Senior Lieutenant General Le Chiem: 'There is a view that the military does not do business'

"There is now a view that the army will no longer do business. It will focus on serving the Party, the State, and the people. The army's corporations and companies will then proceed to equitization." And "we are inspecting all defense land in Ho Chi Minh City."

Senior Lieutenant General Le Chiem - Member of the Party Central Committee - Deputy Minister of National Defense spoke about Tan Son Nhat golf course at the meeting between Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Ho Chi Minh City leaders on the morning of June 23. Photo: Tu Trung

Senior Lieutenant General Le Chiem - Deputy Minister of National Defense said so at the working session of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc with leaders of Ho Chi Minh City on the morning of June 23.

Referring to the golf course project at Tan Son Nhat, the Deputy Minister of National Defense emphasized that when implementing this project, it had received written approval from 8 ministries and branches... since the end of 2007. However, the Ministry of National Defense's viewpoint is to prioritize civil aviation.

"Comrades, please trust that we will strictly implement the Prime Minister's decision," said Senior Lieutenant General Le Chiem.

Expanding on the issue of national defense land in Ho Chi Minh City, Senior Lieutenant General Le Chiem said the area of ​​national defense land in the city is very large.

“This is a historical matter, with many problems. We are inspecting all the National Defense land in Ho Chi Minh City. Any place that the military does not need to use will be handed over to the city. The viewpoint of the Central Military Commission Standing Committee is consistent, there is no concern about this matter” - Deputy Minister of National Defense informed.

Senior Lieutenant General Le Chiem also said that there is now a view that the army will no longer do business. It will focus on serving the Party, the State, and the people. The army's corporations and companies will then proceed to equitization.

At the meeting, Senior Lieutenant General Le Chiem also requested Ho Chi Minh City to strictly implement the resolution on combining economic development with national defense. He said this combination has been done but has not reached the necessary level.

The Deputy Minister of Defense recalled the story of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack in the US, when the US President boarded a strategic aircraft to directly command, and the US Vice President went down to the command center to direct. “If this situation occurs, how will we handle it? Therefore, we must pay close attention to demonstrating our responsibility in implementing this resolution. Because we are the strategic location of the whole country,” said Senior Lieutenant General Le Chiem.

He also said that the number of businesses in Ho Chi Minh City is very large, local authorities at all levels need to pay attention to equipping local civil forces well to better ensure the combination of national security protection and economic development./.

According to tuoitre.vn