Resolution No. 05/2001/NQ-CP On supplementing certain measures for managing the economic plan in 2001

RESOLUTION

Regarding the supplementation of certain measures to manage the economic plan for 2001

The economic situation in the first four months of 2001 has shown positive changes and many aspects have improved compared to the same period last year; however, there are still many difficulties that adversely affect the implementation of this year's and future years' socio-economic development goals.

Industrial and agricultural production has increased significantly in quantity, but production costs remain high, efficiency and competitiveness are still low, and exports face difficulties due to the decline in export prices of many products, especially agricultural products. Total social investment capital is low, particularly concentrated construction investment capital from the State budget and state investment credit. Market prices are trending downward, affecting agricultural production and farmers' livelihoods. Global and regional economic trends are developing unfavorably, negatively impacting Vietnam's economy, especially its exports.

To address the above shortcomings and limitations, and to successfully complete the socio-economic development goals for 2001 and create momentum for future development, the Government supplements certain measures to manage the economic plan for 2001 as follows:

1. Implement tax exemptions and reductions on agricultural land use for the following groups:

a) Exempt all poor households nationwide (as defined by Decision No. 1143/2000/QĐ-LĐTB&XH dated November 1, 2000 of the Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs) and all households in communes under Program 135.

b) Reduce by 50% the tax on rice cultivation land and coffee cultivation land for organizations, individuals, and other household groups.

The central budget will compensate local budgets for revenue shortfalls resulting from the implementation of the aforementioned tax exemption and reduction policies.

2. Extend the temporary storage period for 1 million tons of rice for export, as stipulated in Decision No. 223/QĐ-TTg dated March 6, 2001 of the Prime Minister, by an additional six months. Enterprises assigned the task of temporarily storing rice must find export markets for the stored rice and continue purchasing to replenish the exported portion during the temporary storage period.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Trade, and the People's Committees of provinces are responsible for supervising and inspecting the implementation of the temporary storage policy mentioned above, preventing negative phenomena, and ensuring that farmers are not disadvantaged.

3. Implement the restructuring of agriculture's structure in stages:

a) Provincial People's Committees urgently complete planning work and immediately implement the following restructuring measures:

- Reduce the area of summer-autumn rice in the Mekong Delta and in areas where production is not effective, shifting to more profitable and marketable crops and livestock.

- Plan and invest in developing aquaculture zones, especially coastal areas. The State will support infrastructure investment, particularly irrigation facilities, for these regions.

- Cease planting Robusta coffee; shift part of the area currently planted with Robusta coffee to Arabica coffee in suitable locations.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Fisheries are responsible for guiding and supporting localities in implementing the above restructuring process.

b) Assign the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to study and submit to the Prime Minister in the third quarter of 2001 proposals for developing crops and animals with favorable market prospects such as corn, soybeans, cotton, mulberry, tobacco, edible oil, dairy cattle, and pigs; proposals for post-harvest technology development for rice and coffee; and proposals on policies to encourage rural industries and trades.

4. On plant and animal breeding:

a) Supplement funds to develop breeding centers, ensuring basic conditions for selection, crossbreeding, propagation, and importation of high-yielding, high-quality, and commercially valuable plant and animal breeds.

b) Supplement 50 billion VND to provide a one-time support to farmers for seeds and livestock.

c) In June 2001, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will coordinate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance to report to the Prime Minister on the need for additional investment in 2001 for the above objectives; at the same time, they must promptly complete the "Biotechnology Program" proposal to submit to the Prime Minister for decision.

5. Encourage Vietnamese traders from all economic sectors to export all types of goods not prohibited by law, regardless of their registered business activities.

Utilize the Export Support Fund as per Decision No. 195/1999/QĐ-TTg dated September 27, 1999 of the Prime Minister to support enterprises and associations in market development activities and promote trade, such as partially funding travel expenses to seek markets, organizing exhibition booths, establishing warehouses, setting up representative offices, and trade promotion centers abroad...

The Ministry of Finance will coordinate with the Ministry of Trade to report to the Prime Minister in June 2001 on the implementation mechanism for the above regulations, as well as adjustments and supplements to the rules on commission expenses in trade brokerage towards expanding the autonomy and responsibility of state-owned enterprises in deciding forms and levels of commission payments, beneficiaries of commissions, accounting methods for commission expenses... to suit each trading partner and ensure overall business effectiveness.

Encourage overseas diplomatic agencies of Vietnam (including trade representatives) to engage in export brokerage and receive commissions according to the aforementioned provisions.

6. In addition to the export bonus regime under Decision No. 195/1999/QD-TTg dated September 27, 1999 of the Prime Minister, in 2001, implement an additional bonus regime based on the value of exports for the following products: rice, coffee, canned vegetables, and pork (excluding quantities of goods exported under government agreements and export to repay debts) for all enterprises of all economic sectors. For other export products that may face similar objective difficulties in the future, consideration will also be given to applying this bonus regime.

