Resolution No. 30/2008/NQ-CP On urgent measures to prevent economic decline, maintain economic growth, and ensure social welfare

RESOLUTION

Regarding urgent measures to prevent economic decline, maintain economic growth, and ensure social welfare

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On December 1 and 2, 2008, the Government convened its regular session to assess the economic and social situation in November 2008 and the latest developments in the global economy affecting the domestic economy and society.

In recent times, with the effective implementation of eight groups of solutions, inflation has been contained, macroeconomic fundamentals have been basically maintained in stability, social welfare has been ensured, and the economic growth rate for 2008 was approximately 6.7%. Achieving these results was due to the correct policies of the Party, the resolute management of the Government, and the efforts of the entire political system and the whole people. Since October 2008, the global economic situation has rapidly evolved, becoming complex and unpredictable, with the global financial crisis and economic recession directly impacting our country's economy, leading to reduced production, business operations, and exports, which in turn directly affected employment and people's livelihoods.

In light of this situation, the Government has determined that it must focus on implementing the overall objectives and solutions outlined in the 2009 plan approved by the fourth session of the XIIth National Assembly, with the primary and urgent task being to concentrate all efforts on proactively preventing economic decline, promoting production and business activities, intensifying exports, stimulating investment and consumption, ensuring social welfare, and striving for an economic growth rate of about 6.5% in 2009.

To achieve these goals, ministries, sectors, and localities need to immediately organize and implement the following urgent measures:

I. PROMOTE PRODUCTION, BUSINESS OPERATIONS, AND EXPORTS

1. In 2009, focus on completing and implementing programs and projects assigned in Resolution No. 24/2008/NQ-CP dated October 28, 2008, issued by the Government regarding the Implementation Program of the Government to carry out the Resolution of the Seventh Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Tenth Tenure, on agriculture, farmers, and rural areas.

2. Implement measures to address difficulties and support agricultural, forestry, and aquatic production, particularly focusing on the consumption of agricultural products from certain industries with large quantities of goods and concentrated production such as rice, seafood, and other agricultural products to maintain and develop production, solve employment issues, and increase income for farmers. Urgently restore economic and social infrastructure, support, and create conditions to stabilize the lives of people in areas affected by storms and floods.

3. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development:

a) Take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Finance and relevant agencies to submit to the Prime Minister the level of support for seeds, crops, livestock, poultry, and aquatic products for farmers to recover agricultural and fishery production in areas damaged by natural disasters and diseases, quickly restoring production. At the same time, prepare well for seeds, materials, fertilizers, irrigation, capital, etc., for the 2008-2009 winter-spring crop season. Proactively implement comprehensive measures to prevent and control plant and animal diseases, and protect livestock from cold when winter arrives.

b) Take the lead and coordinate with relevant ministries, sectors, and localities to build mechanisms, policies, and specific solutions to mobilize various sources of capital, accelerate disbursement to effectively utilize state budget funds for repairing dike systems, improving and upgrading irrigation systems, infrastructure for aquaculture areas, fishing port facilities, reinforcing canals, planting forests, and promoting agriculture, forestry, and fisheries.

4. Intensify the production of domestic consumer goods, especially food, beverages, textiles, pharmaceuticals; prioritize supporting industries with advantages in replacing imports, using domestic raw materials, employing more labor, such as enterprises producing consumer goods, construction materials, machinery manufacturing, shipbuilding, fertilizers, etc. Support the sale of some industrial products currently in surplus stock like steel billets, construction steel, cement, fertilizers, paper, chemicals according to the principle of restructuring loan terms, waiving or reducing high-interest loan rates.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade should study and propose policies to encourage domestic organizations and individuals to produce and manufacture products in industries capable of replacing imports, to be submitted to the Prime Minister by December 2008.

5. The Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Transport should concentrate resources, strongly direct, and complete on schedule ongoing projects, especially large and key projects overdue for completion, particularly those in energy, expressways, airports, seaports, rural roads.

6. The Ministry of Construction should direct project owners to concentrate resources to complete cement and construction material projects on schedule; take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Planning and Investment to propose to the Prime Minister plans for utilizing cement to implement the policy of stimulating investment and consumption.

