In the first ten months of 2007, the economy continued to develop at a high rate, with diverse and abundant goods meeting social consumption needs better and better. However, the world market has experienced many unpredictable fluctuations, causing import prices for many types of goods to rise sharply; storms and floods have occurred consecutively, causing significant losses to people in the North Central and Northwest regions; although plant and animal diseases have been controlled, they have still caused considerable damage and pose a risk of resurgence; the ability to absorb foreign investment capital has not been good... These factors have directly affected supply-demand relations and price fluctuations in the domestic market.

To ensure price stability, market stability, and promote production, the Government issued Directive No. 18/2007/CT-TTg on August 1, 2007, and other documents implementing urgent measures to curb the rate of price increases in the market. Ministries, sectors, and localities have actively implemented the Prime Minister's directives. With decisive measures, the initial results in curbing the rate of price increases in the market have been achieved: the consumer goods price index in August and September 2007 decreased compared to previous months, however, the consumer goods price index in October 2007 continued to rise sharply, and without more decisive measures, it will be very difficult to achieve the goal of keeping the rate of price increase lower than economic growth.

To implement the task of curbing price increases and stabilizing the market while serving the Lunar New Year Tet in 2008 well, the Prime Minister issues this directive:

1. Ministries and sectors coordinate with provincial People's Committees under the central government and industry associations to continue to strictly implement measures to maintain macroeconomic balances, resolutely implement the measures set forth in Directive No. 18/2007/CT-TTg dated August 1, 2007, of the Prime Minister on urgent measures to curb the rate of price increases in the market. Continue to organize the implementation of the Prime Minister's directive on thrift and waste prevention, especially in consumption (electricity, gasoline, diesel), production and business costs, and construction; thrift in organizing meetings, year-end summaries, and welcoming the new year.

Ministries managing industries directly direct and urge enterprises to proactively implement measures to boost production, increase productivity, reduce costs, lower product prices, enhance competitiveness, ensure sufficient supply to meet demand at reasonable prices, particularly staple foods, foodstuffs, fuel, fertilizers, steel, cement, and medicines.

2. Ministries and sectors take the initiative to coordinate with localities, large cities, and agricultural and food-producing areas to consolidate, improve, and develop distribution systems based on organizing production, imports, and sales networks, especially in cities, urban areas, and densely populated regions, ensuring adequate goods, materials, and raw materials for production and daily consumption, and food must meet quality and food safety standards.

3. The Ministry of Planning and Investment, in collaboration with relevant ministries and sectors, studies the capacity of the economy to absorb capital, coordinates with sectors and localities to implement appropriate measures to stimulate investment, accelerate disbursement of state investment projects: Ministries, sectors, and localities focus on resolving current bottlenecks in procedures for projects that have not been disbursed or disbursed slowly to speed up the disbursement progress of these projects, especially those put into operation in 2007 and 2008. The Ministry of Finance implements the issuance of Government bonds according to the plan for 2007 and 2008. Strengthen the implementation of investment credit programs through the activities of the Social Policy Bank and organizations implementing such programs.

The State Bank of Vietnam continues to implement comprehensive and harmonious measures to withdraw money from circulation, restructure short-term term bills sold by the State Bank, purchase foreign currency at appropriate levels to increase national foreign exchange reserves, control the rate of increase in total monetary aggregates at a reasonable level, and prevent excessive appreciation or depreciation of the Vietnamese currency.

The Ministry of Finance continues to implement the plan for issuing Government bonds in 2007 and 2008 to participate in withdrawing money, and coordinates with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and other ministries and sectors to implement measures to accelerate disbursements for state investment projects to strengthen the economy's ability to absorb capital.

5. The Ministries of Industry and Trade and Finance, along with sector-managing ministries, review the balance of supply and demand for goods, export-import policies, and tax policies to ensure adequate supplies for the economy's needs, especially imported materials for production; assess the impact and effectiveness of reducing import taxes to increase supply and curb price increases; proactively review and adjust import tax rates to stabilize market prices. Market supervision should be strengthened to prevent businesses from profiting from reduced tax policies.

