Decision No. 01/2004/QĐ-BTNMT On the Action Program of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to implement the Conclusions of the Sixth Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Term IX, and the Government's Action Program on science and technology.

Pursuant to …;

Regarding the Program of Action of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to implement the Conclusion of the Sixth Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Term IX, and the Program of Action of the Government on science and technology

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MINISTER OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT

Pursuant to Decree No. 91/2002/NĐ-CP dated November 11, 2002 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment;

Pursuant to the Conclusion of the Sixth Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Term IX, on continuing to implement Resolution of the Central Committee 2, Term VIII, the orientation for the development of education, training, science and technology from now until 2005 and until 2010;

Pursuant to Decision No. 188/2002/QĐ-TTg dated December 31, 2002 of the Prime Minister approving the Program of Action of the Government to implement the Conclusion of the Sixth Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Term IX, on science and technology;

Considering the proposal of the Director of the Department of Science and Technology,

DECISION:

Article 1. Approves the Program of Action of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to implement the Conclusion of the Sixth Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Term IX, and the Program of Action of the Government on science and technology with the following contents:

1. Major orientations for scientific and technological activities

a) Establishing scientific bases for the formulation of legal regulations and policies for natural resource management and environmental protection towards sustainable development, and for formulating strategies and plans for the rational and effective exploitation and utilization of each type of resource, linking environmental protection with economic and social development.

b) Evaluating the effectiveness of the system of policies and laws in state management of natural resources and the environment, and proposing supplements and improvements to make the system of policies and laws on natural resources and the environment increasingly relevant to reality and highly feasible.

c) Innovating technology, applying scientific progress, contributing to accelerating basic surveys; improving the quality of surveys, monitoring, and forecasting of natural resources and the environment to serve economic and social development and national security and defense.

d) Accelerating the modernization process of the natural resources and environment sector to meet the requirements of industrialization and modernization, striving to bring the level of science and technology of the natural resources and environment sector up to the advanced level of Southeast Asia by 2010.

2. Objectives of scientific and technological activities in each field:

a) Land:

Studying the movement of land use rights goods in the socialist-oriented market economy. Organizing surveys and assessments of current status and potential of land to provide a basis for the establishment of systems, policies, and plans for land use that are appropriate to the structural transformation of land use during the period of accelerated industrialization and modernization. Researching and perfecting technologies, building multi-purpose land information systems (LIS) to serve economic and social development.

b) Water Resources:

Surveying and assessing water resources, current status of exploitation, use, and protection of water resources within the territory, territorial waters of Vietnam, in each river basin and key economic regions, serving as a basis for policy planning, developing national strategies on water resources, and formulating comprehensive plans for the protection, exploitation, use, and development of water resources. Researching the application of new technologies and advanced models in integrated water resource management in river basins. Researching the relationship between various forms of water resources such as rainwater, surface water, groundwater, and seawater in some river basins and key areas to provide a basis for managing, protecting, exploiting, using, and developing water resources reasonably and protecting the aquatic environment.

c) Geology and Mineral Resources:

Assessing the current status and statistics of mineral resources nationwide to serve the planning of policies, strategies, and plans for the rational exploitation and use of mineral resources. Strengthening research capabilities, promoting the application of scientific and technological advances to improve the efficiency and reliability of basic geological, mineral, disaster, and geological environment surveys. Gradually innovating and investing in advanced technologies, implementing applications to assess deep mineral potential.

d) Environment:

Building and perfecting legal regulations, policies, and measures to protect the environment to limit the degree of pollution increase, address ongoing degradation in some places, and improve environmental quality, rationally exploit natural resources, ensure ecological balance at a stable level. Continuing to study and provide scientific bases for establishing environmental standards and criteria for environmental impact assessment suitable to the country's economic conditions.

e) Meteorology and Hydrology:

Concentrating on developing meteorological and hydrological scientific and technological capacity towards modernizing technology and methods in observation, data collection, communication, and meteorological and hydrological forecasting systems to enhance operational capacity, produce high-quality and reliable meteorological and hydrological products to serve disaster prevention, reduce losses, protect the environment, and meet socio-economic needs.

f) Surveying and Mapping:

Researching and applying advanced technologies in surveying and mapping, enhancing modernization capabilities in surveying and mapping services for industrialization and modernization. Perfecting geographic information systems (GIS) to serve economic and social development.

3. Main tasks of scientific and technological activities

a) Studying the scientific basis for managing natural resources in a market economy and during the period of accelerated industrialization and modernization.

b) Promoting scientific research and technological work, improving the quality of basic surveys in fields such as land, water resources, geology-mineral resources, environment, meteorology-hydrology, surveying and mapping; improving the quality of geological disaster, environmental, climate, weather forecasts, and evaluations of existing resources to serve economic and social development, exploitation, protection, and rational use of each type of resource in each region.

c) Summarize the evaluation and prepare amendments to the Law on Environmental Protection, the Law on Minerals, the Law on Water Resources, and draft the Law on Biodiversity. Review, amend, supplement, develop new and perfect the system of regulatory legal documents, regulations, technical procedures, industry standards, and unified quota and unit price systems to strengthen the management tools of the Ministry, serving the assessment of quality and effectiveness in basic surveys of natural resources and environment.

d) Evaluate the current status of basic survey fields, forecasts of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment generally, and the potential and development needs for science and technology specifically, based on which build strategies and plans for the development of the natural resources and environment sector until 2010 with a vision to 2020.

