Directive No. 02/2000/CT-TTg On organizing the celebration of the Year of the Golden Rat in 2000

DIRECTIVE

On organizing the celebration of the Year of Canh Thìn, 2000

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In 2000, a pivotal year between two centuries and two millennia, the people of our country celebrate many significant holidays with joy, but it is also a year in which the people must strive to achieve the requirements for economic and social development: accelerating economic growth, improving the quality of growth, better addressing pressing social issues, aiming to be competitive and keep up with the pace of international integration. The effort to overcome the damage caused by two floods that occurred in Central Vietnam at the end of 1999 also requires the whole Party, the whole people, all Ministries, sectors, and levels to make great efforts to complete this task as soon as possible.

The organization of the Year of Canh Thìn celebration this year must be truly joyful and healthy, while making progress compared to previous years in practicing thrift. To ensure that the people can celebrate the holiday happily according to this spirit, the Prime Minister requests the heads of Ministries, sectors, and the Chairmen of provincial People's Committees under the central government to perform the following tasks well:

1. The heads of Ministries, sectors, and the Chairmen of provincial People's Committees under the central government must closely coordinate with Party organizations, mass organizations, lead cadres, civil servants, public officials, military personnel, and the entire population to thoroughly practice thrift, strictly prohibiting the use of state and collective funds for gifts and presents during the Tet holiday. The Ministry of Finance and the State Bank of Vietnam are responsible for supervising the issuance of bonuses (in cash) by enterprises and agencies in accordance with the prescribed regulations. If necessary, they should guide the limit on cash bonuses during Tet to avoid causing significant fluctuations in money supply and prices, leading to wasteful spending during the holiday period. The heads of Ministries, sectors, and the Chairmen of provincial People's Committees must inspect and severely handle any violations and bear responsibility before the Prime Minister if such violations occur in their respective sectors or localities.

All Ministries, sectors, localities, and production and business units must strictly comply with Directive No. 32/TTg dated October 29, 1999, regarding not organizing sectoral summary meetings and not organizing celebratory banquets that flaunt formality, but still ensuring smooth management and operation of production and business activities.

2. The Ministry of Trade, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Industry, and the Government Price Control Board, must direct localities to closely monitor the supply and demand of foodstuffs and consumer goods during the Tet holiday to promptly take measures to promote production and circulation of goods, meeting the needs of the people, especially paying attention to ethnic minorities living in mountainous, remote, and island areas, preventing price spikes before and after Tet.

For provinces in Central Vietnam that recently experienced two floods in November and December, the lives of the people in these regions have yet to recover fully. The Ministry of Trade and the Government Price Control Board need to directly coordinate with local People's Committees to inspect the forces and situation of goods supply at counties and communes, check the distribution network, promptly identify and resolve difficulties and obstacles based on local coordination, effectively utilizing support from the central government and localities to ensure the people can celebrate Tet joyfully and warmly alongside the rest of the nation.

The Chairmen of provincial People's Committees, particularly large cities like Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Hai Phong ..., must direct all economic entities to refrain from increasing service prices (urban passenger transport fares, tourist attraction tickets, exhibition tickets, entertainment venue tickets, parking fees, public dining ...) before and after Tet. The Government Price Control Board must direct the Price Control Departments of localities to cooperate with relevant forces to organize inspections and strictly handle cases of arbitrarily raising prices for profit. The Ministry of Trade must strengthen inspections and investigations to prevent and punish strictly any acts of producing and circulating counterfeit goods and food products that do not meet safety standards.

The Ministry of Finance shall announce and guide the exemption of taxes on the temporary trade of foodstuffs and fresh agricultural products brought into urban areas, towns, and concentrated residential areas for consumption during the two months before and after Tet.

3. Each locality and agency must organize visits to慰问伤员、病员、烈士家属、革命功臣，以及边疆、海岛和偏远地区的战士和干部。各级地方政府必须与群众团体组织一起发扬我国人民互帮互助的传统，发动多种形式的慈善活动帮助贫困家庭、无依老人、孤儿和流浪儿童，使每个人和每个家庭都能愉快地过节。

对于刚刚经历两次洪水的中部省份人民，除了当地各级政府直接关心照顾外，全国各地也分享了他们巨大的损失，更不能忘记继续支持，让同胞们也能愉快地过一个完整的春节。

卫生部应指导全行业采取措施宣传和教育民众在春节期间注意预防疾病，保持饮食卫生。加强检查和处理食品卫生违规行为，防止食物中毒事件发生；检查环境卫生，扑灭疫情。首先，需要集中力量解决中部地区近期遭受洪水影响的地方的问题，特别是在车站等人多的地方，组织好对民众的诊疗工作，增加值班人员，确保春节期间随时进行急救。

各级人民政府应指挥动员各阶层人民组织街道和村庄的清洁工作，实现“绿、净、美”，并在新春期间组织植树活动。

5. The Ministry of Transport shall direct transport forces to ensure sufficient passenger transportation means of high quality to meet the travel needs of the people during the Tet holiday, preventing situations of waiting and congestion at ferry and bus stations; coordinate with the Ministry of Public Security and People's Committees at all levels to implement and widely publicize Directive No. 33/1999/CT-TTg dated December 27, 1999 of the Government Chairman on strengthening state management responsibilities in ensuring traffic order and safety.

The Ministry of Industry shall direct the electricity sector to have plans for power production to meet all demands for production, services, and daily life of the people; arrange duty shifts during the Tet holiday to handle any unexpected electrical incidents and inform agencies and the people of the duty shift locations for contact when necessary.

6. The Ministry of Culture and Information shall take the lead in collaboration with the broadcasting and television sectors to plan guidance for cultural information activities and broadcasting and television services for the Tet holiday that are appropriate to ethnic customs and the entertainment needs of the people; mobilize and organize art troupes and film projection teams to serve ethnic compatriots, soldiers working in mountainous areas, border regions, islands, remote areas.

7. Customs, Public Security, Market Management, Border Guard Forces shall closely cooperate with People's Committees at all levels to strengthen anti-smuggling and commercial fraud efforts, focusing particularly on goods such as cigarettes, alcohol, beer, pastries, candies, sugar, fireworks, explosives, dangerous children's toys.

8. The Ministry of Public Security shall coordinate with local authorities to effectively manage household registration, especially in cities and densely populated areas; develop fire prevention and firefighting plans; strictly prevent and punish according to the law illegal motorcycle racing, disrupting public order, and preventing serious crimes during the Tet holiday; dismantle drug trafficking, gambling, lottery, superstitious organizations; strictly deal with violations of public order and security, prevent theft and robbery, and circulate obscene culture; coordinate with the Ministry of National Defense and local authorities to manage weapons and explosive materials, and protect the safety of entertainment venues for the people.

9. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Public Security, the General Department of Customs, the Border Guard Force, the General Administration of Tourism, and the Ministry of Transport shall create favorable conditions for overseas compatriots to return home to celebrate Tet and welcome Spring.

The Prime Minister requests the heads of ministries, sectors, and provincial-level People's Committees to widely disseminate this Directive to all strata of the people; at the same time, develop plans to implement it well within their respective sectors and localities, and promptly report to the Prime Minister any abnormal situations occurring during the Tet holiday.