VietNamNet Bridge - The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) has shown its strong determination to eliminate 19,285 unnecessary and costly development plans. However, it will have to deal with provisions in 71 laws, 73 decrees and tens of thousands of legal documents issued by ministries and local authorities.

 

According to MPI, Vietnam has wasted VND8 trillion drawing up unreasonable development plans. 

The unreasonable plans, especially those of some industries and strategic products for 2011-2020, have hindered socio-economic development.

The ministry has found a surge in the number of development plans released in recent years: 12,680 new plans were drawn up for the 2011-2020 period, a figure four times higher than that for 2001-2010.

The Ministry of Construction is implementing 52 development plans, including plans on cement industry development and on ceramic materials & ashlar paving stones. 

The Ministry of Industry and Trade is drawing up 33 development plans, from nuclear power to LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) businesses, from trade to tobacco distribution network.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has designed 31 development plans, including ones on catfish farming and fishing boat fleets. 

The Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment has 29 development plans, from environmental protection to remote sensing applications.

Vu Quang Cac, director of MPI’s Planning Department, said many development plans have low design quality with low practicability and feasibility.

“There are too many development plans which cannot work in a market economy and global integration period,” he said, adding that the plans bear the spirit of the centrally planned economy,

MPI has finished drafting the Planning Law which is being examined by the Ministry of Justice before being submitted to the government.

Under the draft law, instead of the current 70 legal documents and ordinances, there will be only two legal documents on planning the development of industries and branches.

MPI’s Deputy Minister Dang Quang Dong said once the law takes effect, it will provide the tools to deal with conflicts of interest.

If the draft law is ratified, the project to fill up the Dong Nai River to generate a new urban area, which has stirred up controversy, will not be approved. 

The Dong Nai provincial authorities are not in a position to approve the project, because Dong Nai River is not an asset of the province only.

Dong believes that the Planning Law, if approved, will create a breakthrough in administrative reform, serving as a motivation for investment and business activities.

TBKTSG