Resolution No. 23/2008/QH12 on the Plan for Economic and Social Development in 2009

RESOLUTION

On the plan for economic and social development in 2009

THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM

BASED ON THE CONSTITUTION OF THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM IN 1992 AS AMENDED AND COMPLEMENTED BY RESOLUTION NO. 51/2001/QH10;

Based on reviewing the reports of the Government, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuracy, the agencies of the National Assembly, relevant agencies, and the opinions of the National Assembly deputies;

RESOLUTION:

I. OBJECTIVES AND KEY INDICATORS

1. General Objective

Continue to control inflation, stabilize the macro-economy, maintain a reasonable and sustainable growth rate, proactively prevent decline, ensure social welfare; promote active and effective cooperation and integration into the international economy; maintain political stability, ensure national defense, security, and public order and safety; create conditions to achieve success in the five-year socio-economic development plan from 2006 to 2010.

Consumer price index increase below 5%.

a) Economic indicators:

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increases by about 6.5%.

Added value in the agriculture, forestry, and fishery sector increases by 2.8%, the industry and construction sector by 7.4%, and the service sector by 7.3%.

Total export turnover increases by 13%.

Total investment capital for development accounts for 39.5% of GDP.

Consumer Price Index increases below 15%.

b) Social indicators:

Increase the number of localities achieving the standard for universal secondary education to 55 provinces.

Newly enrolled university and college students increase by 11.4%; vocational high school students by 15.6%; vocational college and intermediate technical college students by 18%.

The reduction rate of birth rate is 0.2%.

Create jobs for approximately 1.7 million workers, including sending 90,000 workers abroad.

Reduce the poverty rate to 12%.

Decrease the malnutrition rate among children under 5 years old to below 19%.

Number of hospital beds per 10,000 people: 26.85 beds.

Average residential floor area per person in urban areas: 12.2 square meters.

c) Environmental indicators:

Provide safe drinking water to 79% of rural population.

Percentage of urban population supplied with clean water: 85%.

Percentage of serious environmental pollution sources treated: 65%.

Percentage of solid waste collected: 82%.

Percentage of hazardous waste treated: 65%.

Percentage of medical waste treated: 75%.

Percentage of industrial zones and export processing zones in operation with centralized wastewater treatment systems meeting environmental standards: 65%.

Forest coverage rate: 39.8%.

II. SOME MAIN TASKS

The National Assembly basically agrees with the groups of tasks and solutions proposed by the Government, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuracy, the recommendations of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, the Economic Committee, the Ethnic Council, and other Committees of the National Assembly in their review and supervision reports, while emphasizing the following main tasks:

1. Closely monitor, improve the quality of analysis and forecasting of domestic and international situations, especially changes in the world's economic and financial situation, proactively develop response plans to limit the adverse impact of crises from outside on the financial system, banking system, and the entire economy.

Continue to implement a tight monetary policy to control inflation but flexibly manage interest rates and exchange rates, actively control the growth rate of total money supply, credit debt, and credit structure appropriately to facilitate production and business development. Increase the liquidity of commercial banks and ensure the safety of the national financial system. Review related legal regulations on finance, currency, and banking to amend and supplement them appropriately. Credit organizations manage lending interest rates based on the basic interest rate of the State Bank as stipulated by law and are permitted to lend at agreed interest rates for some highly effective production and business projects.

Strictly control and enhance the effectiveness of public spending right from the approval of the 2009 investment plan, thoroughly economize on expenses; publicly list major projects and works funded from the state budget and government bonds, focusing capital on transportation, irrigation, electricity, and social welfare projects that need to be completed in 2009 and the first quarter of 2010. Develop specific plans and issue government bonds in accordance with the ability to disburse funds, ensuring the effective use of capital.

2. Resolve difficulties and obstacles for enterprises, creating favorable conditions for enterprises to access capital, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, export-oriented enterprises, enterprises in craft villages, and enterprises producing consumer goods directly serving the people's lives, thereby creating more jobs and increasing income for workers; prioritize measures to boost agricultural and aquatic product production to provide favorable conditions for farmers to accumulate from agricultural production. Assign the Government to develop specific support schemes for enterprises through appropriate financial and tax policies in line with commitments to join the World Trade Organization (WTO). Study the establishment of a fund to support enterprises facing many difficulties and to cope with financial crises if necessary.

Mobilize all sources of capital for investment and development of production and business, improving the quality and competitiveness of products and goods. Continue to improve the investment and business environment, ensuring equality, transparency, and high competition. Implement policies to encourage investment and the application of science and technology in production and business to add value to products and protect the environment.

Conduct a comprehensive assessment of the activities of state-owned enterprises, particularly economic groups and state-owned corporations, report to the National Assembly at the end-of-year session in 2009; complete the legal framework to correct and strengthen the management of economic groups and state-owned corporations, especially their investment activities using state capital. Apply appropriate management policies and measures according to the position and role of state-owned enterprises in the socialist-oriented market economy in our country.

3. Continue to implement Resolution No. 36/2004/QH11 of the National Assembly on construction investment work using state capital, review, amend, supplement, and perfect legal provisions on construction, bidding, land, and state budget; issue timely guiding documents to ensure consistency, synchronization, without overlap or contradiction; stipulate sufficient and strict sanctions for handling violations.

Pay attention to and improve the quality of planning work, review to complete the overall socio-economic development plan and other plans, link infrastructure investment planning with related plans. Summarize and evaluate comprehensively the management delegation of investment, the organizational model of infrastructure investment management to make appropriate amendments; strengthen inspection, supervision, and auditing work to promptly prevent violations. Enhance the effectiveness of state capital investment and disbursement rate, especially government bond capital. Address inefficient, scattered, wasteful investment right from the planning, planning, and investment policy decision stages. By the end of 2010, settle all outstanding debts in construction arising before 2008.

