Party official: Vietnam expects more assistance from IMF

Chairman of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee’s Commission for Economic Affairs Nguyen Van Binh (R) and division chief in the IMF’s Asia and Pacific Department Alex Mourmouras 

Vietnam expects that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will continue cooperating closely with the country and provide it with more assistance, training and policy consultancy, said a senior Party official.

Nguyen Van Binh, Politburo member and Chairman of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee’s Commission for Economic Affairs, expressed the wish during a reception in Hanoi on December 13 for an IMF delegation led by Alex Mourmouras, who is division chief in the IMF’s Asia and Pacific Department where he has served as mission chief for Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia. 

While acknowledging the outcomes of earlier working sessions between the IMF delegation and relevant ministries and agencies of Vietnam, Binh spoke highly of the effective and practical cooperation between Vietnam and the IMF in the recent past, especially in banking-finance policy consultancy.

Having applauded the delegation’s assessment of Vietnam’s economic situation, he said Vietnam will continue to prioritise stabilising macro-economy, curbing inflation, enhancing the economy’s productivity, quality, effectiveness, self-reliance and competitiveness, improving the investment-business environment, boosting economic growth and restructuring the economy in combination with renovating its growth model.

Mourmouras highly evaluated Vietnam’s impressive growth in 2018 and congratulated the country on successfully maintaining macro-economic stability, controlling inflation, stabilising the exchange rate and bettering the business environment.

Exchanging views on impacts from global trade disputes and the world’s economic prospects, the IMF official commended the Vietnamese Party and State’s policy on stabilising macro-economy and renewing growth model, especially the nation’s priorities and socio-economic targets for the coming time.

The IMF will continue to cooperate with and assist Vietnam in the development process, he affirmed.

Da Nang should grow stronger, faster: Party chief

At the working session between the Politburo and the Party Committee of Da Nang 

Party General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong said the central coastal city of Da Nang should develop stronger and faster in the national industrialisation and modernisation period, while working with the municipal Party Committee on December 13.

The leader stated that 15 years ago, the ninth tenure Politburo realised the important role and position of Da Nang and issued Resolution No.33-NQ/TW in order to create favourable conditions and momentum for the city’s development.

After 10 years of implementation, the Politburo continued to issue Conclusion No.75, giving Da Nang instructions to carry out the resolution, he noted.

He recognised that over time, Da Nang has developed strongly, rapidly and on the right track, especially in terms of economic, urban, and tourism infrastructure; rural building; competition; and the human development index.

During 2003-2018, Da Nang recorded an annual average GDP growth of 10 percent, up 4.2 times against 2003.

Da Nang is a prime example of a dynamic and creative city which knows to promote its strengths, the leader said, noting that during the process of building and development, the city has focused on harmonising its economy with culture, society, and defence-security.

However, Da Nang has yet to fully tap its favourable geo-political and economic conditions and promote its pivotal role in the Central-Central Highland regions to develop sea-based and forest-based strengths, he said, adding that he hopes the city’s development will accelerate in the time ahead.

To do so, Da Nang should pay more attention to the long-term planning work to make full use of its advantages and potential, as well as improving land use and management, the leader suggested.

Besides building on socio-economic achievements, Da Nang needs to concentrate more on building its party and political system.

He also noted that Da Nang has strengths in developing high technology, tourism, and trade services. Therefore, it should strive to become a cultural, economic, social, and tourism hub of the Central-Central Highland regions.

The implementation of policies to attract resources, especially human resources, is important to meet development requirements, the leader said.

Da Nang also plays a crucial role in the East Sea issue as it is home to many seaports, he said, asking the city to ensure defence-security work is maintained.

At the working session, the Politburo agreed to issue a new resolution on building and developing Da Nang which is based on the previous resolution but matches the requirements of a more modern context. 

Vietnam to attend Mekong-Lancang Foreign Ministerial Meeting in Laos

Deputy PM, FM Pham Binh Minh will attend the 4th Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on Mekong-Lancang Cooperation (MLC) and pay an official visit to Laos from December 16-19 at the invitation of Lao FM Saleumxay Kommasith.

During his stay in Laos, Deputy PM, FM Minh will also co-chair the 5th annual foreign ministerial consultation, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

More attention should be paid to emerging social issues: Deputy PM

Elderly people in Nam Hồng Commune, Nam Trực District, the northern province of Nam Định receive free medical health check and medicine under a voluntary programme launched by youth unions of the district and the province’s police. 