đ) Improve the organizational system, perfect the functions and tasks of state management agencies of the Ministry, research institutes, training institutions, other public service units, and enterprises under the Ministry; gradually separate state management from public service management.

e) Strengthen the role of state management of the Ministry linked with building democratic regulations in state management agencies, basic survey units, scientific and technological organizations to promote creativity and exploit all potentials in basic surveys, forecasting, and scientific research on natural resources and environment.

g) Study, build, and promulgate a system of evaluation standards for natural resources and the environment in the country.

h) Build cooperation mechanisms and coordination among ministries and sectors in the field of state management of natural resources and environment. Develop and propose to the State programs, projects, and research plans on natural resources and environment integrated into sustainable development programs, plans, and master plans of regions and territories.

4. Main solutions:

a) Perfect the state management machinery, research agencies, and public service units of the Ministry:

- Evaluate the effectiveness of activities of state management units on natural resources and environment in recent times, propose solutions to amend and adjust the functions and tasks of these units to meet the requirements of the sector's development as well as the new period's management requirements.

- Review the functions and tasks of public service units conducting basic surveys, research institutes under the Ministry, propose solutions to address overlapping issues in basic surveys and scientific research between units.

- Study and establish scientific and practical foundations to develop restructuring plans for basic survey units of natural resources and environment, training institutions, scientific research organizations and technological organizations suitable for the characteristics of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

- Study and perfect the organizational structure of natural resources and environment management machinery at local levels.

b) Develop human resources:

- Build planning tied to training plans for cadres and civil servants, scientific and technological personnel through various forms and sources of funding to continuously build a cadre team, addressing the shortage of cadres currently occurring in units under the Ministry. Focus on training scientific and technological personnel with high qualifications suitable for the sector's development orientation, leveraging the capabilities of young cadres while utilizing experienced and highly qualified personnel both domestically and internationally.

- Based on the State's regulations on cadre work, coordinate with functional agencies to build regulations and policies for the use of civil servants generally and scientific research personnel specifically suitable for the characteristics of the natural resources and environment sector.

c) Enhance research capacity and equipment for basic surveys, science, and technology:

- Develop the scientific and technological potential of the natural resources and environment sector based on absorbing advanced scientific and technological achievements of developed countries, suitable for our country's conditions, and organize research on scientific and technological contents with specific characteristics of the Ministry.

- Concentrate on implementing key national science and technology research topics to rationally utilize the existing research capacity and equipment of the Ministry. Apply research results from programs, projects, and topics to production practice to contribute to building reasonable and effective resource utilization policies and environmental protection.

- Build cooperation mechanisms between basic survey units, scientific and technological research bases of the Ministry to effectively utilize the scientific capabilities of researchers and existing research equipment to improve the quality of surveys and forecasts to promptly meet socio-economic development needs.

- Emphasize the application of advanced technological achievements in basic research fields suitable for our country's conditions to create a solid foundation for improving the quality of surveys and forecasts, rational resource utilization, and environmental protection.

- Develop investment programs and plans to enhance material infrastructure, machinery, equipment, and research and technological conditions for basic survey units, scientific and technological activity organizations, research institutes, and analytical centers to reach advanced levels in Southeast Asia.

- Prepare for the construction of key laboratories of the Ministry to serve the implementation of basic survey tasks, tasks under science and technology programs, and economic technology programs to improve survey quality.

d) Enhance information technology application capacity:

- Gradually invest in and modernize IT equipment, enhance capacity in the field of state management of natural resources and environment, and meet the requirements of the administrative reform program (building an electronic government) of the State. Digitize public services related to legal document systems, operation permit files in natural resources and environment fields to facilitate domestic and foreign organizations and individuals efficiently and quickly.

- Establishing information systems, scientific and technological data resources, and specialized electronic libraries for natural resources and environment at the Ministry and its subordinate units.

- Building telecommunication and computer network systems in specialized fields based on new achievements in telecommunications and information technology to accelerate the transmission and processing of information quickly, timely, and conveniently both domestically and internationally, meeting the increasingly high demands of operational work serving the Ministry's state management functions.

- Establishing industry databases for natural resources and environment based on integrating databases from basic survey fields under the Ministry’s management. Building information systems, LANs, and Intranets from the Ministry to its subordinate units, provincial Natural Resources and Environment Departments, and connecting with other networks.