6. The Ministry of Finance shall take the lead and coordinate with the State Bank of Vietnam to continue implementing measures to promote the development of the securities market to contribute to economic growth; focusing on implementing solutions to ensure stability in the money market and prevent shocks to the market. In the short term, from now until the end of 2007 and early 2008, the State Bank of Vietnam will continue to effectively control the activities of commercial banks in granting loans for securities trading; coordinate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance to closely monitor and control foreign currency flows in and out. The Ministry of Finance shall direct the strengthening of information dissemination in the securities market in a comprehensive, timely, accurate, transparent manner, especially information on corporate financial conditions and information related to the issuance of shares and bonds by corporations as prescribed by law.

7. The Ministry of Finance shall coordinate with the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Health, and localities to strengthen inspection, supervision, and management of prices for goods that tend to increase such as gasoline, real estate, medicines, steel, and gas; instruct localities to intensify price control and management, preventing monopolistic pricing by enterprises, unreasonable pricing, speculation-driven price hikes, and failure to display prices; resolutely and promptly handle violations of the Price Ordinance according to regulations.

8. The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall cooperate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Vietnam Foodstuff Association to effectively manage the export of 4.4 million tons of rice in 2007; coordinate with relevant ministries and sectors to develop specific and proactive solutions to expand domestic and international markets and boost exports to improve the trade balance.

9. Ministries, sectors, and provincial People's Committees affected by typhoons and floods must concentrate all resources to mitigate consequences, ensuring sufficient food, medicine, seeds, livestock, construction materials, and energy (electricity, gasoline, diesel) to meet the needs for production recovery so that people in areas affected by typhoons and floods can quickly stabilize their lives.

10. Ministries, sectors, and provincial and centrally-administered municipal People's Committees shall prepare adequate quantities of goods at stable prices to serve the needs of the people during the Lunar New Year Festival happily, safely, and thriftily, specifically:

a) Immediately implement measures to promote production and prepare goods and services for the Lunar New Year Festival, particularly staple foods, snacks, beer, wine, clothing, cultural products, transportation means... to ensure a full supply of goods and services at relatively stable prices based on quality assurance and consumer safety; proactively implement essential goods stockpiling measures to avoid supply-demand imbalances and price spikes before and after the Lunar New Year Festival; pay attention and effectively supply goods to mountainous provinces, remote areas, ethnic minority regions, and areas heavily affected by typhoons and floods at stable prices during the Lunar New Year Festival;

b) Strengthen market management to combat fraudulent trade practices to protect consumer rights, contribute to market stabilization, and create a fair competitive environment among economic sectors; intensify inspections and supervision of the market in the days leading up to and following the Lunar New Year Festival, strictly handling cases involving the circulation and sale of prohibited items such as fireworks and dangerous toys; closely coordinate between central functional ministries and local authorities to enhance inspections to ensure food safety at production and processing facilities, slaughterhouses, and livestock and poultry trading establishments in accordance with current regulations;

c) Plan and organize Spring Fairs and recreational activities for the people during the Lunar New Year Festival in their respective areas; expand connections and cooperation with suppliers to organize promotional sales, discounts, and additional traditional and new goods to make the Spring Fair both a place for trading and a venue for healthy cultural exchanges rich in national identity.

11. The Ministers of Transport, Public Security, and the Chairpersons of provincial and centrally-administered municipal People's Committees within their respective functions shall direct businesses engaged in transportation to plan and prepare sufficient transport capacity to meet the needs for cargo transportation and travel for the people; strengthen safety inspections of transport vehicles, focusing on implementing traffic safety measures as directed by the Government in Resolution No. 32/2007/NQ-CP dated June 29, 2007 on urgent measures to curb traffic accidents and congestion; strictly handle violations to ensure a happy and safe Lunar New Year for the people.