Prime Minister chairs regular August Government meeting

On August 27 and 28, under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, the Government held its regular meeting for August 2014.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung chairs the regular August Government meeting. Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

During the two working days, the Government listened to reports and focused on discussing the socio-economic situation in August and the first 8 months of 2014; the implementation of Resolution No. 01/NQ-CP dated January 2, 2014 of the Government on the main tasks and solutions for directing and implementing the socio-economic development plan and the State budget estimate for 2014; Report on the socio-economic situation in 2014 and the projected socio-economic development plan for 2015; Report on the assessment of the implementation of the State budget in 2014 and the State budget estimate for 2015; Plan for issuing international bonds of the Government; Incentive mechanism for special scientific and technological research facilities; Pilot mechanism for granting autonomy to public higher education institutions; Project on innovation of general education programs and textbooks.

The report on the socio-economic situation in 2014 and the projected socio-economic development plan for 2015 of the Ministry of Planning and Investment at the meeting showed that the socio-economic situation in the first 8 months of the year continued to recover, with many changes and positive results; growth in most sectors and fields in the economy improved, industrial production, especially processing and manufacturing industry continued to recover at a higher rate than the same period last year; agricultural, forestry and fishery production developed well; the service sector achieved a fairly high growth rate; exports continued to maintain growth momentum and had a trade surplus; inflation was controlled at a low level; market prices were quite stable; social security was guaranteed. According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, GDP growth in the first 9 months of the year is estimated at 5.54%. However, the socio-economic situation still faces many difficulties; the macro-economy is not really stable; Aggregate demand increases slowly, credit growth is low, businesses have difficulty accessing capital; bad debt handling is slower than required.

In his speech to suggest a discussion, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said that in the first 8 months of 2014, the socio-economic situation continued to have positive and even changes in all aspects; the macro-economic foundation was increasingly stable; growth in each quarter was higher than the previous quarter, and the whole year was forecast to grow by 5.8%. Of the 14 targets set for 2014, it is expected that 12 targets will be met and exceeded.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung requested ministries, branches and localities to focus on directing strongly and strive to achieve the highest goals and targets set, creating a foundation for higher growth in 2015 and the following years. “In the remaining 4 months of 2014, continue to firmly implement the general goals, main targets, tasks and solutions set out in Resolution 01 of the Government” - Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung requested.

In this spirit, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung suggested that the Government focus on discussing four main contents, first of all continuing to review and remove difficulties for production and business, promoting growth in all three sectors of agriculture, industry and services, striving to achieve a growth rate of 5.8% for the whole year. Among many solutions, the Prime Minister suggested focusing on discussing solutions to increase the total demand of the economy, paying attention to increasing outstanding credit in association with improving credit quality, resolving bad debt; increasing investment disbursement and fighting against counterfeit and smuggled goods to protect and promote domestic production.

The second group of solutions the Prime Minister requested for discussion was economic restructuring, focusing on restructuring public investment, restructuring state-owned enterprises, restructuring commercial banks and restructuring agriculture. Regarding public investment restructuring, the Prime Minister said that there has been a long step forward but it is necessary to continue promoting it so that public investment is truly effective, overcoming dispersion, preventing loss and waste. Regarding state-owned enterprise restructuring, the Prime Minister requested a decisive, specific and strict spirit in the direction of the Ministers. "Do not accept state-owned enterprises as ineffective, loss-making, and negative" - ​​the Prime Minister emphasized. Regarding commercial bank restructuring, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung requested a decisive and decisive spirit in restructuring weak banks associated with resolving bad debts. “Resolutely restructure the banking system for the safety of the system and for the benefit of the people. Weak banks must be strictly controlled, and if necessary, merged and dissolved in accordance with the law,” the Prime Minister said.

Regarding the group of administrative reform solutions, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said this is a low-cost solution, within the reach of the Government, ministries, branches and localities, while creating a driving force to promote production, investment, improve the business environment and enhance national competitiveness. “From now until the end of the year and next year, customs procedures will be reduced by half, taxes will be reduced from about 500 hours to 200 hours; insurance procedures will be reduced from more than 300 hours to less than 100 hours. Investment, construction, land access and electricity access procedures will be reduced from 1/3 to half of the current time. The ministers have committed to me, and other ministers will continue to review and boldly cut procedures. This is the investment environment, this is the competitiveness of the economy” - Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung requested.

Finally, regarding the goals and tasks of socio-economic development in 2015, the Prime Minister asked Government members to focus on discussing solutions and measures to achieve the target of striving for higher GDP growth than in 2014, about 6.0-6.2% according to calculations and proposals of the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

According to Chinhphu.vn