Decision No. 23/2008/NQ-CP of the Government's regular meeting in September 2008

RESOLUTION

Regular Government Meeting in September 2008

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 During two days, September 29 and 30, 2008, the Government convened its regular meeting in September to discuss and adopt the following issues:

1. The Government heard the Minister of Home Affairs report on the Memorandum regarding the Pilot Project on not organizing People's Councils at district, city district, and ward levels and directly electing the Chairpersons of People's Committees at commune level; listened to the Minister, Head of the Government Office report on the review opinions and the Minister of Justice present the assessment opinions on the draft project.

The Pilot Project on not organizing People's Councils at district, city district, and ward levels and directly electing the Chairpersons of People's Committees at commune level is a concrete implementation of Resolution of the 10th National Party Congress and Resolution of the 5th Plenary Session of the 10th Central Committee on accelerating administrative reform, enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of state management to organize local government reasonably, ensuring unity, smoothness, effectiveness, and efficiency, promoting direct democracy at grassroots level. While the Constitution of 1992 has not been amended, the construction and implementation of the project must comply strictly with legal procedures and meet stringent requirements and social consensus.

The Ministry of Home Affairs is assigned to take the lead, coordinate with the Ministry of Justice and the Government Office, incorporate the opinions of the Government members, perfect the project, and submit the Memorandum to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly. Given that the project involves important issues related to the organization and operation of the local government system, careful and thorough consideration is required, focusing on clarifying the scientific and practical basis for not organizing People's Councils at district, city district, and ward levels and directly electing the Chairpersons of People's Committees at commune level; developing solutions to address provisions inconsistent with the Constitution and relevant existing laws in the project; clearly defining the transfer of functions and tasks from People's Councils at district, city district, and ward levels to relevant agencies to ensure stable and continuous operation of the system; implementing comprehensive organizational measures for the project; emphasizing propaganda work and cadre affairs, and minimizing adverse impacts caused by organizational changes.

The Minister of Home Affairs, acting on behalf of the Prime Minister, is assigned to submit this project to the National Assembly at the upcoming fourth session to adopt a Resolution and implement it.

2. The Government heard the Minister of Construction present the draft Law Amending and Supplementing Article 126 of the Housing Law; listened to the Minister, Head of the Government Office report on the review opinions on the draft Law.

The Housing Law of 2006 stipulates that certain groups of overseas Vietnamese are entitled to own housing in Vietnam, reflecting the policy of the Party and State to consider overseas Vietnamese as an inseparable part of the Vietnamese nation, while also creating favorable conditions for them to invest in the country. However, the provisions in Article 126 of the Law are too restrictive regarding those entitled to own housing in Vietnam, failing to meet practical needs and legitimate aspirations of overseas Vietnamese, necessitating broader provisions to ensure equality in housing ownership rights between Vietnamese citizens within the country and those abroad.

The Government agrees to pass this draft law. The Ministry of Construction is assigned to take the lead, coordinate with the Government Office and the Ministry of Justice, incorporate the opinions from the meeting, perfect the draft Law Amending and Supplementing Article 126 of the Housing Law; the Minister of Construction, acting on behalf of the Prime Minister, will submit this draft law to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly and the National Assembly.

3. The Government heard the Minister of Home Affairs report on incorporating and refining the draft Civil Servant Law and the issue of supplementing three positions of civil servants at commune level in the draft Civil Servant Law; listened to the Minister, Head of the Government Office report on the review opinions on this issue.

The draft Civil Servant Law was submitted to the National Assembly for consideration and comments at the third session (May 2008). The Drafting Board incorporated the guidance of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly and the contributions of National Assembly deputies, completing the draft law, focusing on distinguishing between cadres and civil servants and civil servants at commune level.

The Minister of Home Affairs is assigned to take the lead, incorporate the opinions from the meeting, coordinate with the National Assembly's Committee for Legal Affairs to complete the draft law in the direction of not supplementing three positions of civil servants at commune level in this draft law and assign the Government to consider and decide according to specific conditions in localities; submit the draft Civil Servant Law to the National Assembly for consideration and approval at the fourth session of the twelfth National Assembly.

4. The Government discussed and adopted reports on: Directing work on preventing and mitigating the aftermath of Typhoon No. 6; economic and social situation in September and the first nine months of 2008; macroeconomic situation in September and the first nine months; implementation of administrative reform in September; implementation of the Simplification of Administrative Procedures Project across sectors under ministries, departments, and localities; inspection, complaint resolution, and anti-corruption efforts in September; implementation of the September work program and Government resolutions from the regular meeting in August, presented by the Ministers of Agriculture and Rural Development, Planning and Investment, Finance, Home Affairs, Government Inspectorate, and the Minister, Head of the Government Office.

