Resolution No. 36/2004/QH11 on state capital investment construction work

RESOLUTION

On the work of basic construction investment using state capital

________________

OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

Pursuant to Article 84 of the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 1992 as amended and supplemented by Resolution No. 51/2001/QH10 dated December 25, 2001 of the 10th National Assembly, 10th session;

Pursuant to the Law on the Supervisory Activities of the National Assembly;

Based on the consideration of Report No. 1601/CP-KTTH dated October 26, 2004 of the Government, Report No. 273/UBTVQH11 dated October 20, 2004 of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly on the results of supervision "The implementation of planning and investment plans by industry and territorial regions throughout the country, the results of addressing scattered investment, the situation of arrears in basic construction investment, low efficiency, and prevention of waste in basic construction investment" and the opinions of the National Assembly deputies.

RESOLVES

1. The National Assembly basically agrees with the assessments of achievements, limitations, weaknesses, causes, collective and individual responsibilities, and main solutions to improve efficiency, strengthen discipline, and restore order in the activities of basic construction investment using state capital as stated in the Government's report and the Standing Committee of the National Assembly's report on the results of supervision; while emphasizing the following issues:

In recent years, the state development investment capital, both specifically and generally for the whole society, has continuously increased, higher each year than the previous year, contributing significantly to the restructuring of the economic structure towards industrialization and modernization, developing socio-economic infrastructure, greatly increasing new production capacity, promoting economic growth, reducing poverty, creating new jobs, improving and enhancing the material and spiritual life of the people. State capital for basic construction investment truly plays a leading role, guiding, attracting, and making social capital for development investment increase annually.

State management of basic construction investment in recent years has made some progress such as: the legal framework for managing basic construction investment has been gradually supplemented and perfected; the Government's guidance, control, inspection, and audit have been strengthened; the supervision of representative bodies, public opinion, and the people over basic construction investment activities has initially shown effectiveness in identifying weaknesses and negative phenomena in management, contributing to gradually limiting and rectifying violations of laws in this field.

However, state management of basic construction investment capital generally and state capital specifically still has many pressing issues: investment planning is not synchronized, quality is not high; sectoral planning is not closely linked with regions and localities; some investment policy decisions lack accuracy; scattered investment occurs widely; losses and wastage occur in many sectors and fields, at all stages of the investment process, from investment policy, planning, project preparation, review, survey, design to implementation, bidding, acceptance, adjustment of budget estimates, settlement, and putting projects into operation; arrears in basic construction investment capital remain high and tend to increase; investment efficiency is low.

Among the reasons mentioned in the Government's report and the Standing Committee of the National Assembly's report, it is necessary to be frank and deeply understand the important and direct reasons are: (1) The enforcement of laws in basic construction investment is not strict; not a few managers and executives lack responsibility, have weak moral qualities, and abuse their positions and duties for personal gain and corruption; (2) Some sectors and localities do not attach sufficient importance to planning and investment programs, lack caution in deciding investment policies, do not strictly follow approved planning and programs, and make unauthorized changes and supplements; (3) The division of labor, decentralization, and coordination in state management of basic construction investment are unclear and do not emphasize the responsibilities of each ministry, sector, and locality, especially individual responsibility; (4) Inspection, auditing, and supervision are not regular, cover a very narrow scope, are not thorough, and have many limitations in quality; (5) Handling of organizational and individual violations is not strict, not thorough, and prolonged after inspections and audits; (6) Current legal documents on basic construction investment are not specific enough and lack strong sanctions.

2. The National Assembly requests the Government to firmly direct and apply effective measures to restore order and discipline in basic construction investment, focusing on the following issues:

a) Specify the procedures and sanctions for inspection, supervision, and monitoring of state capital for basic construction investment at each stage of the investment process; issue principles, criteria, and allocation standards for construction investment capital; standards for investment budget preparation and criteria for evaluating investment efficiency for each project and sector. Implement transparency and clarity in legal regulations; projects and works, from investment policy, project review and approval, survey, design, bidding to acceptance, settlement; disclose the results of inspections and audits and the handling results through inspections and audits.

b) Establish mechanisms to enhance individual responsibility and handle individual responsibility at each stage of investment, particularly the responsibility of those who decide on planning and investment projects; clearly identify violations, define responsibilities, and handle strictly and thoroughly with administrative, criminal measures, and compensation for material damage; address the situation where only collective responsibility is acknowledged, shortcomings and weaknesses are vaguely recognized as in the past; resolutely remove from the civil service apparatus officials and civil servants with poor qualities, lacking a sense of responsibility, causing inconvenience, corruption, and weak professional skills in basic construction management.

c) Review, adjust, supplement, or develop new planning and investment plans. Link planning with strategic economic and social development goals, structural economic transformation, ensuring inter-sectoral and inter-regional coordination. Clearly define the authority and responsibilities of each Ministry, between Ministries, between Ministries and provinces, cities; clearly determine and enhance the management and operational responsibility of the Minister for the entire sector, and of the project investor. Timely prevent and strictly handle cases of non-compliance with legal regulations, decisions of competent authorities, and superiors. Develop specific implementation schedules for models and mechanisms to eliminate closed management in basic construction investment.

d) Conduct a comprehensive review and assessment of the current legal system on basic construction investment to promptly amend, supplement, and issue new regulations, forming a more coherent and legally robust system.

đ) In 2005, the Government will continue to plan and direct inspections and audits of projects and works that have shown negative signs, as reflected by voters and public opinion.

e) From now until the end of 2006, develop specific plans and strong measures to resolve outstanding capital construction debts, reporting annual results to the National Assembly.

3. The National Assembly requires judicial agencies, within their functions, to develop specific plans and rigorously implement tasks to timely prevent, detect, and strictly handle organizations and individuals violating laws on basic construction investment, regardless of the organization's identity or individual's status.

4. Designate 2005 as the year "Enhancing Investment Efficiency, Combating Waste, Scattered Investments, and Outstanding Capital Construction Debts." In this spirit, the Government needs to focus on directing significant changes in this area and report the results at the National Assembly session at the end of 2005.

5. Entrust the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, the Ethnic Council, the various Committees of the National Assembly, and the Delegation of National Assembly Members to continue organizing in-depth supervision over basic construction investment and the implementation of this Resolution.

People's Councils at all levels organize supervision over basic construction investment and the implementation of this Resolution in their respective localities.

6. The Vietnam Fatherland Front, member organizations, professional associations, and media outlets, within their duties and powers, cooperate with relevant state agencies to supervise the implementation of this Resolution, promptly identify and recommend handling of negative and weak aspects in basic construction investment.

7. Encourage, reward, and promptly motivate, while providing protection under the law, organizations and individuals who contribute to detecting and actively combating corruption, waste, and inefficiency in basic construction investment.

All sectors, levels, organizations, and individuals, according to their functions and responsibilities, must take high responsibility before the State and the people, strictly and effectively implement this Resolution, contributing practically to combating waste, loss, and corruption in the use of state funds and assets.

This Resolution was adopted by the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the eleventh session, sixth meeting, on December 3, 2004./.