Review all toll stations on road transport.

The National Assembly has just requested a comprehensive review of all BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) toll stations to ensure transparency, accountability, and the legitimate rights of businesses and citizens.

The Resolution on the Socio-Economic Development Plan for 2018, which was passed by the National Assembly on the morning of November 10th, emphasizes the need to review all BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) toll stations on roads to ensure transparency, accountability, and the legitimate rights of businesses and citizens.

Strictly handle cases of violations of legal regulations that disrupt social order and safety; closely manage and effectively promote investment models under the public-private partnership (PPP) model in general, and the BOT and build-transfer (BT) models in particular. Research and improve the legal framework for investment under the public-private partnership model, and report to the National Assembly, the Resolution states.

According to the Resolution, the main targets were set as follows: Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of 6.5% - 6.7%; total export turnover growth of 7% - 8%; trade deficit as a percentage of total export turnover below 3%...

The toll station at Km42+730 on National Highway 6, section Xuân Mai - Hòa Bình, is one of the toll stations that is closely monitored regarding its revenue.

To achieve these targets, the National Assembly requires the effective restructuring of credit institutions associated with the handling of bad debts, focusing on resolving weak credit institutions according to market principles, without direct support from the state budget.

Strengthening financial and budgetary discipline, creating significant changes in handling outstanding land use fee debts, combating revenue losses, tax evasion, tax arrears, transfer pricing fraud, violations of tax laws, fees, and charges, implementing electronic invoices; thoroughly saving on state budget expenditures and the use of public assets and official vehicles.

The National Assembly also requested a restructuring of the state budget towards gradually increasing the proportion of domestic revenue and development investment expenditure, reducing the proportion of recurrent expenditure, and ensuring expenditure on social security, social welfare, and national defense and security.

Strengthen the management of off-budget funds, manage public debt according to the targets set by the National Assembly, minimize government guarantees for new loans, strictly control budget deficits and debt of the central and local governments, and do not convert borrowed funds for relending and government guarantees into state budget allocations.

Members of the National Assembly expressed concern about the continued rapid increase in public debt and the lack of significant improvement in labor productivity. They noted the slow pace of restructuring state-owned enterprises, the difficulty in achieving planned targets for equitization and divestment, and the persistent shortcomings and limitations in addressing and resolving the issues of 12 loss-making projects. Furthermore, they noted the potential for the emergence of new loss-making projects.

The resolution outlines several issues that need to be addressed in 2018, such as price manipulation, transfer pricing, and fictitious losses occurring in some foreign-invested enterprises but not being dealt with seriously; the limited incentives for domestic enterprises to develop and become competitive; and the fact that foreign investment attraction policies create more preferential treatment for foreign enterprises, which is not fair to domestic enterprises…

In the report explaining and responding to the opinions of National Assembly deputies, the Chairman of the National Assembly's Economic Committee, Vu Hong Thanh, stated that, in light of the difficulties and challenges of 2017 that have been analyzed and clarified, National Assembly deputies proposed the need to continue maintaining macroeconomic stability, removing difficulties for production and business, focusing on handling bad debts, being more decisive in the equitization and divestment of state capital in enterprises, effectively utilizing resources, and promoting capital disbursement associated with improving the quality of public investment.

Mr. Thanh believes that more attention should be paid to distribution, circulation, and the development of the domestic retail market, while encouraging structural transformation in agriculture.

According to VOV