7. The Ministry of Science and Technology should take the lead and coordinate with relevant ministries and sectors to build national programs on technological innovation, applying and developing advanced technology in production and business sectors to improve product quality and competitiveness.

8. The Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs must consider promoting exports as one of the main tasks in 2009 to contribute to the Government's policy; strengthen trade promotion activities, expand export markets to regions less affected by the financial crisis and economic recession, focusing on sector-specific and large-scale export contracts. Increase high-level contacts to expand markets and trading relations, mobilize through official and unofficial channels to proactively respond to trade protection policies, remove tax and non-tax barriers to increase exports. Ministries and localities should actively implement appropriate measures to promote trade, encourage domestic consumption, supplement and support funding for export promotion and market exploitation.

9. Utilize advantages from Free Trade Agreements (FTA) to boost exports, reduce trade deficits in markets with high import surpluses; promote early signing of the Vietnam-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement, ASEAN FTAs with Australia, New Zealand, and India. At the same time, advance preparations for negotiating FTAs with other important economic partners.

10. The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall direct the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group and the Vietnam Coal and Mineral Industries Group to flexibly adjust business operations; strictly control trading activities; conduct bidding to ensure the export of crude oil, coal, and other minerals at the most effective export prices; coordinate with relevant ministries and localities to flexibly manage cross-border trade activities in a way that encourages exports and controls imports; balance imported raw material sources and implement policies to encourage processing to increase export turnover in industries that heavily rely on domestic labor and materials; support enterprises exporting through bonded warehouse delivery methods.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Chairpersons of People's Committees of provinces and cities shall strengthen directives to combat smuggling across borders.

11. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall take the lead in researching and proposing policies to support post-harvest technology investment for agricultural, forestry, fishery, and seafood products, especially drying systems for the Summer-Autumn crop annually, storage facilities for commercial rice in the Mekong Delta region, and processing technologies... to help farmers reduce losses and effectively market agricultural products. Support the construction of farmer marketing centers in provinces with large-scale agricultural production, including service supply bases for agricultural production and quality inspection centers for exported aquatic products in concentrated production areas.

12. The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall submit to the Prime Minister for approval the Project to Boost Exports and Control Import Surpluses during the 2009-2010 period in January 2009, focusing on measures to enhance the competitiveness of exports (in terms of business environment, enterprise competitiveness, and product group competitiveness); continue implementing import substitution policies by promoting supporting industries, manufacturing industries, and petrochemicals to utilize domestic resources, technology, materials, and equipment that meet standards, reducing import surpluses.

13. The Minister of Industry and Trade and the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development shall review each sector and commodity category specifically, report and propose to the Prime Minister in December 2008 specific measures needed to address difficulties and support production and business development for major commodities.

14. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism shall take the lead and coordinate with related agencies and localities to review and resolve issues to accelerate the implementation of key national tourism projects; submit to the Prime Minister in December 2008 the Regulation Supporting the National Tourism Promotion Program and funding for tourism promotion in 2009; improve the effectiveness and intensify tourism promotion and publicity on international television channels, while closely combining with trade and investment promotion to expand the scope and content of tourism promotion.

15. The Ministry of Transport shall plan to upgrade airports in locations with national tourist attractions, and implement measures to increase flights to attract tourists from high-potential markets for tourism spending; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Public Security to submit to the Government for consideration the exemption of visa requirements for tourists from potential markets.

The tourism industry must pay more attention to improving the quality of tourism services to international standards, while also developing programs and products with distinct Vietnamese characteristics to increase the return visit rate of tourists to Vietnam.