Deputy Prime Minister Vũ Đức Đam has called on ministries and agencies to pay more attention to emerging social issues to have timely support measures.

Speaking at a meeting held in Hà Nội on Thursday to review the implementation of Government Resolution 70/NQ-CP on social policies this year, Deputy PM Đam who is the head of the national steering committee overseeing the implementation of the resolution, noted the rich-poor gap in Việt Nam has become wider while new vulnerable groups have appeared, such as the increase of the number of people suffering from emotional disorders, depression or autism.

Without timely and appropriate measures, these social issues would leave serious consequences, he said.

As many programmes failed to fulfill targets due to limited resources, Đam asked ministries, agencies and localities to build clear and detailed plans to implement the resolution more effectively.

He asked the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs to review the implementation of social policies and define direct and indirect supporting policies for the people.

He urged the Việt Nam Fatherland Front Committee to continue mobilising resources from society for social security programmes and supervise social policies to ensure they are implemented effectively, equally and transparently.

At the meeting, Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Lê Quân said that Resolution 70, issued in 2012, assigned main tasks to ministries, agencies, localities, organisations and individuals, focusing on developing an effective scheme for the search and collection of martyrs’ remains, diversifying forms of social insurance, working on amendments and supplements to supporting policies for households living near the poverty line and social security policies for all citizens.

Quân reported that about 1.3 million revolutionary contributors received monthly aid from the State this year. The Government provided monthly aid and free healthcare insurance cards to 2.8 million people.

The number of social insurance participants increased by 14.6 million people, meaning 26.55 per cent of Việt Nam’s labour forces has joined the social insurance scheme.

The country’s unemployment rate dropped to 2.2 per cent, while the National Fund for Employment helped to create 160,000 jobs this year.

The national average poverty rate in 2018 dropped to 5.35 per cent, 1.35 percentage points lower than that of last year.

However, many participants said localities varied in their implementation of the resolution. In many areas, the living conditions of revolutionary contributors, poor people and ethnic minority people still faced many difficulties.

They also mentioned poor co-operation among ministries, agencies and localities, reducing the efficiency of the resolution. Overlapping documents guiding social policies was also a problem. 

Transport minister urges Mekong Delta to make infrastructure cohesive

Cổ Chiên Bridge that links Bến Tre and Trà Vinh provinces in the Mekong Delta.

The Mekong Delta should strengthen links between the transport infrastructure in its 12 provinces and Cần Thơ City to further foster development, Minister of Transport Nguyễn Văn Thể has said.

Speaking at a seminar held in Sóc Trăng Province on Thursday, he said the delta should exploit its marine and inland waterway advantages to develop transportation since funding is limited.

In 2018-20, his ministry would build roads and other transport infrastructure to improve intra-regional links and ease congestion on roads, he said.

They include construction of the Mỹ Thuận-Cần Thơ Expressway and Road No 2 linking Long An, Đồng Tháp and Kiên Giang provinces; an upgrade to National Highway No 60 section between the Rạch Miễu to Cổ Chiên bridges, the Chợ Gạo Canal No 2, and the Cần Thơ international airport; and construction of Trần Đề Port.

At the seminar, the ministry presented details of the port to gather opinions before submitting it to the Prime Minister by the end of this year.

The 5,000ha port in Sóc Trăng Province’s Trần Đề District, which would help the delta directly export and import goods when it is built, is designed to berth container vessels weighing up to 100,000 tonnes.

It will cost VNĐ40 trillion (US$1.7 billion), which will come from private investors.

“If the delta can have a deep-water seaport, its economy will achieve a breakthrough in development,” Thể said.

The region has great potential and many advantages but its income per capita is low and is developing slower than other parts of the country, he said.

Sóc Trăng Province is the most favourable location for the construction of the deep-water port because it is near Cần Thơ City and has a road network connecting it with the delta’s other provinces.

Nguyễn Văn Tuấn, vice chairman of the Hậu Giang Province People’s Committee, said the construction of the port is essential and would serve the entire delta.

The delta, the country’s largest producer of rice, fruits and seafood, has four means of transport – roads, inland waterways, sea and air.

Waterways carry 70 per cent of the goods transported and roads account for the remaining 30 per cent, according to the ministry.

Some 131.7 million tonnes of goods were transported in the delta last year after growing at 6.2 per cent a year in the 2010-17 period.

