RESOLUTION

The Government’s regular meeting - October 2011

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The Government on November 3-5 convened its regular meeting to discuss and decide the following issues:

1. Reports on: Socio-economic performance in October and the first ten months of 2011; the realization of the Government’s Resolution 11/NQ-CP dated on February 24, 2011; consequences of natural disasters, outcomes of flood and storm prevention and control work, and measures to overcome the consequences and stabilize production and people’s life in the flood-hit localities; the realization of the Cabinet’s October working program and the Resolution made at the Government’s previous regular meeting; administrative reform in October 10,2011; the settlement of complaints and denunciations and anti-corruption work in October, 2011.These reports were presented by the Minister of Planning and Investment, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Minister-Chairman of the Office of Government, the Minister of Home Affairs, and the Government Chief Inspector.

a) Due to serious damages and losses caused by natural disasters in various localities across the country, particularly in the Mekong Delta and Central Region, people and the whole political apparatus have shared difficulties and losses with those in the areas. The Government praised and spoke highly of the efforts made by local authorities, residents, military forces in rescue work and mitigation of the consequences of natural disasters. By the end of October this year, the Government provided assistance worth VND 397 billion, 1,300 tons of rice, advanced VND 47 billion to assist farmers, and it is considering the possibility of continued effort to help localities to overcome food shortage and stabilize agricultural production.

The Government requested ministries, agencies and localities to continue close coordination in addressing the consequences of natural disasters; provide timely assistance to homeless families; mobilize all forces and tools to rescue people in isolated areas; deploy measures to restore infrastructure and sanitation, prevent and control diseases, and quickly stabilize production and people’s life.

The Ministry of Finance is entrusted to coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and other relevant ministries and agencies to consider, review, and identify how much assistance to help localities overcome the consequences of natural disasters in a timely and practical manner.

b) The Government agreed: Socio-economic performance in October and the first ten months continued to witness positive signals. Inflation has been curbed and decreased gradually, consumer price index in October shot up by 0.36% - the lowest figure since the beginning of the year and it is the 3^rd consecutive month that the figure grew by less than 1%; monetary and fiscal policies have been regulated properly; export turnover soared against the same period last year and was three times higher than the National Assembly’s preset targets, trade deficit in the first ten months stood at 10.8%, much lower compared to the target defined in the Government’s Resolution 11; total retail sales of goods and services sharply increased against the same period last year; foreign investment inflow slightly rose,with additional registered capital climbing up 38% compared to the same period last year. Culture, education, healthcare fields have been paid due investment with positive results. Social welfare policies continued to be deployed effectively, job creation and stabilization of people’s life have been paid due attention; many social policies have been realized, effectively contributing to ease difficulties against and gradually improve people’s material and spiritual life, particularly those in the natural disaster-hit regions and disadvantaged areas. National defence capacity has been enhanced, political security, social order and safety have been maintained. Administrative reform and the settlement of complaints and denunciations and anti-corruption continued to be sped up. External relations have gained positive results.

However, the national economy is still facing a string of difficulties: Though inflation and interest rates have gradually dipped but they are still high; a large number of businesses have encountered difficulties; industrial production tended to slow down, inventory level of commodities went up; securities market downsized, real estate market has been quiet; natural calamities and floods occurred unexpectedly, epidemics were complicated; people’s life in the flood-hit and disadvantaged areas or of low-income groups, including those living and working in industrial parks, remained difficult. For the last months of the year, particularly during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, pressure on inflation normally expands. International economic picture is forecast to have few optimistic signals.

To realize the key socio-economic targets for 2011, the Government asks ministries, agencies and localities to continue consistent implementation of the targets and solutions enshrined in the Politburo’s Conclusion No.  02-KL/TW, the Government’s Resolution 11 and other regular resolutions; be consistent with macroeconomic policies, keep close watch of the country’s reality, actively regulate policies in a flexible manner to rein in inflation, stabilize macro-economy, and ensure social welfare, and maintain reasonable growth rate, focusing on the following tasks:

- The State Bank of Việt Nam continues to regulate the monetary policy tightly and effectively; take measures to control and stabilize exchange rate and inter-banking interest rates; develop plans to adjust the interest rates in accordance with inflation; rationally regulate the credit growth and total means of payment (at about 12 - 13% for the whole year of 2011); focus credits on producing essential commodities, with priority given to farm produce and aquaculture processing, and on restoring and developing production in provinces heavily damaged by natural disasters; take measures to reduce bad debt and secure the safety of the banking system and bank deposits; coordinate with other related ministries, agencies  to quickly devise a project on restructuring the commercial bank system, then report to the Prime Minister in November 2011.

- The Ministry of Public Security coordinates with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the State Bank of Việt Nam to take drastic measures to control gold and foreign currency markets.