II. IMPLEMENTATION OF MEASURES TO STIMULATE INVESTMENT AND CONSUMPTION

1. Regarding stimulating investment:

In conjunction with continuing to address difficulties, creating conditions, and encouraging all economic sectors to directly invest in production and business development, it is necessary to focus on implementing the following urgent measures:

a) The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Construction and related agencies to review all current laws and regulations on investment and construction, immediately amend those that affect project implementation schedules; urgently draft the Law Amending and Supplementing Laws on Investment and Construction to be submitted to the National Assembly for approval at its fifth session of the twelfth term.

b) For projects and works funded by state budget: allow continued disbursement of remaining funds from 2008 until June 2009. For important and urgent projects and works without allocated funds, including resettlement projects for economic zones, ministries, sectors, and localities shall instruct investors to promptly complete investment procedures and proactively work with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance to handle funding, including temporarily borrowing from the state budget to proceed.

c) Temporarily suspend recovery of state budget funds advanced beyond the 2009 plan, except for amounts temporarily borrowed in 2009 to be completed in 2008. Assign the Ministry of Planning and Investment to take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Finance and related agencies to submit to the Prime Minister in December 2008 a list of projects and the amount of funds to be suspended from recovery.

d) For projects and works funded by government bonds, allow adjustment of total investment amounts for projects already included in the list approved by the Standing Committee of the National Assembly and the Prime Minister; based on this, implement capital reallocation among projects and works and payment according to progress. At the same time, allow continued disbursement of remaining government bond funds from 2008 in 2009.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Finance and relevant agencies to complete the plan for allocating government bond capital for the year 2009 before December 31, 2008, prioritizing projects listed in Decision No. 171/QĐ-TTg dated July 24, 2006 of the Prime Minister; supplementing urgent projects in areas such as transportation, water resources, healthcare, and education for implementation.

Advance approximately VND 15,000 billion from the source of government bonds to invest in building, renovating, upgrading the irrigation system, repairing dike systems; enhancing irrigation capacity and flood and storm prevention in the Red River Delta region. Assign the Ministry of Planning and Investment to take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Finance to submit to the Prime Minister in December 2008 the list and amount of advance funding for each specific project.

d) The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall take the lead in formulating specific measures to continue attracting and accelerating the disbursement of foreign direct investment (FDI) and official development assistance (ODA) funds, particularly projects for infrastructure construction, high-tech production projects with significant export value, and projects that create many jobs; striving to ensure that the disbursement of these funds in 2009 does not fall below the level achieved in 2008.

e) Assign the Ministry of Planning and Investment, acting on behalf of the Prime Minister, to report to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly in December 2008 to seek approval for issuing investment decisions for tendered projects with a maximum capital of up to VND 500 million/project in mountainous areas, remote regions, and border areas, while bearing responsibility for their decisions in accordance with the law.

g) Enterprises of all economic components participating in large-scale projects shall be provided with the utmost favorable conditions regarding land, access to capital, land clearance, interest rates, etc.

Economic groups and state-owned enterprises shall proactively participate in important infrastructure projects such as seaports, electricity, expressways, irrigation, schools, medical facilities, etc., to contribute to accelerating the progress and implementation schedule of economic and social infrastructure construction.

h) In December 2008, the Ministry of Construction shall submit to the Government the proposal for establishing a social housing fund for the period 2009-2015, and the Ministry of Planning and Investment shall submit to the Government appropriate mechanisms to ensure incentives for constructing worker housing in industrial zones.

2. On stimulating consumption:

a) Continue managing prices according to market mechanisms for goods such as electricity, coal, clean water, bus transport fares, etc. By January 2009, the Ministry of Finance shall take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and related agencies to report to the Prime Minister the detailed implementation roadmap.

b) The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall take the lead and coordinate with relevant ministries and sectors to submit to the Prime Minister the proposal for developing distribution systems for essential goods, focusing on items such as foodstuffs, oil products, fertilizers, steel, cement, and medicines, to ensure that the production and business activities of these goods are under state management, prevent commercial fraud, speculation, price hikes, and market instability, and protect consumer rights.

c) Ministries: Industry and Trade, Finance, Health, Science and Technology shall strengthen market management measures, price control, product quality, and food safety; strictly handle violations according to current laws, especially illegal business operations, tax evasion, monopoly agreements aimed at manipulating markets and prices.

d) Encourage enterprises to organize sales promotions to stimulate consumption, initially during the Tet holiday in 2009.