The Ministry of Finance shall take the lead, coordinate with the Ministry of Trade, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Government Price Control Board, and relevant ministries and sectors to determine specific bonus levels for each product, publicly announce them within June 2001, and organize their implementation.

7. The Ministry of Finance shall promptly complete the Operating Regulations of the Export Credit Support Fund to submit to the Prime Minister for issuance in June 2001, serving as the basis for preferential loans and credit guarantees for exports (including deferred payment export credits up to 720 days).

8. Regarding basic construction investment from State budget funds, according to the approved plan, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Finance, and relevant ministries, sectors, and localities need to focus on resolving difficulties, accelerating project construction progress according to the plan. A thorough review and evaluation of the implementation of the capital investment plan must be conducted before allocating the remaining portion of the 2001 plan. Resolutely transfer funds from projects lacking necessary procedures, projects unable to fully utilize planned funds, and projects without conditions for commencement to projects and programs needing completion in 2001 and ODA projects still short of counterpart funding.

9. Ministries, sectors, and localities urgently inspect and specifically determine the volume of basic construction works in the plan funded by the State budget but remain unpaid, and have not yet identified sources of payment, to send to the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance by June 2001 for consolidation and submission to the Prime Minister for decision on handling measures.

10. The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall take the lead, coordinate with relevant ministries and sectors to submit to the Prime Minister by June 2001 proposals to supplement capital for infrastructure construction projects under the Poverty Eradication Program, Program 135, Canal Reinforcement Program, Rural Road Program, Aquaculture Development Program; transportation, irrigation, tourism infrastructure projects (including restoration and repair of historical and cultural sites already classified); rural craft village infrastructure; important projects needing completion in 2001; projects requiring accelerated construction progress; preparation and commencement of important projects approved but without allocated capital since the beginning of the year.

Specifically for Program 135, in addition to the supplementary capital for projects under the program as mentioned above, an additional amount of approximately 200 billion to 300 billion dong will be supplemented to support the construction of inter-village roads in difficult communes along the border.

The Development Support Fund temporarily borrows at 0% interest rate to implement projects on canal reinforcement, rural road construction, aquaculture infrastructure, and rural craft village infrastructure.

11. The state credit interest rates are adjusted as follows:

a) The state development investment credit interest rate is 5.4% per annum.

Special preferential interest rate beneficiaries under Point 5 of Resolution No. 11/2000/NQ-CP dated July 31, 2000 of the Government, Decision No. 117/2000/QD-TTg dated October 10, 2000, Decision No. 55/2001/QD-TTg dated April 23, 2001 of the Prime Minister, and Circular No. 485/CP-CN dated May 18, 2000 of the Government will now uniformly apply a common interest rate of 3% per annum.

b) The People's Bank interest rate for lending to the poor in Region III is 5.4% per annum, and for other regions is 6% per annum.

The interest rates specified in points a and b above apply to loans disbursed from June 1, 2001.

12. For projects of investors who are not state-owned enterprises using state development investment credit, the investor shall decide on investment after the lending institution reviews the financial plan, repayment plan, and approves the loan; the investor shall bear full responsibility for design, budget, and project implementation consistent with industry, locality, and territorial development plans. Loan disbursement shall follow the project implementation progress, and loan recovery shall be carried out according to the signed credit agreement. If these projects require land use, provincial and centrally-administered city people's committees must base on the investor's proposal and local land use planning to process land allocation or lease procedures in accordance with the law without any additional conditions. Investors who have been allocated land (having paid land use fees) when implementing production and business projects do not need to convert to lease land.

13. For projects guaranteed by the Development Support Fund, collateral is not necessarily required. The Development Support Fund shall cooperate with lending institutions to review borrowing and repayment plans to decide on guaranteeing and share responsibility with the lending institution in risk management. Guarantee approval procedures must be simple and convenient.

The Ministry of Finance shall take the lead, coordinate with the State Bank of Vietnam to study and submit to the Prime Minister by June 2001 a proposal on credit guarantee forms, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises.

14. Accelerate the restructuring of commercial banks. The State will provide capital support to handle phase 2 debts and debts due to objective reasons that cannot be repaid. At the same time, measures will be taken to improve financial health, enhance credit quality, and competitiveness of commercial banks. Expand loans for housing construction and high-value movable asset purchases. Supplement the charter capital for the People's Bank.

15. From 2001, implement a unified capital usage fee rate of 0.15% per month for state-owned capital at enterprises. The Ministry of Finance shall provide guidance and organize the implementation.

16. This Resolution takes effect from the date of signature. All previous regulations that conflict with this Resolution are hereby abolished.

Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-affiliated agencies, Chairpersons of People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities are responsible for organizing the implementation of this Resolution.

The Minister of Planning and Investment and the General Statistics总局局长负责监督、检查和汇总决议执行情况，并每月向政府报告。| 因翻译内容需保持准确性和专业性，最后一句应直接翻译为：The Minister of Planning and Investment and the General Statistics Bureau Director are responsible for monitoring, inspecting, compiling the situation of the Resolution's implementation, and reporting monthly to the Government.