson Nguyen Van Nen chaired the regular Government press conference for January 2015.

Also attending were many Ministers, Deputy Ministers and leaders of relevant Ministries and sectors to clarify many issues that society and the press have been interested in recently.

Opening the press conference in early 2015, which was also the last meeting of the lunar year of Giap Ngo, Minister and Head of the Government Office Nguyen Van Nen summarized some major features of the results of the Government meeting held on the same day.

Accordingly, the Government members assessed that in general, the first month of 2015 had an exciting atmosphere, with high confidence in a number of areas. The Government assessed that the Government members, ministries, branches and localities had actively and seriously implemented the Resolutions of the Party, the National Assembly and especially Resolution No. 01/NQ-CP dated January 3, 2015 of the Government, very timely and synchronously, bringing about positive results. Most of the targets were achieved, many targets were very high compared to the same period, of course the comparison was also relatively because January 2014 was the month of Tet. The general situation of security, politics, social order and safety... had positive changes.

Minister, Head of the Government Office, Government Spokesperson chaired the press conference - Photo: VGP

However, in January, oil prices fell continuously. We had forecasted and reported to the National Assembly when crude oil prices were calculated at a selling price of 100 USD/barrel, but now the crude oil price is only 44.41 USD/barrel. Every reduction of about 1.5 million tons of crude oil reduces GDP growth by 0.2%. It can be assessed that reducing crude oil only loses revenue, but in return, it contributes to reducing input costs for production, increasing growth in return. The Government meeting concluded that we will not adjust growth, and will firmly achieve the growth target of 6.2% this year.

The second issue is that the CPI decreased by 0.2% in the month, which means it has been decreasing continuously. Some people fear that it will lead to deflation, but the Government agrees that there are no signs of deflation and will maintain the set inflation target of 5%.

Third, the budget may be reduced due to crude oil but other revenues may be balanced, so the budget target will not change.

Thus, there are unpredictable difficulties such as crude oil prices, because crude oil prices are not only related to the economy but also to many other factors such as world politics, but the overall situation is encouraging, the picture is relatively bright, and confidence is increasing.

Regarding solutions for the next month, it is necessary to implement 8 groups of solutions as stated in Resolution 01/NQ-CP. Next month is Tet month, first of all, it is necessary to focus on taking care of Tet for the poor, policy beneficiaries, meritorious people, and workers facing difficulties. Ministries and branches have closely coordinated, mobilizing resources from the State, enterprises and society, up to now 24 billion, to take care of these groups. It is our national tradition that every spring, those who have the conditions and good hearts contribute noble deeds. The Prime Minister has also agreed to provide rice to support the poor, people in remote areas, and ethnic minority areas.

The second issue, in the 8 groups of solutions, is to focus on strengthening the fight against smuggling and trade fraud. Some experts say that we must declare war on smuggling, have more comprehensive solutions, and mobilize people to participate because if smuggling does not decrease, it will affect domestic production and many other issues such as people's health and lives. Yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc chaired a meeting of Steering Committee 389 on this issue.

The third issue to focus on next month is food safety before, during and after Tet. This is a difficult issue but it must be done, done more drastically, and violations must be punished more severely.

Fourth, it is necessary to strengthen solutions to reduce traffic accidents, deal more resolutely, more synchronously, and more strictly with overloaded vehicles that damage roads. The Prime Minister and the Government have assigned the Ministry of Transport to coordinate with ministries and branches to issue stronger sanctions and handle them more strictly.

Another issue is to strengthen and maintain political security and social order and safety.

Those are the highlights that the Government has spent a lot of time discussing. Of course there are many other issues, if there are any issues that journalists need to know more about, we invite the Ministers and Deputy Ministers to have more complete information. Now, we will take time for journalists to ask questions.

The Dung (Reporter of Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper):Recently there was a very unfortunate incident, sadly a UH-1 helicopter crashed in Ho Chi Minh City. Initial reports on the cause? Are there concerns about whether such an old aircraft is safe?

In the press release issued by the Government Office, the Prime Minister emphasized that ministries and branches need to strengthen network safety and security, while promoting the advantages of the network to carry out propaganda work and prevent harmful information. Recently, at the Government Office's summary meeting, the Prime Minister also emphasized the need to take advantage of Facebook. How has the Government Office implemented this plan? At the same time, what technical measures do we have to prevent the information on the network recently?

Minister Nguyen Van Nen:First of all, we are deeply saddened by the recent helicopter accident that killed four of our very good soldiers. This is a very unfortunate accident. We remember a previous accident on another type of aircraft that killed many soldiers and now this accident has happened again.