Participants at the seminar agreed to solicit investment in Trần Đề Port.  

The delta has seven seaports but they only handle 20-25 per cent of the goods transported by sea since none of them can handle vessels of more than 20,000DWT.

Cái Cui Seaport in Cần Thơ, the largest, can accommodate vessels weighing more than 20,000DWT but such vessels have no access to it because of the limited capacity of the Hậu River passage leading to it.

As a result, much of the delta’s foreign trade has to be conducted through seaports in the south-eastern region, according to Lê Đỗ Mười, deputy head of the ministry’s Transport Strategy and Development Institute.

The delta provinces and Cần Thơ City petitioned the ministry to continue investing in certain roads in the region like the National Highway No 54 section in Vĩnh Long Province and the National Highway No 91 section in Cần Thơ.

They also urged it to complete on schedule major transport works like the Vàm Cống Bridge, the Trung Lương-Mỹ Thuận and Mỹ Thuận-Cần Thơ expressways, the Rạch Miễu Bridge No 2, and the Mỹ Thuận Bridge No 2.

The delta has a population of around 19 million. 

Deputy PM asks for sufficient coal supply for electricity generation

Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung asked for sufficient electricity for development and daily life by any means when chairing a conference on coal supply for power production in Hanoi on December 12.

Dung witnessed the signing of a contract on long-term coal supply for power generation at Thai Binh Thermo-power Plant between the Vietnam National Coal, Mineral Industries Holding Corporation Limited (Vinacomin) and the Vietnam Electricity (EVN).

On behalf of the Government, the Deputy PM appreciated efforts made by the two corporations to take the initiative in seeking long-term cooperation to ensure enough electricity to serve people’s demand and production development.

He noted that in Vietnam, hydro-power and thermo-power are the two main sources of electricity, with hydro-power meeting only 30 percent of demand.

Therefore, the demand for thermo-power, especially thermo-power using coal, remains huge, Dung stated, stressing the need to develop thermal power with modern and environmentally-friendly technologies.

To provide enough coal for thermal power plants, the Deputy PM urged the Ministry of Industry and Trade to soon approve a plan on coal supply for coal-fired thermal power plants, and map out a master plan on the demand for coal.

The ministry was also requested to work with the Ministry of Science and Technology and EVN to consider the use of coal blended between domestic and imported coal.

Dung also urged Vinacomin and Dong Bac Corporation to soon sign contracts with EVN and other coal consuming partners on coal trading for 2019.

According to EVN statistics, total electricity output will reach 232.5 billion kWh in 2019, half of which will be generated by coal-fired thermal power plants.

Measures sought to raise efficiency of competitiveness improvement

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam chaired a meeting on December 12 in Hanoi to review five years of implementing Resolution 19 regarding the enhancement of the business environment and national competitiveness, as well as measures to boost its efficiency in 2019.

He said that next year, the resolution will focus on four major tasks, including simplifying regulations related to business conditions, reforming professional management and examination and fostering links with the national public service portal.

The resolution also aims to promote e-payment and online public services, and form an eco-system for innovation, said the Deputy PM, who is also head of the National Council on sustainable development and competitiveness improvement.

He stressed the need for ministries and sectors to clarify their guidelines to localities.

“It is necessary to increase the responsibility and activeness of ministries and sectors in implementing the resolution,” he underlined.

Dr. Nguyen Dinh Cung, head of the Central Institute for Economic Management, said that in recent years, especially since 2016, there have been many indications that the business environment and competitiveness have improved.

He attributed the results to the direction of the Government and the Prime Minister, as well as heads of ministries and localities.

Cung noted that in 2018, half of business conditions have been cut, while the ratio of goods subjected to professional examination has also been reduced to 19.4 percent.

Many delegates said the resolution has been supported by the business community.

However, they said that in the future, it is necessary to improve matters related to the taxes.

Deputy Minister of Health Truong Quoc Cuong stressed the need for local departments to give more advice on how to improve localities’ indexes on business and environment and competitiveness.

Meanwhile, Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Dao Minh Tu said e-payment and the provision of online public services at level four should be promoted, explaining it will contribute to fighting corruption and strengthening openness and transparency as well as reducing time and cost for businesses and people.