III. FINANCIAL AND MONETARY POLICIES

1. On financial policies:

a) Reduce corporate income tax payable by small and medium-sized enterprises for the fourth quarter of 2008 and the year 2009 by 30% for income derived from production and business activities.

b) Extend the payment deadline for corporate income tax by nine months for the remaining 70% of the tax payable in 2009 by the aforementioned small and medium-sized enterprises (after reduction) and for enterprises engaged in production, processing, and manufacturing of agricultural, forestry, aquatic, textile, footwear, and electronic component products.

c) Temporarily refund 90% of input VAT on exported goods when enterprises have not yet obtained bank payment vouchers, and refund the remaining 10% upon receipt of payment vouchers. The Ministry of Finance shall guide the refund procedures to ensure strict compliance and correct targeting.

d) Adjust export tax rates for certain types of natural resources and minerals and propose to the Government to amend resource taxes in a manner that restricts exports and ensures domestic raw material supply for production.

đ) Adjust and reduce import tax rates for certain groups of goods that are inputs for production which are not domestically produced or are insufficiently supplied domestically, to facilitate cost reduction and enhance competitiveness for enterprises. Increase taxes within the framework of World Trade Organization commitments to promote domestic production, and curb trade deficits.

e) Extend the grace period for tax payment deadlines for certain industries consistent with production and consumption cycles (shipbuilding, mechanical manufacturing, etc.). Effectively implement the policy of extending the deadline for paying import duties (275 days) for imported materials used in producing export goods.

g) Simplify customs procedures, shorten the time for customs clearance of goods, and streamline refund and settlement procedures for imported materials used in producing and processing export goods.

h) Clearly define and appropriately set the ratio of waste and by-products obtained during the importation of raw materials for producing export goods that are exempt from import duties.

i) By December 2008, the Minister of Finance, acting on behalf of the Prime Minister, shall submit to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly on the implementation of the Law on Personal Income Tax in a way that supports difficulties faced by certain taxpayers.

Assign the Ministry of Finance to guide the implementation of the above contents.

2. On monetary policies:

a) Implement specific measures to facilitate increased access to credit for businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises; export-oriented production and business enterprises; and businesses facing difficulties in product sales, such as continuing to review and adjust mandatory reserve requirements for credit institutions; adjusting basic interest rates appropriately to support production and business activities.

b) Study and guide credit institutions to implement lending at agreed-upon interest rates as stipulated in Resolution No. 23/2008/QH12 dated November 6, 2008 of the National Assembly on the socio-economic development plan for 2009 in the first quarter of 2009.

c) Commercial banks shall restructure debt terms and apply appropriate loan recovery measures in accordance with the law for households of farmers affected by natural disasters and businesses facing difficulties in product sales.

d) Flexibly and effectively manage monetary policy; flexibly adjust foreign exchange rates based on market signals, encourage exports, control imports, stabilize macroeconomic conditions, and strive to manage the balance of payments in a way that avoids deficits.

đ) The State Bank of Vietnam shall direct commercial banks to consider adjusting loan interest rates for credit contracts to match current interest rates; refrain from imposing penalties for overdue payments on small and medium-sized enterprises experiencing difficulties.

Direct the State Bank of Vietnam to provide guidance on implementing the above contents.

e) Direct the Vietnam Development Bank to undertake the task of providing credit guarantees for small and medium-sized enterprises to better assist these enterprises in accessing loan capital for production and business development, creating new jobs. The Ministry of Finance shall take the lead, in coordination with the State Bank of Vietnam, to provide guidance on immediate implementation in December 2008.

IV. SOCIAL SECURITY

1. The Ministry of Finance shall take the lead, in collaboration with relevant agencies and localities affected by floods, to immediately implement measures to support food supplies, repair costs for housing, disease prevention, seed and livestock support, ensuring that there is no starvation among the people and quickly restoring production after floods.

2. The Ministries of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, Planning and Investment, Finance, Agriculture and Rural Development, and the Committee for Ethnic Minorities shall urgently review and develop policies to be implemented from the beginning of 2009 to support investment aimed at rapidly reducing poverty in 61 poor districts; guide localities in investigating, surveying, and summarizing the implementation of current poverty standards; and policies currently applied to poor households and near-poor households to balance resources for support and propose adjustments to poverty standards.