After a short time, the Ministry of National Defense sent a high-level military technical team to coordinate with relevant agencies to investigate and find out the cause. This morning, I talked with Minister of National Defense Phung Quang Thanh and we agreed on a common assessment that this was due to a technical error and there was no other problem. In recent days, the press has raised many questions about whether our aircraft are old and have been used for a long time, and whether they are safe to use? And are we bold enough to stop using those types of aircraft?

I have asked the Ministry of Defense for the following parameters so that we can share them: The plane that crashed on the morning of January 18 was a UH-1 with serial number 7912 manufactured in 1970, which we collected as spoils of war. This plane was repaired for the second time in the United States on July 1, 2012. According to the regulations for calculating the life span of the plane based on its condition, the initial operating hours were 4,800 hours, the time of use after repair was 187 hours, meaning that the remaining time of use is very long. As for the engine, the life span is based on the condition, the time of use after repair is 2,400 hours. The remaining time of use from the beginning to January 15 was 2,163 hours, meaning that technically the plane was completely in good condition and had no problems, and we were not using it old as some people worry. However, the Ministry of Defense has currently stopped all flights for review. The official results will be announced to you soon, but we can understand that plane crashes are an aviation risk.

Regarding the meeting to summarize the Government Office in 2014 and deploy the plan for 2015, the Prime Minister directed the Government Office to coordinate with relevant agencies to increase information to the people. According to the Constitution, the Prime Minister shall use all means to convey information about his administration and management to the people on all mass media. But currently, there is an area that we have not participated in: social networks. The Prime Minister sees that we need to participate in providing information to tens of millions of people using social networks. Within our authority, we are focusing on preparing a project to report for approval, then closely implementing it, ensuring the correct guidelines, policies, guidelines, methods, and laws of Vietnam as well as ensuring how to provide timely, accurate, and honest information so that people can understand and feel more secure. When we have results, we will publicly report the project for implementation.

Tu Nguyen (VNEconomy Times reporter):Entrepreneurs are the backbone of the economy, but in fact, recently we are very sorry to see many entrepreneurs who are leaders of large enterprises entangled in legal trouble. Recently, there has even been a rumor circulating in public opinion that a businessman who is the head of a large bank will continue to be investigated. I would like to ask for the opinion of Minister and Head of the Government Office Nguyen Van Nen on this situation, and whether there is anything unusual about the business operations of large enterprises?

Minister Nguyen Van Nen:Actually, this is a sad story, even law enforcement agencies never want that to happen. For businesses, they are people who do very important work, can be called peacetime soldiers. So we never want them to stumble, never want their businesses to collapse. However, the law is still above all, everyone must live and work according to the law, when violating the law, no matter what position they are in, they will be punished. The Government's point of view is that we do our best, we participate in inspection, examination, control, reminders, create maximum conditions to overcome, do not criminalize economic problems. Actually, when there is no more way to prevent it, law enforcement agencies will begin to impose strict penalties. Although we do not want to, we have no other choice.

VOV electronic newspaper reporter:The Ministry of Justice has recently proposed to add a fine of 75-100 million VND for the act of posting false information about the market situation of goods prices. This proposal of the Ministry of Justice has made journalists quite confused. The Ministry of Justice proposed such a fine and chose a specific field, which makes the press very worried because there are too many people with the right to fine the press. Could you please tell us the Government's opinion on this issue?

Minister Nguyen Van Nen:Thank you for your question. Unfortunately, we have not received the document yet, because according to Mr. Ha Hung Cuong, this is only a draft document. According to the orientation, we try to somehow come up with regulations to adjust behavior, to ensure a better society.

We have not yet approached the level of sanctions, regulations, assumptions, for whom, in what circumstances, and what subjects are regulated, so we cannot answer.

Minister Ha Hung Cuong is invited to outline his preparations so that the press can feel more secure.

Minister of Justice Ha Hung Cuong answers the press - Photo: VGP

Minister of Justice Ha Hung Cuong:After the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations was promulgated, the Government issued 54 Decrees, of which 53 Decrees were related to handling of administrative violations.

After the promulgation of this set of documents, there were many opinions from the press saying that in addition to the Decree regulating administrative sanctions for violations in press and publishing activities, a number of other Decrees also regulate violations and provide sanctions. Some opinions said that there were too many agencies with the authority to sanction the press.

On this issue, the Ministry of Justice coordinated with the Ministry of Information and Communications, the Ministry of Public Security, the Government Office and a number of other ministries and branches to report to the Prime Minister for approval. The Prime Minister has agreed to study the relevant Decrees. As for the Decree itself, which regulates administrative sanctions for violations in press and publishing activities, we already know.

Research to be able to somehow separate false information, which can be in the press and also information that is not in the press, even text messages or word of mouth.

The Ministry of Justice coordinates with relevant ministries and branches to implement the new draft Decree, amend and supplement relevant Decrees, focusing on separating which acts are violations of the press to include them in the framework of the Decree on handling violations in the press field. At that time, it will also narrow down the number of people with the authority to punish the press. This issue has been welcomed by the press.