Combine state investment capital with attracting other sources of capital to increase investment in agriculture and rural areas according to Resolution No. 7 of the 10th Central Committee of the Party on agriculture, farmers, and rural areas, promoting economic restructuring. Reorganize the source of basic construction investment capital, increase the state budget for basic construction investment in poor provinces, mountainous regions, and localities that have difficulty attracting infrastructure investment from other sources.

Focus on inspection and guidance for foreign investment attraction according to industry development planning and territorial development throughout the country. Issue mechanisms and policies to mobilize social resources for the development of supporting industries and processing industries linked with large-scale projects funded by direct foreign investment.

4. Closely control imports, particularly non-essential consumer goods imports; minimize trade deficit; develop, expand, and diversify export markets, focusing on traditional and potential new markets; encourage production and diversification of export products, especially those with high added value; limit exports of certain types of natural resources and minerals.

Pay attention to the domestic market, intensify price control work, combat commercial fraud, speculation, smuggling, price hikes, and unjust profits. Implement pricing policies under a market mechanism with state management according to a roadmap aligned with inflation control targets; at the same time, provide reasonable and direct support to the poor and low-income earners affected by state price adjustments.

5. Timely and fully implement policies supporting ethnic minority groups, policy beneficiaries, poor households, near-poor households, and people in difficult areas, disaster-stricken areas, retired personnel with low income, and people in remote areas. Improve the effectiveness of poverty reduction programs; simplify and clarify assistance procedures so that people can receive them promptly; issue and implement support policies for the 61 poorest districts. Issue and apply new poverty standards.

6. Improve the quality of education at all levels and grades, particularly primary school teaching programs and university faculty quality; comprehensively assess the upgrading of colleges to universities and the establishment of new universities, ensuring parity with physical infrastructure investment and faculty preparation. Implement support policies for students from economically disadvantaged areas and socially policy-beneficiary children; comprehensively assess to continue effectively implementing preferential loan policies for vocational training students and pupils. Summarize the implementation of Resolution No. 40/2000/QH10 of the National Assembly on educational program reform in secondary schools to report to the National Assembly at its final session in 2009. Assess the implementation of the Law on Publishing, specifically detailing the Law's provisions to enhance the responsibility of publishers and state management agencies regarding publishing, strictly handle cases of distributing unhealthy publications contrary to national customs and traditions.

Establish mechanisms and policies to strongly mobilize all social capital to improve the quality of treatment and service at public health facilities; inspect the management and use of government bond capital invested in county-level healthcare; invest in developing human resources for healthcare to meet the requirements of improving medical care quality and professional ethics; strengthen inspections and controls over drug quality and prices.

7. Perfect mechanisms, consolidate organizational structures, strengthen inspection, investigation, and audit work to promptly detect, prevent, and strictly handle environmental protection, food safety, and waste management violations at hospitals, ensuring community health. Perfect the legal system on environmental protection, amend and supplement the Penal Code to strictly handle environmental crimes, increase administrative fines and compensation for damages to mitigate consequences, enhancing deterrence, education, and prevention.

8. Continue to vigorously promote administrative reform, making significant qualitative progress, focusing on administrative procedures and individual responsibility. Emphasize macro guidance and management; clearly and reasonably delegate responsibilities, strengthen close cooperation between ministries, sectors, and localities.

Create clear changes in anti-bureaucracy, anti-corruption, and anti-waste efforts, primarily in land management, basic construction investment, and state asset management. Promptly and strictly handle violations. Highlight the personal responsibility of leaders at all levels and sectors from central to local levels in fighting bureaucracy, corruption, thrift, and waste.

Enhance the quality of handling complaints and denunciations from citizens; focus on resolving remaining, complex, and protracted complaint cases. Strengthen inspection and urging enforcement of decisions resolving complaints and denunciations that have become legally effective.

9. Ensure the progress of judicial reform, enhance material infrastructure and operational means, improve the quality of investigation, prosecution, adjudication, and enforcement. Continue to effectively implement the National Program for crime prevention and control; resolutely combat and strictly handle violations of the law, especially new types of crimes and organized crimes.

10. Enhance the quality of building a whole-of-the-people national defense and security in the new situation; build a strong and comprehensive people's armed force, focusing on equipping and other ensuring conditions. Evaluate and timely assess the situation to proactively handle situations effectively, ensuring national security, public order, and social safety; firmly protect independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.

Ensure traffic order and safety; reduce the number of accidents, deaths, and injuries caused by traffic accidents. Effectively address traffic congestion issues in major cities.

Enhance the effectiveness of foreign affairs work and information dissemination; closely combine national defense, security, foreign affairs, information, and propaganda tasks with economic and social development tasks.

III. IMPLEMENTATION

The Government, the Supreme People's Court, and the Supreme People's Procuracy shall organize the implementation of the National Assembly's Resolution to achieve high effectiveness according to their respective functions.

The Standing Committee of the National Assembly, the National Ethnic Council, the Committees of the National Assembly, the Delegations of National Assembly members, and National Assembly deputies shall supervise the implementation of this Resolution.

The Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee, member organizations of the Front, and other social organizations shall supervise and encourage all strata of the population to implement the National Assembly's Resolution well.

The National Assembly calls upon compatriots and soldiers across the country and overseas compatriots to raise the spirit of patriotic emulation, unity, and effort, seize favorable opportunities, overcome difficulties and challenges, successfully implement the socio-economic development plan for 2009, laying a foundation for comprehensively completing the socio-economic development plan for 2006-2010.

This Resolution was adopted by the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the twelfth session, fourth meeting, on November 6, 2008./.