Union asked to foster connection between Party, State and farmers

Party General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong addresses the seventh congress of the Vietnam Farmers’ Union 

Party General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong on December 12 requested the Vietnam Farmers’ Union (VFU) to better perform its role in connecting the Party and State with farmers, protecting the legitimate rights and interests of farmers, and proposing policies for agriculture, farmer and rural development.

The leader made the request at the opening ceremony of the union’s seventh congress in Hanoi, which drew 999 delegates representing more than 10 million farmers nationwide.

He said that over the past 88 years since its founding, the VFU has grown strongly and made great contributions to the country’s revolution.

In the previous tenure, the union made a number of steps to reform its operation methods to maintain its central role in farmers’ movements and the building of new-style rural areas, he said.

The leader also pointed to a number of shortcomings by the union, including the slow innovation in its operation process as well as industrialisation and modernisation of agriculture and rural areas.

He stressed that the Party and State have defined agriculture, farmers and rural areas as strategic factors in the national industrialisation, modernisation, construction and defence, as well as an important force for socio-economic development and environmental protection.

In order to meet requirements in the new period and maintain sustainable development, it is necessary for the union to continue reforming its operation and fostering solidarity among farmers, turning them into a great revolutionary, economic, political and social force of the Party and State, the leader stated.

He also asked Party organisations, local administrations, the Vietnam Fatherland Front and political-social organisations to create favourable conditions for the union to operate effectively.

According to a report at the congress, in the 2013-2018 period, the union held 130,000 agro-forestry-fishery training courses for more than 15 million officials and farmers, while building and transferring over 14,000 models of technology application to agro-forestry-fishery production to farmers.

The union has held more than 410,000 technology training courses for nearly 25 million members, along with 62,000 production models involving nearly 6.32 million farmers.

In the next tenure, the union aims to have at least 60 percent of members accessing the Internet, and 100 percent of union’s officials receiving training on new agricultural knowledge and communication skills.

Hai Phong urged to develop strong sea-based economy

Party General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong (standing) speaks at the meeting 

Party General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong asked the northern port city of Hai Phong to develop a strong sea-based economy during a meeting between the Politburo and the municipal Party Committee in Hanoi on December 13.

The meeting focused on the implementation of Resolution No.32-NQ/TW, issued in August 2003 by the Politburo of the ninth tenure, on developing Hai Phong in line with the national industrialisation and modernisation period.

Politburo members shared the view that over the last 15 years, the city’s Party organisation, administration, and people have made efforts to develop sustainably with great strength.

Local economic growth has been relatively fast, at around 1.68 times higher than the national average. In 2017, the size of the economy expanded 4.27 times the 2003 figure; while per capita GDP reached 3,964 USD, 1.54 times more than the national average and rising 5.43 times from the 2003 GDP.

Breakthroughs have been recorded in the industrial sector as many industrial parks and major projects, such as those of Nomura or Vinfast, have appeared, consolidating Hai Phong’s role as one of Vietnam’s key industrial hubs. Nearly 488 trillion VND (21 billion USD) of investment capital was poured into the city by big Vietnamese and foreign businesses between 2003 and 2017, rising 16.6 percent annually.

Hai Phong has established itself as a gateway to the sea for the nation’s northern localities. The seaport system has been modernised, while transport infrastructure has also enjoyed a considerable facelift.

Meanwhile, local agriculture and rural areas have been geared towards industrialisation and modernisation. Eighty-nine of the 139 communes, or 64 percent, have met the 19 new-style rural area standards so far.

At the meeting, Politburo members pointed out that the current economic development has yet to match Hai Phong’s full potential. The city has not fulfilled its role as a growth engine for the Hai Phong-Hanoi-Quang Ninh economic triangle. Its connectivity in socio-economic development with other regional localities is also still weak.

Party General Secretary and President Trong emphasised that Hai Phong is one of the cities holding critical importance in terms of politics, economy, culture, society, security-defence, and external relations.

He shared other Politburo member’s view that the implementation of Resolution No.32-NQ/TW over the last 15 years has created an important driving force for local development.

He told municipal authorities to focus on developing the sea-based economy, marine and logistics services, industry, high-tech agriculture, culture, and science-technology, while also ensuring defence-security is maintained.

The city should do more to bring into play its role as the centre of the northern lowland region, Trong noted.

The leader also asked Hai Phong to pay attention to Party building, carry out the Party Central Committee’s resolution on streamlining the political apparatus, and step up its fight against corruption and wastefulness.