Vietnam is striving to improve its economy's effectiveness, competitiveness and stability in a move to attain gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 8.5-9 percent next year, said Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.
To gain the GDP of some 83 billion U.S. dollars, or GDP per capita income of 960 dollars in 2008, the country is centering on improving business environment, ensuring macroeconomic stability, investing in infrastructure development, strengthening poverty reduction, intensifying administrative reform, and combating corruption, the prime minister said at the 2nd session of the 12th National Assembly, the country's top legislature, opening on Oct. 22.
Vietnam will further develop markets, especially realty, monetary, labor, service, and scientific and technological product markets, and issue more policies on encouraging economic sectors to invest more in agriculture, rural areas and disadvantaged areas, he said.
It will also accelerate equalization of state-owned enterprises, including state corporations and economic groups, and create more favorable conditions to attract foreign direct investment, especially big projects and projects on infrastructure development and hi-tech product manufacture.
Vietnam will "step up production of consumer goods and items for export, ensure the balance of demand and supply of such basic industrial products as electricity, petroleum, coal, fertilizers, steel and cement, and issue more policies on encouraging investment in developing energy, hi-tech, information technology and auxiliary industries, and producing important materials," said the prime minister.
As for service, it will ensure the sector's growth higher than the targeted economic growth, mainly by developing transport, trade, tourism, posts and telecommunications, finance, banking, and insurance services, and enhancing new kinds of services, especially those with high grey matter content and business assistance ones.
To ensure the macroeconomic stability, the government is instructing ministries and relevant agencies to keep inflation rate below the targeted economic growth, boost exports, reform social insurance and salary policies, and strengthen fights against smuggling and trade frauds.
The country will control prices of essential goods in accordance with market economy's laws to prevent speculation and sudden pricing changes, and consider the possibility of establish an supervision agency which will help the government conduct macro control over operations of banks, insurers, securities companies and investment funds.
As for trade, the country is "encouraging the development of auxiliary industries and the use domestically-produced materials", helping lessen the reliance on imported materials, and "building and implementing technical barriers regarding imports in line with international practices to properly protect domestic production", to strengthen export and reduce trade deficit, Dung said.
Regarding social insurance and salary policy reform, Vietnam will increase the monthly minimum salary to 540,000 Vietnamese dong (VND) (33.8 U.S. dollars) from current 450,000 VND (28.1 dollars) from Jan. 1, 2008.
The country will also mobilize more resources for infrastructure development, he said, adding that next year, it will spend state monies of 98,130 billion VND (6.1 billion dollars) on infrastructure development, issue 4,000-5,000 billion VND (250 to 312.5 million dollars) in education bonds and 27,000 to 28,000 billion VND (nearly 1.7 to 1.8 billion dollars) in government bonds to upgrade and build schools, transport and irrigation works, and infrastructure in border communes.
The country will also issue 4,000 to 5,000 billion VND (250 to 312.5 million dollars) in government bonds to construct more hospitals in districts nationwide, and have more preferential policies regarding land, credit and taxation to encourage economic sectors to build educational and medical establishments.
Besides economic growth-related solutions, Vietnam will accelerate administrative reform, intensify anti-corruption, develop its manpower, and increase budget investment in the fields of culture, society, education, health and poverty reduction, said the prime minister.
To speed up the administrative reform, the surveillance work of the National Assembly, the People's councils, and Father Land fronts, and mass organizations will be promoted.
As for anti-corruption, the prime minister has asked to strengthen activities of anti-corruption steering committees, improve inspection and deal with corruption cases, implement the publicity of state employees' income and rotation of cadres, effectively settle complains and denouncements, and review and amend land-related policies, Dung said.
To fulfill the target of reducing the poverty rate to 11-12 percent by the end of next year, Vietnam will intensify investment in rural infrastructure and production assistance for poor people, and focus on vocational training and job generation, especially labor export.
This year, Vietnam is estimated to gain economic growth of 8.5 percent, and slash poverty rate to 14.7 percent.
Source: Xinhua
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