3. Implement measures to promote the construction of houses for the poor, policy beneficiaries, housing for workers in concentrated industrial zones, and housing for students; support income for policy beneficiaries, low-income workers, and those affected by natural disasters such as typhoons and floods. Direct localities to organize monitoring and coordinate promptly between parties to resolve labor disputes in industrial zones, especially during the Tet holiday period.

4. Organize the implementation of unemployment insurance according to the provisions of the Social Insurance Law.

5. Increase national reserves of rice (approximately over 150,000 tons of milled rice) to proactively provide relief to people in flood-affected areas, preventing shortages of food in disaster-stricken regions.

6. Continue to provide hardship allowances to state employees with difficult living conditions and low incomes.

7. Strengthen the implementation of poverty reduction programs, allocate sufficient funds for credit programs targeting poor households, poor students, and other policy beneficiaries through the operations of the Social Policy Bank, and support land for production, residential land, housing, and clean water for poor ethnic minority households with difficult living conditions as per Decision No. 134/2004/QĐ-TTg dated July 20, 2004 of the Prime Minister.

8. Ministries, sectors, and localities shall mobilize social resources and increase the budget to vigorously develop vocational training for rural workers, particularly those from poor households, contributing to promoting production and business activities, creating employment, increasing income, and reducing poverty.

V. IMPLEMENTATION

The global economic downturn is highly unpredictable. The domestic economy is declining, and 2009 will be more challenging than 2008. Implementation measures must be carried out decisively, flexibly, and promptly, adapting to new circumstances. Specifically:

1. The tasks are very heavy and challenging, but the opportunities, advantages, and potential for development of the country remain large and fundamental. The Government requests ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-affiliated agencies, chairpersons of provincial and municipal people's committees, and leaders of state-owned enterprises, especially state-owned corporations and holding companies, to implement the policies, tasks, and solutions outlined in this Resolution based on their assigned functions and responsibilities.

Strictly emphasize the responsibility of each organization, primarily the responsibility of the head, in accordance with their assigned functions and responsibilities. In the implementation process, practical action programs must be established, management directives must focus on key points and critical stages in each period and field, concentrating efforts and coordinating actions to achieve concrete results.

2. Ministries, central agencies, and local People's Committees must pay special attention and improve their work on economic forecasting and analysis. First, they must appropriately value, organize tightly, and effectively utilize existing research forces; at the same time, appropriate mechanisms should be established to seek the opinions of experts to promptly grasp developments in the situation, timely supplement and adjust policies and solutions to suit actual conditions.

3. With the upcoming Year of the Ox Tet holiday, ministries, sectors, and local People's Committees should proactively implement programs, plans, and measures to stabilize the market and prices during the Lunar New Year; proactively prepare plans to ensure sufficient supply and balance with demand; take effective measures to combat smuggling, commercial fraud, tax evasion; resolutely prevent acts of trading and using firecrackers during the Tet holiday.

4. Ministries, sectors, and localities should focus on implementing regulations on information, proactively provide information, and closely coordinate with news agencies and press organizations to ensure transparency and openness of information regarding socio-economic situations and central and local guidance and management measures, meeting the information needs of citizens and businesses, thereby consolidating trust, willpower, and a high sense of responsibility in the face of national difficulties to create consensus and comprehensive strength of the entire political system, fully utilizing all potential and advantages to achieve set goals and solutions to overcome difficulties and ensure stable economic development.

The Ministry of Information and Communications continues to direct information dissemination agencies to report accurately, reflect comprehensively and promptly the socio-economic situation of the country, support Party and State policies, avoid disseminating unfavorable, false, and inflammatory information that causes public anxiety; strictly handle violations in the field of information and communication. Timely measures should be taken and effective struggles conducted against false rumors that cause social panic.

5. Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-affiliated agencies, and leaders of related units and organizations must proactively organize the implementation of this Resolution's provisions immediately after its issuance by the Government and bear responsibility before the Government and Prime Minister for the implementation of policies, tasks, and solutions outlined in this Resolution; simultaneously, report to the Prime Minister on the results of implementation, concurrently sending to the Ministry of Planning and Investment for consolidation and reporting at the monthly regular meetings of the Government./.