- The Ministry of Construction is responsible for collaborating with the State Bank of Việt Nam to promptly review the real estate market, propose specific solutions and report them to the Prime Minister prior to November 15,2011.

- The Ministry of Finance coordinates with ministries, agencies and localities to continue pursuing tightened fiscal policy in combination with tightened monetary policy; focus on inspecting and directing localities to strive for higher budget collection in 2011, combine austere and effective thrift practice to lessen over-spendings; direct and regulate the prices of key commodities in accordance with market rules and State management; take drastic measures to stabilize prices, particularly in the last months this year; study and put forth ideas of lowering corporate tax and prolonging the timing for tax exemption, reduction, and cancellation, then report to the Prime Minister in November 2011; quickly develop a project on restructuring State groups and corporations and report to the Prime Minister in November 2011.

- The Ministry of Planning and Investment is responsible for coordinating with other ministries, agencies and localities to actively remove difficulties against businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises; at the same time, promulgate preferential policies to further attract multi-national companies to do investment in Việt Nam; be deeply aware of the Prime Minister ‘s Instruction  No. 1617/CT-TTg dated on September 19, 2011 on consolidating foreign investment inflow as well as on putting foreign investment activities in good order; quickly realize the Prime Minister’s Instruction No.1792/CT-TTg dated on October 15, 2011 on expanding supervision of projects financed by the State budget or Government bonds, secure centralized capital allocation and restructure investment to improve its efficiency, prioritize capital for urgent projects, secure corresponding capital for ODA projects, social welfare poliices, or projects regarding the building of new rural areas and national security; along with public investment reduction, actively mobilize social resources for socio-economic infrastructure projects; quickly develop a plan for investment restructuring, focusing on public investment, then report to the PM in November 2011. 

- The Ministry of Industry and Trade coordinates with relevant agencies to implement measures for spurring export; closely control the import of non-essential commodities or those produced in Việt Nam; enhance inspection and control of the market to secure the balance of goods supply and demand, particularly during the coming Lunar New Year holiday; work with the Ministry of Finance and localities to give severe punishments against goods speculation; drastically handle smuggling activities, trade fraud, or production and trading of counterfeit commodities.

- The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is responsible for collaborating with agencies and localities to proactively prevent natural disasters, particularly in the Central Việt Nam as the region is now in flood season; repair dykes in the Mekong Delta; at the same time, remove barriers against production of agriculture, forestry, and aquaculture throughout the country; actively and proactively prevent and control livestock diseases.

- The Ministry of Health works with agencies and localities to beef up preventive medicine work and food safety; actively take measures to prevent, control and address pandemics, particularly hand-foot-mouth diseases.

- Ministries, agencies and localities continue to synchronously implement social welfare policies, focusing on areas or localities strongly hit by natural disasters, remote areas, poor people, ethnic minorities; pay attention to job creation as businesses face difficulties or go bankrupt; monitor and speed up the implementation of minimum salary level adjustment in the business sector.

- Ministries, agencies and localities continue to speed up administrative procedures, particularly those relating to site clearanceand tax; accelerate preparations for and submissions of projects, overcome slow promulgation of legal documents on detailed implementation of valid laws and ordinances; expand State management; focus on settling individuals’ complaints and denunciations, particularly crowded and prolonged appeals; fight against corruption; take effective measures to secure the country’s sovereignty, security-politics, and social order and safety.

- The Ministry of Transport is responsible for coordinating with the Ministry of Public Security and localities to take drastic measures to curb and reduce traffic accidents. The People’s Committees of Hà Nội and Hồ Chí Minh City actively implement solutions defined in the Government’s Resolution 16/2008/NQ-CP dated on July 31, 2008 on diminishing traffic congestion in their own cities. The Ministry of Transport coordinates with the People’s Committees of Hà Nội and Hồ Chí Minh City to reach ways to lessen traffic congestions in the two cities.

- The Ministry of Information and Communications directs mass media to grasp thoroughly the Party’s guidelines and State’s policies, targets and tasks enshrined in the Government’s Resolution 11/NQ-CP; speed up information dissemination; expand transparency. The Cabinet members actively supply or publicize information regarding orientations, policies, regulatory solutions of their assigned competence in order to create high social consensus.

- The Cabinet members seriously and actively prepare for interpellations at the National Assembly regarding related issues and Government’s instruction and regulartion. The Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Finance take prime responsibility to collaborate with other ministries, agencies and localities to quickly assess socio-economic performance State budget collection and spendings of 2011, prepare for the realization of 2012 socio-economic development and budget plans, coordinate with the Office of Government to organize a Government’s conference at the end of 2011.

2. The Government discussed and commented on its action program for 2011 - 2016 tenure, presented by the Minister of Planning and Investment.