In light of the heavy losses in terms of human lives and property caused by floods following Typhoon No. 6 in the provinces of Quang Ninh, Bac Giang, Lang Son, and Son La, the Government expresses deep sympathy for the affected areas and commends the efforts and proactive measures taken by local officials and residents, as well as functional forces, to prevent and mitigate flood damage. The Government requests relevant ministries and sectors to closely coordinate with localities to effectively carry out search and rescue operations, ensure adequate food, clean water, and medical supplies for the people; focus on stabilizing their livelihoods, caring for their health, restoring infrastructure such as roads, irrigation works, schools, health stations, and housing; promptly harvest agricultural products, accelerate winter crop production to compensate for losses caused by floods; and the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development must urgently compile the situation of losses and submit to the Prime Minister for a decision on financial support to help these provinces overcome the aftermath, prioritizing the active use of local budget reserves. Localities should remain vigilant against unusual weather developments, concentrate on effectively preventing and combating typhoons and floods, protecting the lives and property of the people.

Regarding the economic and social situation in September and the first nine months of the year, the Government agrees that despite many difficulties and challenges, there have been positive changes in the economy. Initial important results have been achieved in controlling inflation and stabilizing macroeconomic conditions: the consumer price index is showing a clear downward trend, exchange rates and interest rates have stabilized and fluctuated slightly, the trade deficit has decreased, the balance of payments has maintained a surplus, foreign exchange reserves have increased, the stock market has gradually stabilized; the estimated GDP growth rate for the first nine months is 6.52%, although lower than the same period in 2007, it is still a positive and significant result; under intense competition in markets and prices, exports have increased by 39% compared to the same period; revenue from state budgets has risen sharply; foreign direct investment has reached 57.1 billion USD, up 398.5% from the same period in 2007; the task of ensuring social welfare has been effectively directed with a system of direct support policies to stabilize the people's lives, develop production, reduce poverty, provide social assistance, health insurance, support students and retirees, and low-income earners; social sectors such as education and training, healthcare, employment... have made significant progress; administrative reform, anti-corruption efforts, thrift, and waste prevention continue to be emphasized; traffic safety has improved significantly. These results affirm that the measures to control inflation, stabilize macroeconomic conditions, ensure social welfare, and achieve sustainable growth are correct and effective.

However, the GDP growth rate has not yet reached the adjusted target (7%); the consumer price index for the first nine months has increased significantly (21.87%) with market prices still harboring many unpredictable risks of volatility along with negative impacts from the financial and credit crisis in the United States spreading globally; the trade deficit remains high; the efficiency of production and business is low; monetary tightening policies have limited effects on growth; disbursement of investment capital, especially government bond capital, is low; a portion of the population faces many difficulties in their living standards; social order and security in some places are still complex; some social issues such as environmental pollution, food safety, commercial fraud... cause public concern.

In this context, the tasks in the last few months of the year are very arduous. To strive to complete the 2008 economic and social development goals, the Government requires ministries, sectors, and localities to continue strictly implementing measures to control inflation, stabilize macroeconomic conditions, ensure social welfare, and achieve sustainable growth in accordance with Resolution No. 20/2008/NQ-CP dated August 29, 2008 of the Government on implementing the Resolution of the 7th Plenary Session of the 10th Central Committee and Conclusion No. 25-KL/TW of the Politburo. The focus of guidance and management work is:

- Continuing to prioritize the control of inflation, viewing this as the top priority task; promoting production and business activities, boosting exports, reducing the trade deficit (striving to reduce the trade deficit to below 30%);

- Closely monitoring global economic trends, particularly the financial-market situation in the United States, clearly identifying the impact effects on the domestic economic situation, especially in areas such as finance-banking, direct and indirect investment, export markets, to timely adopt effective response measures;

- Flexibly managing monetary policy; ensuring supply-demand balance for goods, especially strategic and essential consumer goods, while strengthening price and market supervision, severely punishing smuggling and commercial fraud, preventing price hikes, especially during the Tet holiday; resolutely transitioning to market pricing mechanisms linked with direct support for disadvantaged groups;

- Concentrating on directing the disbursement of construction investment capital, especially government bond capital, state budget capital, ODA, and FDI to promote growth;

- Paying attention to resolving difficulties for small and medium-sized enterprises; considering reducing lending interest rates to support businesses in intensifying production and business activities under controlled inflation;

- Strengthening inspections of the implementation of current social welfare policies, ensuring timely and accurate targeting; at the same time, studying and issuing new policies to contribute to stabilizing the people's livelihoods. Urgently issuing support mechanisms to reduce poverty and promote economic and social development in 61 poor districts;

- Maintaining political security and social order; enhancing guidance on traffic safety, food hygiene and safety, environmental protection; proactively preventing and mitigating the consequences of natural disasters effectively;

- Carry out well the work of information dissemination and economic-social forecasting. Ministries, agencies, provinces, and centrally governed cities must proactively and timely provide information and guide public opinion on the economic and social situation, particularly macroeconomic issues, to build trust in the Party's leadership and the Government's guidance and management;

- Heads of ministries, ministerial-level agencies, agencies under the Government, Chairpersons of People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities, according to their functions and tasks, must enhance their sense of responsibility, actively coordinate to implement tasks in accordance with the Government's Rules of Procedure; intensify administrative reform efforts and anti-corruption struggles; promptly submit guiding documents for implementing Laws, Ordinances, and the Government's action programs within their authority; fulfill assigned tasks well to serve the 8th Plenary Session of the Central Committee and the 4th Session of the 12th National Assembly; prepare conditions for implementing the socio-economic development tasks for 2009./.