The level of the penalty is regulated in the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations. I apologize for not going into details about the specific behavior you mentioned. This is just a draft that has been submitted for comments.

Cam Van Kinh (Reporter of Tuoi Tre Newspaper):Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai, recently there was a proposal from the Ministry of Industry and Trade to establish a temporary storage of 1.5 million tons of oil, so where is the expected source of money, and what is the plan to deal with the risks?

I would like to ask Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang about the comments that the Minister has directed to handle. How will the upcoming documents be handled if there are no comments? If there are no comments, is there any alternative plan? How will the Deputy Minister's comments affect the bidding results?

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai:Petroleum is an essential commodity, sensitive to the economy in general as well as the lives of Vietnamese people. The Ministry of Industry and Trade is assigned by the Government to ensure energy supply and security, including petroleum products.

Currently, petroleum management is being implemented according to Decree 83 of the Government, initially putting petroleum products into operation in accordance with the laws of the market economy. It can be affirmed that with Decree 83 coming into effect, petroleum prices have initially operated according to the market. As we know, in the past, we have closely followed world market prices, through petroleum sales points to production and business enterprises and consumers.

I would like to note that the reporters' use of the word "monopoly" in the current distribution of petroleum is incorrect. Currently, Vietnam has 19 petroleum import-export business hubs in Vietnam. These hubs must ensure that logistics, warehouses, equipment, including petroleum in the distribution system... have been approved by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and localities for supervision and inspection, ensuring petroleum energy security for production, business and consumption. The State, depending on the factors, also has national reserves. Regarding the reporter's question, reserves are part of the plans of enterprises, petroleum hub businesses must have their own business plans, I will provide more specific information later.

Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang:In response to the journalist's question, I would like to answer as follows. Firstly, regarding the document processing procedure of the Ministry of Transport, we have specific regulations on the procedures for processing incoming and outgoing documents. Official dispatches arriving at the Office will be classified by the Office according to the hierarchy and assignment of the Minister and Deputy Ministers. If they fall under the responsibility of a Deputy Minister, the Office will forward them to that Deputy Minister, and if they fall under the responsibility of a Minister, the Minister will process them.

Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang at the press conference - Photo: VGP

Documents sent by agencies, units, and enterprises must be approved by the Minister and Deputy Ministers to assign specific tasks to the units to process the documents. This is a normal practice like all other agencies. In the document issued by the Ministry from January 2014, it is clearly stated that "the approval of the Ministry's leaders is only information to send documents to agencies and units, and is absolutely not a basis for priority in bidding, bidding invitation, investor selection, contractor selection... or handling related work.

Second, Heads of units, according to their assigned functions and tasks, shall advise and resolve work very closely within their authority and in accordance with legal regulations and shall be fully responsible before the law for their advice and decisions.

Thus, Deputy Minister Nguyen Hong Truong's approval of the request document sent by the enterprise is within his authority and in accordance with the law.

However, according to information reported by some electronic newspapers, the comments of Deputy Minister Nguyen Hong Truong did not match the content of the document sent by the enterprise that the Deputy Minister had approved. Second, in that document there was a comment from the director of Project Management Board 3. That is, when the document arrived, Deputy Minister Nguyen Hong Truong transferred it to the General Department of Roads, Project Management Board 3 for processing, then the Director of Project Management Board 3 noted that it was transferred to Project Management Board 1 for processing. That was all, but some newspapers wrote that "Deputy Minister Nguyen Hong Truong requested the General Department of Roads, Board 3 to process" which was incorrect. The line of the Director of Project Management Board 3 "The Board's leaders implemented in accordance with the direction of the Ministry's leaders" was not there.

Therefore, based on the report and proposal of Deputy Minister Nguyen Hong Truong, based on the document currently kept at the Ministry of Transport, we have sent a document requesting the Police Department, Ministry of Public Security to review and investigate to handle in accordance with the provisions of law.

Regarding the text messages, Deputy Minister Nguyen Hong Truong has reported to the Party Committee that the text messages reported by the newspapers are completely untrue. Based on Deputy Minister Nguyen Hong Truong's report, we have reported to the Secretariat and the Prime Minister, requesting the Police Department, Ministry of Public Security to investigate, clarify, and handle the matter in accordance with the law.

Hoang Tuan (Reporter of Today Magazine, UNESCO):I have 2 questions for the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The Ministry of Health does a lot of work, but in terms of communication, is there any way for people and public opinion to understand the hardships of the industry. Second question, is there any way for the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to make people feel secure when buying vegetables, meat, and fruits?

Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien:The journalist's question is very good and the best person to answer me is the journalist, the one who helps us is the journalist. In recent times, the Ministry of Health has made innovations in communication, but the limitation is that the public has not yet seen the achievements that the medical sector has made for the country over many generations, sometimes small mistakes become big events.

Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien - Photo: VGP

The medical industry is a very sensitive industry because it is related to the lives and health of 90 million people, from the time they are in the womb to when they are in the ground, related to the pain and compassion of people. Secondly, when any incident occurs such as traffic accidents, suicides, poisoning, even drinking alcohol, smoking, including natural disasters, catastrophes such as bridge collapses, tunnel collapses... it eventually reaches the medical industry. On New Year's Eve, while everyone is gathering warmly with their families, doctors are still fighting for the lives of patients... While medical accidents lurk everywhere, at all times, it is the cruelty of nature that medical science has not yet achieved absolute. Even in the US, where there is the most modern medicine, 170,000 people die each year from medical accidents. Those are the difficulties of the industry. The entrance exam to study medicine is very difficult, takes a long time to study, and upon graduation, one must swear the Hippocratic oath.

Since the founding of the country, President Ho Chi Minh has brought many good doctors to build a modern medical system, achieving many successes. Vietnam is one of the 10 countries with many achievements in reducing maternal and child mortality, combating malnutrition, and longevity... For example, Vietnam's maternal mortality rate is lower than Indonesia, the Philippines... even though they have more developed economies. Many of our medical achievements are not inferior to the world, especially in health care for the poor, the poor are paid 100% of their health insurance costs by the State. Many international delegations also do not imagine that we can do that. In particular, the grassroots medical network is widespread, recently a UN press delegation visited and worked in Dien Bien and said that Vietnam still has many challenges, but countries that want to develop grassroots health care must come to Vietnam.

The most important thing for us is to proactively provide transparent information to the press. The Ministry has regularly provided information, through press conferences or online exchanges through units such as the Government Portal, or through programs and events... Over the past time, public opinion and the press have understood and accompanied us to strive to do better. Another thing that is not easy to handle is incident situations, media crises, requiring help from journalists. There were times when the Minister of Health had to directly speak to the press, for example in the case of Bio-Rad Company bribing health officials for 2.2 million USD. The Ministry has notified, transferred the investigation to the police, and helped journalists directly meet the investors - those who are responsible for the equipment they purchased...

We listen to opinions online, via Facebook, when there are mistakes or violations, we take strict action to eliminate "bad apples that spoil the barrel". The Ministry's hotline has received more than 10,000 opinions, of which more than half have addresses, through which more than 130 officials have been disciplined, from dismissal to removal from office... The Ministry's website and 2 newspapers also provide more information.

In general, the media is a strength of the 21st century, we think journalists will help me answer your question better. But anyway, the health sector must do its job better, to satisfy the people more. We have proposed two slogans for the coming time. One is "determination to unanimously reduce the workload, satisfy patients". The other is "moving towards universal health insurance". Many hospitals have committed to no longer having patients sharing beds, we will check and monitor.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat:Food safety is a matter of great concern to the people. To meet the people's expectations, ministries, branches and authorities at all levels have made great efforts. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has identified 2015 as the year of ensuring food safety in agriculture and we are urgently preparing to hold an online meeting on February 5 to deploy an action plan and implement this policy.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat - Photo: VGP

In recent days, I have worked with Hanoi City and accompanied Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam to work with Ho Chi Minh City to strengthen food safety activities both long-term and especially before Tet. Because these two cities alone account for nearly half of the country's urban population, who mainly buy food from outside.

In our plan for 2015, there are many solutions but we focus on 5 groups: Strengthening propaganda and mobilizing people, especially farmers, to use the right types of agricultural materials, pesticides, antibiotics and not to use banned substances in livestock and aquaculture. Second, perfecting the legal framework and strictly implementing legal regulations. Third, building a quality management system, food safety and hygiene in the agricultural sector. We have a Department of Quality Management in the Ministry and all provinces have branches. In 2015, we will focus on making this apparatus operate more strongly and effectively, in conjunction with other specialized agencies. Fourth, we will organize guidance for farmers to apply production processes, produce safer agricultural products and especially form production chains so that we can monitor from the place of production to the place of consumption. Fifth, we will strengthen the inspection and supervision system.

There are less than 20 days left until Tet, so long-term tasks need to be carried out, but first of all, we must focus on two groups of tasks: One is to increase supervision at places where food is bought and sold, especially wholesale markets. We have also agreed with the two wholesale markets and we will also discuss and give opinions to the provinces in the online meeting on February 5. Second, we must organize guidance and supervision in the fields, this work is mainly done in localities that supply food to urban areas. And we have formed two coordination committees on building safe food supply chains for the two cities and will organize the operation of these two coordination committees in the coming days.

According to chinhphu.vn