- Developing unified human resource management, planning, financial accounting, and scientific and technological software systems in the Ministry's units.

d) Promoting international cooperation in the field of natural resources and environment:

- Evaluating the current status of international cooperation in various fields, proposing solutions to maximize bilateral and multilateral aid sources to support the successful implementation of the Ministry's policies, strategies, programs, and plans, contributing to fulfilling Vietnam's international commitments in the field of natural resources and environment as well as national socio-economic development goals and poverty reduction targets by 2010.

- Building long-term and short-term international cooperation plans and programs in basic survey fields related to natural resources and environment, as well as in developing the Ministry's scientific and technological potential.

- Studying directions for effectively sourcing and receiving all forms of bilateral and multilateral aid based on annual international cooperation plans.

- Proposing measures to rationally and effectively utilize Vietnam's ODA capital in the field of natural resources and environment.

e) Diversifying financial resources in scientific and technological activities:

- Cooperating with relevant ministries and sectors to develop mechanisms and policies to diversify investment capital for national scientific and technological activities, particularly those in the natural resources and environment sector.

- Encouraging Ministry units to invest in technological innovation, attract, and effectively utilize foreign investment capital for basic surveys and scientific and technological development.

- Encouraging organizations and individuals to cooperate with Ministry units in basic surveys on natural resources and environment according to legal regulations.

g) Participating in establishing a science and technology market:

- Closely cooperating with relevant ministries and sectors to build and perfect mechanisms and policies to promote the development of a science and technology market consistent with a socialist-oriented market economy.

- Studying mechanisms and policies to gradually commercialize basic survey products and scientific research results in the field of natural resources and environment.

- Establishing mechanisms for selecting Ministry-level scientific research topics according to the Law on Science and Technology and the Ministry's management regulations.

- Gradually forming organizations to manage and support the development of a natural resources and environment science and technology market such as consulting, brokerage, service, and technology transfer; focusing on building brands for some basic survey products.

5. Key tasks:

a) Continuing to establish and improve the state management system for natural resources and environment to be strong and clean, especially at the district and grassroots levels. Enhancing the quality, effectiveness, and enforcement of state management over natural resources and environment.

b) Concentrating on building, revising, and supplementing regulatory legal documents to ensure systematicity, synchronization, and comprehensive adjustment of all issues currently facing state management over natural resources and environment.

c) Strengthening scientific and technological research, improving the quality of basic surveys in land, water resources, geology-minerals, environment, meteorology-hydrology, and mapping fields, coupled with organizational and operational mechanism reforms in these areas. Introducing information technology into natural resources and environment management, focusing on database construction, geographic information systems, and land information systems. Drafting and submitting to the Prime Minister the Strategy for Information Technology Development in the Natural Resources and Environment Sector.

d) Prioritizing training, capacity building, and attracting management cadres and scientific and technological personnel, especially highly qualified ones in relevant fields.

d) Expanding and enhancing the effectiveness of international cooperation to strengthen resources, secure advanced technology, management experience, and cadre training for the natural resources and environment sector.

6. Key scientific and technological projects until 2010:

a) Assessing the current status and potential of land to establish a scientific basis for planning and implementing land structure transformation plans to serve industrialization and modernization in the country.

b) The movement of land use rights goods in a socialist-oriented market economy.

c) Studying and evaluating the appropriateness of land laws (Land Law 2003 and guiding documents) with actual land management and use practices.

d) Building a legal framework for establishing a new Land Code.

đ) Researching and building a modern cadastral system in Vietnam.

e) Inventorying mineral resources; assessing the current exploitation and usage status and proposing management and investment development solutions for minerals.

f) Sustainable management of river basins.

g) Building environmental treatment models in industrial zones and some craft villages.

h) Integrating environmental protection objectives into overall socio-economic development planning for regions and territories.

i) Develop the planning for the environmental protection industry to serve as a basis for integrating environmental protection goals with poverty reduction and comprehensive growth targets.

k) Develop the science and technology development plan of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment until 2010 and orientation until 2020.

l) Establish a database for the natural resources and environment sector.

m) Build an information system to support state management work on surveying and mapping.

n) Plan training and develop a team of scientific research and technology staff of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to meet the requirements of modernization and enhance the scientific and technological capacity of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

Article 2. Organize the implementation of the Program

1. The Science and Technology Department shall take the lead in coordinating with the Ministry's Office, Departments, Bureaus, Institutes, Centers, and other units under the Ministry to implement and disseminate this action program.

2. Based on this action program, units under the Ministry shall build specific plans for their units and organize their implementation.

3. The Science and Technology Department shall be responsible for regularly urging, inspecting, monitoring the implementation of the program by units, promptly summarizing, evaluating, drawing lessons learned, and proposing solutions to address difficulties and obstacles during the implementation process.

Article 3. Effectiveness

This Decision shall take effect fifteen days from the date of publication in the Official Gazette.

The Director of the Ministry's Office, the Head of the Science and Technology Department, and the heads of units under the Ministry are responsible for enforcing this Decision./.