PM stresses flood relief, APEC security

Flood relief and APEC security are two of four major tasks that Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has set for the remaining months of the year.- VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất

Chairing a regular cabinet meeting yesterday, he said the country has recorded the best socio-economic performance in all aspects in October compared to the previous months of the year.

However, there remain shortcomings that National Assembly deputies pointed out at the parliament’s ongoing fourth session, especially heavy human and property losses caused by recent floods, estimated at VNĐ40 trillion (US$1.76 billion), he said.

From now until the end of the year, the Government will focus on settling flood consequences, fulfilling 2017 plans, ensuring safety for APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting, and serve well the parliament’s fourth session, he said.

Phúc asked cabinet members and relevant localities to continue addressing flood consequences and proactively cope with the approaching storm Damrey.

The implementation of socio-economic, security-defence and diplomatic tasks in the year-end months is another major mission since the workload is heavy and can’t be tackled without drastic efforts, he said.

At the meeting, cabinet members requested the Governor of the State Bank of Việt Nam to be very watchful and be more flexible in steering monetary and credit policy to control inflation and ensure stable USD/VNĐ exchange rate.

The central bank needs to push ahead with cutting lending interest rates, restructuring poorly-performing credit institutions and settling bad debt, PM Phúc said.

He urged the Ministry of Planning and Investment to speed disbursement of investment capital, saying its slowness was constraining socio-economic development.

Meanwhile, relevant agencies should continue promoting export, enhancing online export-import activities, capitalising on FDI projects and building national brands for agricultural products, the PM said.

PM backs more support for business

Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc yesterday urged more support for business while chairing the Government’s monthly meeting in Hà Nội.

Before the meeting, he presented the President’s decision to appoint two new government members, Transport Minister Nguyễn Văn Thể and Government Inspector General Lê Minh Khái. The PM expressed his hope that they would make important contributions to the success of the Government and the nation.

PM Phúc praised ministries, agencies and localities for tackling difficulties and improving the business climate, particularly in preparing for the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting from November 6-11 in the central city of Đà Nẵng.

He said he was delighted that the World Bank had recently upgraded Việt Nam from 82nd to 68th place in terms of business climate, saying the rankings were based on criteria regarding electronic taxation procedures and settlements.

The PM added that the credit rating agency Moody’s had also lifted Việt Nam’s banking services’ outlook from stable to positive, a positive sign for the banking and credit sector. He said the economy in October had performed the best since early this year. The index of industrial production rose by 17 per cent, led by manufacturing and processing.

Exports kept growing, with farm produce and currency key earners. The trade surplus also hit US$1.23 billion in the first 10 months.

During October, 105,000 firms were established.

On flooding that caused serious losses in several south central localities, he asked Deputy Prime Minister Trịnh Đình Dũng and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyễn Xuân Cường to go to areas to direct recovery.

The PM called for an end to excessive fees at primary schools, delayed disbursement of basic investment capital, and other socio-cultural and environmental issues.

The leader also asked government members to discuss socio-economic goals for 2018 in line with the resolution by the Party Central Committee and the National Assembly’s resolution, towards refining Resolution 01 of the Government.

Participants are due to debate 16 other important contents, including building policies and mechanisms for HCM City.

Government talks development mechanisms for HCM City: press conference

The government’s monthly meeting featured discussions on pilot development mechanisms for HCM City, with a plan to be submitted to the National Assembly during its ongoing fourth session for review.

The information was made available by Chairman of the Office of the Government Mai Tiến Dũng during a press conference held following the meeting yesterday.

The mechanisms for the southern economic centre will concern four main areas: urban planning and land management, finance and investment management, authorisation mechanisms (granting more autonomy for the municipal administration), and the income of the city’s public servants.

According to the chairman, the issuance of a resolution on these mechanisms is “a necessity” as HCM City is the ‘economic locomotive’ of the country and contributes the most to the State budget.

Regarding the country’s economy situation, also according to Dũng, Việt Nam’s macroeconomy remains stable and in line government’s monetary and credit plans.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) reached a record of US$28.2 billion in the first 10 months, up 37.4 per cent from the same period in 2016. Import and export of goods also posted positive results, increasing by 22 per cent over the same period, and the trade surplus reached $1.2 billion.

In terms of tourism, international arrivals reached 10.4 million by the end of October against the the year-end target of 13 million.

Regarding slow the equitisation of State-owned enterprises, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyễn Thế Phương said this even though this process must be done quickly, but “in order to achieve effective equitisation, thorough asset evaluation must be carried out, otherwise, serious losses of State assets could occur.”

On the controversial draft law on cyber security, whereby foreign technology corporations like Facebook and Google could be asked to relocate servers holding Vietnamese users’ information to Việt Nam, the chairman of the Government Office said the fact remains that overseas servers make State management much more difficult especially with hostile organisations and individuals having used social media to spread anti-State propaganda.