Resolution No. 50/NQ-CP of the Government's regular monthly session in September 2009

RESOLUTION

REGULAR MEETING OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS IN SEPTEMBER 2009

On September 30 and October 1, 2009, the Council of Ministers convened its regular meeting for September 2009 to discuss and adopt the following issues:

1. The Council of Ministers discussed and adopted the reports on: Measures to direct and combat Typhoon No. 9 and subsequent recovery efforts; Economic and social situation in September and the first nine months of 2009, forecast of the global and domestic economic situation in the near future; Evaluation of the implementation and effectiveness of the economic stimulus packages currently being implemented and proposals for further support measures; Evaluation of the results of government policies supporting the poor and difficult areas; Implementation of Vietnam's commitments and agreements in international economic relations in the first nine months of 2009; Inspection work, handling complaints and denunciations, and anti-corruption efforts in September 2009; Administrative reform work in September 2009; Drafting and submitting legislative projects and ordinances by the Government in the third quarter of 2009; Implementation of the Resolution of the Council of Ministers' meeting in August 2009 and the program of work of the Council of Ministers in September 2009, presented by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Minister of Planning and Investment, the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Chief Inspector of the Government, the Minister of Home Affairs, the Minister of Justice, and the Chairman of the Government Office.

a) The Council of Ministers commends and highly appreciates the proactive efforts of ministries, sectors, localities, defense and police forces, and the solidarity and mutual assistance among the people in the work of preventing, combating, and recovering from the aftermath of Typhoon No. 9 in central and Central Highlands provinces.

The Council of Ministers requests ministries, sectors, localities, and armed forces to continue implementing the Prime Minister's directives, actively concentrating all resources, taking urgent measures to recover from the typhoon and flood damage, searching for missing persons, treating injured individuals, promptly arranging temporary accommodation for displaced residents; organizing visits, relief, ensuring adequate food, drinking water, clothing, medicine... supply for isolated regions' population, resolutely preventing any resident from going hungry due to lack of food.

In accordance with their assigned functions and tasks, ministries and sectors will proactively inspect and urge the prompt handling and recovery from typhoon and flood damage, restoring essential infrastructure, ensuring normal living and production conditions, maintaining environmental hygiene, preventing and controlling diseases after typhoons and floods, stabilizing people's lives and production as soon as possible.

b) Despite the economic downturn, the Party and State have paid special attention to social welfare assurance work, many poverty alleviation and difficult area support policies have been implemented comprehensively and positively, assisting people in developing production, creating favorable conditions for economic and social development, stabilizing and improving living standards in rural areas, poor regions, and difficult areas, contributing to rapid and sustainable poverty reduction. However, during the implementation process, there remain some difficulties and obstacles both in mechanisms, policies, and execution organization.

The Council of Ministers has unified guidance to continue implementing poverty alleviation and difficult area support policies that have been issued; prioritizing the allocation of state budget funds, government bonds, preferential credit for investment in developing socio-economic infrastructure in difficult areas; researching amendments, supplements, and timely guidance to resolve difficulties in implementing issued policies. Relevant ministries, sectors, and localities will continue monitoring, directing, inspecting, and supervising the implementation of programs and projects; regularly reporting promptly to ensure effective implementation of the program; conducting comprehensive evaluations of the implementation of poverty alleviation and difficult area support mechanisms and policies in recent times and proposing appropriate solutions for the new phase...

c) Regarding the economic and social situation in September and the first nine months of the year, the Council of Ministers has reached a consensus: Although directly affected by the financial crisis and global economic downturn since late 2008, the national economy did not fall into recession. The Government accurately predicted and assessed the situation, timely and flexibly proposed appropriate measures and policies to prevent economic decline, maintain economic growth, stabilize macroeconomic fundamentals, and ensure social welfare. The implementation of the economic stimulus package and social welfare assurance has yielded positive results, the economy has shown a clear trend of recovery. Economic growth rate increased in each quarter, reaching 4.56% in the first nine months; macroeconomic stability was basically maintained; consumer price index growth rate was kept at a low level; state budget revenue was satisfactory. Industrial and construction production recovered relatively quickly; agricultural, forestry, and fisheries production developed relatively stably; the service sector maintained a relatively high growth rate, achieving significant results in domestic trade and services activities. Investment capital for development increased significantly due to exploitation and mobilization from various sources. Social welfare work continued to focus on poverty reduction, job creation, education, healthcare, and social housing construction... Legislative drafting, administrative reform, complaint resolution, and anti-corruption efforts were continued and made progress. The signing and implementation of international agreements and accords contributed to creating favorable conditions and further promoting foreign relations and economic cooperation between Vietnam and other countries, consolidating peace, and enhancing Vietnam's status and reputation. Politics and society remained stable, national defense, security, and social order were maintained...

The achievements mentioned above indicate that in the remaining months of 2009, we have the ability and conditions to strive to achieve the annual economic and social development goals, reaching an economic growth target of about 5%, maintaining macroeconomic stability, and ensuring social welfare.