The development of the Government’s action program must be done through concretizing the 11^th National Party Congress’ Resolution and another resolution adopted at the 3^rd plenary session of the 11^th Party Central Committee, clarifying targets, tasks and solutions for successful realization of strategic breakthroughs, creating real progress in institutional building, improvement of workforce quality, and infrastructure development.

The Government requested ministries and agencies, based on their assigned functions and obligations as wll as the 2011-2020 socio-economic development strategy and 2011 - 2015 socio-economic development plan, quickly put forth their major tasks, projects and policies, then send them to the Ministry of Planning and Investment to associate them in a joint action program. The Ministry of Planning and Investment coordinates with the Office of Government to collect the Cabinet members’ comments on the Government’s action program, then finalize it and submit to the Prime Minister for consideration.

3. The Government discussed and gave comments on the synchronous infrastructure development project to meet the country’s requirements for industrialization and modernization in the 2011-2012 period, which is presented by the Minister of Planning and Investment.

The project must be developed in line with the 11^th National Party Congress and 2011-2020 socio-economic development Strategy, focusing on identified strategic breakthroughs. From this perspective, the project focuses on three main fields: traffic infrastructure and urban infrastructure systems – irrigation infrastructure system – interdisciplinary and interregional electricity infrastructure systems along with modernization of information technology infrastructure, economic zones, health and education.

Fundamental solutions and policies include policy renovation, investment form expansion toward attracting the engagement of all the social resources, State funded investment criteria identification, innovation of management-operation-exploitation models, with special attention paid to planning and management for the development of infrastructure and procedures to launch the project, especially site clearance.

The Government assigned the Ministry of Planning and Investment to cooperate with Ministries of Finance, Transport, Construction, Agriculture and Rural Development, Industry and Trade and other related agencies to quickly finalize the project and report to the PM before submitting it to the Politburo.

4. The Government discussed and gave comments on the national strategy for climate change adaptation, presented by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment.

The Government asked the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to collect comments of the Cabinet members, check strategic missions, combine properly the National Target Program to respond to Climate Change, complete the national strategy and then summit it to the PM for approval in November 2011.

5. The Government discussed and commented on the Report on the implementation of mineral resources planning and solutions to enhance management over this area, the outcomes of mineral resources exploitation-processing and export, license granting to mineral resources exploration and exploitation and measures to expand management over these activities; and the Government’s draft Action Plan to carry out the Politburo’s Resolution No. 02-NQ/TW issued on April 25, 2011 on the orientations of mineral resources and industries strategy until 2020, with vision to 2030; draft mineral resources strategy until 2020, with vision to 2030, which were presented the Minister of Industry and Trade, the Minister of Construction, the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment.

Over the past time, ministries, agencies and localities’ management over planning, control, exploitation and export of mineral resources have made progress. However, there are still shortcomings in geology inspections, especially marine mineral resources; planning work and planning management of mineral resources remained weak; illegal exploitation caused disorder and damaged the environment, export of raw mineral resources  led to losses and made it difficult to monitor; out-of-date exploitation technologies resulted in losses and limited labor safety; mechanisms and policies on financial management, reinvestment, environmental restoration in exploitation of mineral resources remained unreasonable; assignments and decentralization of mineral resources management were still overlapped and slowly repaired. To overcome the above shortcomings, the Government requests:

- The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment promptly completes legal documents on detailed implementation of the Law of Mineral Resources, and submit it to the Government for approval in 2011, coordinates with related agencies and localities to inspect mineral resources exploitation activates across the country and proposes solutions for manage, exploitation, processing and use of mineral resources effectively.

- The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment sets up a planning scheme on fundamental investigation into mineral geology; the Ministry of Industry and Trade supplements, adjusts and prepare planning scheme for the exploration, exploitation, processing and use of mineral resources; the Ministry of Construction supplements, adjusts, and prepares planning scheme for exploration, exploitation, processing, and use of mineral resources for making construction materials; Provincial People’s Committees develop mineral resources planning, and complete the list of prohibited areas for mineral resources exploitation in 2012.

- The Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Construction check and adjust export standard for mineral resources toward increasing processing ratio. The Ministry of Finance coordinates with related ministries and agencies to review and adjust natural resources and mineral export taxes; expands inspection of illegal export and trade fraud in exporting mineral resources. The Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Defense cooperate to prevent illegal export of mineral resources through borders.

- The Ministry of Industry and Trade cooperates with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Office of Government and related agencies to quickly finalize and submit a draft instruction on strengthening mineral resources management to the PM for approval in November 2011; the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is responsible for collecting the Cabinet members’ comments, then finalize the Government’ draft Action Plan to realize the Politburo’s Resolution 02-NQ/TW  and mineral exploitation strategy until 2020, with vision to 2030, then submit it to the PM for approval.

(For reference only)