Resolutely handle the planning transition according to the provisions of the Law on Planning

At Nghe An bridge, comrade Le Ngoc Hoa - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee chaired, with the participation of representatives of provincial departments and branches. Photo: D.C

Initial results

The Law on Planning was passed by the 14th National Assembly, 4th session on November 24, 2017 and took effect from January 1, 2019, as a legal basis for all levels and sectors to comprehensively and consistently lead and direct planning activities.

According to the report of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, to implement the Law on Planning, the Government issued Resolution No. 11/NQ-CP dated February 5, 2018 on implementing the Law on Planning and assigning tasks to ministries, branches and localities.

After more than 1 year of implementing the Law on Planning and performing the assigned tasks in Resolution No. 11/NQ-CP dated February 5, 2018 of the Government, ministries, branches and localities have focused on directing and achieved certain results...

Regarding the implementation of planning for the 2021-2030 period according to the provisions of the Law on Planning, the Ministry of Planning and Investment has submitted to the Prime Minister the establishment of the National Planning Council; established the Council for appraisal of provincial planning tasks... Up to now, a number of localities have completed and are submitting for appraisal the task of provincial planning for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2045...

A corner of Vinh City. Photo courtesy of Dao Tuan

At the conference, representatives of ministries, branches and localities presented a number of difficulties and obstacles in the process of implementing the Law on Planning. Accordingly, opinions said that the delay in issuing the Decree guiding the implementation of the Law on Planning has resulted in limited results achieved by ministries, branches and localities, especially the implementation of planning for the period 2021-2030 has not met the required progress.

The Law on Planning does not have any provisions on the procedure for local adjustments. At the same time, some ministries, branches and localities have different understandings when determining the planning within the scope of application in Point a, Clause 1, Article 59 of the Law on Planning. Therefore, applying the provisions of the Law on Planning to the adjustment of national, regional and provincial planning approved before the Law on Planning takes effect will take more time than before, not ensuring flexibility in direction and operation of all levels and branches...

In addition, the allocation of funds to establish or adjust technical and specialized plans and the handling of plans that must be stopped because they are no longer in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Planning and the Law on amending and supplementing a number of articles of laws related to planning currently have no guiding documents, causing difficulties and obstacles for ministries, branches and localities in implementation.

Focus on implementing planning for the 2021-2030 period

In his concluding remarks at the conference, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung acknowledged the initial results in the implementation of Resolution No. 11/NQ-CP dated February 5, 2018 of the Government by ministries, branches and localities.

The Deputy Prime Minister commented that the Law on Planning plays a particularly important role, covering many sectors and fields of the economy. This is a new planning scheme, applied for the first time to 64 provinces and cities at the same time.

Ministries, branches and localities need to resolutely implement a number of specific solutions: Urgently submit to competent authorities to issue instructions and thoroughly handle the transition of planning according to the provisions of the Law on Planning.

Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung speaks at the Conference on implementing the Law on Planning. Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac (Chinhphu.vn)

Focus on developing plans for the 2021-2030 period according to the provisions of the Law on Planning, in which for the National master plan, National marine spatial planning, National land use planning, ministries need to urgently complete and report to the Government for approval in December 2019 to serve as a basis for developing these plans, reporting to the National Assembly for approval in 2021.

For national sectoral planning, provincial planning, ministries, branches and localities must urgently complete and report to the Prime Minister for approval in October 2019 according to regulations to serve as a basis for the implementation of these plans and submit them to competent authorities for approval in 2020 and 2021. For the zoning project, it is necessary to complete it soon to report to the National Planning Council for direction before submitting it to competent authorities for approval in December 2019 to serve as a basis for implementing regional planning.

The Deputy Prime Minister also requested that ministries, branches and localities focus on prioritizing capital allocation to establish national sectoral and provincial planning in accordance with the provisions of the law on planning.