The achievements mentioned above indicate that in the remaining months of 2009, we have the capability and conditions to strive to fulfill the annual economic and social development tasks, achieving an economic growth target of approximately 5%, maintaining macroeconomic stability, and ensuring social welfare.

In the coming period, it is forecasted that the domestic economy will continue its recovery trend, but there will still be many difficulties and challenges: the growth rate remains at a low level; exports have significantly decreased and the possibility of improvement is slow; competition in the export market and attracting foreign investment is becoming increasingly fierce; the total means of payment and credit growth are high; the prices of raw materials and inputs are trending upwards, putting pressure on price levels, exchange rates, and the consumer price index; employment resolution continues to face many difficulties due to the impact of economic downturns; natural disasters and epidemics are developing in complex ways...

Building on the achievements from implementing measures and policies aimed at preventing economic decline, maintaining economic growth, stabilizing macroeconomic conditions, and ensuring social welfare, to ensure the successful implementation of the tasks set out in the 2009 Socio-Economic Development Plan and to continue striving for a solid economic recovery, creating a foundation for rapid and sustainable economic growth in the following years, the Government requests ministries, sectors, and localities to continue to implement resolutely the measures and policies proposed in Resolution No. 9 of the Central Committee (Xth tenure), conclusions of the Politburo, resolutions of the National Assembly, the Government, and decisions of the Prime Minister to prevent economic decline, guard against inflation, maintain macroeconomic stability, sustain economic growth, and ensure social welfare, with a focus on the following tasks:

- Continue to review and remove difficulties and obstacles, while strengthening inspection and urging to effectively implement measures to stimulate investment and consumption, promote production, business, and exports. Based on assigned functions and responsibilities, efforts should be made to fully exploit and maximize the potential and strengths of the domestic market to develop production and business; study and propose mechanisms, policies, and solutions to organize the implementation to fully exploit and utilize internal resources of the country.

- Focus on inspecting and urging to accelerate the disbursement progress of projects and programs using state budget funds, government bonds, and ODA funds in infrastructure development, agricultural development, rural development, etc., particularly emphasizing the quality assurance of these projects and programs.

- The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development must ensure adequate water supply, fertilizers, pesticides, and quality seeds and livestock breeds for farmers, proactively prevent and control the spread of diseases among crops and livestock; coordinate with the Ministry of Industry and Trade to study and propose effective rice export mechanisms to ensure food security and rice sales for farmers. The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall take the lead and coordinate with relevant agencies to propose the most efficient exploitation of large mineral resources of the country.

- The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Finance, the State Bank, and related ministries and sectors to closely monitor financial and monetary situations and major balances in the economy, adopt flexible monetary and fiscal policy measures to ensure macroeconomic stability and prevent high inflation from returning; urgently study and propose policies to further stimulate economic growth recovery aiming to achieve higher growth targets in 2010 compared to 2009 and lay the groundwork for even higher growth in subsequent years, while ensuring the maintenance of macroeconomic stability, and submit to the Government for consideration and decision at the October 2009 Government meeting.

- Ministries, sectors, and localities should continue to intensify the implementation of the project to simplify administrative procedures in various fields of state management; pay attention to inspection work, handling complaints and denunciations, and anti-corruption efforts, resolving long-standing complaints and lawsuits decisively. The Ministry of Home Affairs shall take the lead in monitoring, urging, and conducting mid-term reviews and evaluations of the pilot implementation of not organizing People's Councils at district, town, and ward levels, and report to the Prime Minister.

- Ministries, sectors, and localities should prioritize work on ensuring national defense and security, maintaining political and social stability in their areas; strengthen patrols, inspections, and strict handling of traffic violations; coordinate with the Ministry of Information and Communications to effectively carry out information dissemination and propaganda work to create social consensus.

- The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall take the lead and coordinate with relevant agencies to incorporate the opinions of Government members and attendees, supplement and complete the report on the implementation of socio-economic tasks in the first nine months of 2009 and forecasts for 2010 to be presented at the 11th Plenary Session of the Central Committee and reported at the Sixth Session of the XIIth National Assembly. Government members shall direct the preparation of draft laws assigned for presentation to the National Assembly, statements, and responses to questions at the National Assembly session.

2. The Government listens and provides comments on the adoption and explanation of the Food Safety Law Project by the Minister of Health and the Chairman of the Government Office.

The Ministry of Health is tasked to coordinate with the Ministry of Justice, the Government Office, and related agencies to incorporate the opinions of Government members, finalize the Food Safety Law Project; the Minister of Health shall represent the Government and sign the Report to the National Assembly and report before the Standing Committee of the National Assembly regarding this Law Project.

3. The Government listens and discusses the proposal regarding the contents of the Decree replacing Decree No. 58/2008/NĐ-CP of the Government guiding the implementation of the Bidding Law and the selection of construction contractors under the Construction Law.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Justice, the Government Office, and related agencies to incorporate the opinions of Government members, finalize the draft Decree replacing Decree No. 58/2008/NĐ-CP of the Government guiding the implementation of the Bidding Law and the selection of construction contractors under the Construction Law, and submit to the Prime Minister for signature and issuance in October 2009.