The Government's regular meeting - November 2016

 RESOLUTION

THE GOVERNMENT’S REGULAR MEETING - NOVEMBER 2016

THE GOVERNMENT

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government dated June 19, 2015;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 138/2016/ND-CP dated October 01, 2016 promulgating the working regulation of the Government;

Based on the discussion of the Cabinet members and the conclusion of the Prime Minister at the Government’s regular meeting in November 2016, held on November 28 and 29, 2016,

RESOLVES:

1. Regarding the draft Law on Survey and Mapping

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Justice and the Government Office to collect comments from the Cabinet members, revise and improve the draft Law on Survey and Mapping, and report to the Prime Minister in the first quarter of 2017 before submitting to the National Assembly.

2. Regarding the Schemes to establish special economic zones

The Government unanimously agreed on the principle to establish three (03) special administrative economic zones in Van Don, the North of Van Phong and Phu Quoc in the respective provinces with an aim to exploiting the maximum potential and comparative advantages, creating new development impetus for each zone and spillover effects on the country.

The Provincial People's Committees of Quang Ninh, Khanh Hoa, and Kien Giang shall preside and coordinate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and other relevant Ministries and agencies to complete the Schemes; propose to competent authorities specific mechanisms and policies to develop draft Laws for each special administrative economic zone.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall lead and coordinate with relevant Ministries, agencies and localities to urgently collect comments of the Government, complete a report on the Schemes which shall provide updates, analysis, and overall evaluation of international experience in this field, propose groups of specific preferential mechanisms and policies applicable to each special administrative economic zone. The Government is to mull over the schemes and related mechanisms and policies before submitting to the Political Bureau as prescribed.

Based on the proposed specific mechanisms and policies of each province and conclusions of the Political Bureau, the Ministry of Planning and Investment shall lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Provincial People's Committees and relevant Ministries and agencies to propose to develop draft Laws on special administrative economic zones in Van Don, the North of Van Phong and Phu Quoc and report to the Government for comments before submitting the draft Laws to the National Assembly.

3. Regarding the proposal on the labeling, declaration of conformity of food materials imported for production and processing of exports and materials imported for trading serving production of exports

To timely remove difficulties and obstacles and create favorable conditions for the production and/or processing of food exports, the Government agreed to allow businesses to be exempt from State inspection on food safety, declaration of conformity with regulation on food safety, labeling in Vietnamese for foods, food ingredients, food additives, processing aids, tools, packaging materials, food containers imported into Viet Nam which are only used for the production and/or processing of exports, not for consumption in the domestic market.

The Ministry of Health shall be assigned to lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and other relevant Ministries to urgently draft a Decree amending the Decree No. 38/2012/ND-CP dated 25 April 2012 detailing the implementation of some articles of the Law on Food Safety following the simplified procedures and process, and submit to the Government in the first quarter of 2017.

4. Regarding the draft Decree detailing the implementation of some articles of the Law on professional military personnel and defense workers and officers

The Government unanimously agreed with the proposal of the Ministry of Defense regarding health insurance support regime for family members of defense workers and officers who do not have health insurance.

The Ministry of Defense shall be assigned to lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Justice and the Government Office to collect opinions of the Cabinet members to specify content of the provision in the draft Decree and submit to the Prime Minister for signing in December 2016.

5. Regarding source of funding for information technology services serving the computerization of healthcare facilities that are covered by medical insurance of the Viet Nam Social Insurance Agency according to the tasks stipulated in the Resolution No. 36a/NQ-CP dated 14 October 2015

The Government unanimously agreed to assign the Viet Nam Social Insurance Agency to use advancements from the reserve fund for health insurance and complete the advancement after the issuance of the Decree amending the Decree No. 105/2014/ND-CP which allows the use this funding. The General Director of the Viet Nam Social Insurance Agency shall be responsible for funding levels, service categories, the scale, the scope and time frame of services in compliance with existing laws.

The Ministry of Health shall be assigned to urgently study and incorporate this provision during the revision of the Decree No. 105/2014/ND-CP of the Government following the simplified procedures and process, and submit to the Government in February 2017.

6. Regarding the report of the Task Force on the implementation of the conclusions, directions, and tasks assigned by the Government and the Prime Minister in November 2016

The Government praised the working spirit, innovation and creativity of ministries and agencies over the last month. Thanks to inspection and acceleration activities, the implementation results of the tasks assigned by the Government and the Prime Minister observed obvious changes. There was a noticeable reduction in the number of overdue tasks. However, there remained a number of overdue tasks on institutional development or other complex tasks.

Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Chairmen of People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities directed the strict and promptly implementation of the tasks assigned by the Government and the Prime Minister, in which special attention was paid to institutional review and improvement, avoiding backlogs of unprocessed documents detailing the implementation of laws which had come into effect. Delays in coordination between ministries and agencies were addressed promptly. Innovation in working styles was promoted to encourage creativity, regular monitoring of the situation and prompt resolution of emerging and pressing issues under their management. Accountability, disciplines and order in the fulfilment of the assigned functions and tasks were fostered. Transfer of responsibility of agencies and localities to the Government and the Prime Minister was restricted.

Agencies and ministries are required to urgently rectify and learn from past experience, to overcome shortcomings and limitations which were pointed out through the inspection, apply recommendations of the Task Force, focus on completing the outstanding tasks and work, regularly review and organize the implementation of the tasks assigned by the Government and the Prime Minister, and ensure their quality and timeliness.

The Task Force shall continue to examine a number of organizations, agencies and localities, with an initial focus on a number of ministries and agencies with good practices to replicate the model or ministries and agencies characterized with heavier workload yet remained stagnant and inefficient to promptly identify the cause for correction and accelerate the implementation of the tasks assigned by the Government and the Prime Minister while assuring the quality of the delivery.

7. Regarding deployment of the Resolution adopted at the 4^th plenary session of the 12th Party Central Committee on strengthening the development and reorganization of the Party, prevention and deterrence of degradation of political ideology, ethics and lifestyle, symptoms of "self-evolution" and "self-transformation" inside the Party

The Government unanimously agreed with the report of the Ministry of Home Affairs on some basic tasks to implement the Resolution. Based on 05 groups of solutions stated in the Resolution and Plan No. 04-KH/TW dated November 16, 2016 of the Political Bureau on implementing the Resolution, the Ministry of Home Affairs shall lead and coordinate with other ministries, agencies, and localities to draft a Resolution of the Government promulgating an Action Plan to implement the Resolution. The Action Program should cover specific mechanisms and policies, define clearly the responsibilities of each ministry, sector, and locality, and deadlines. A report shall be made to the Prime Minister to consult with the Cabinet members to collect comments and improve the report which shall be presented at the meeting between the Governmnt and provinces in December 2016.

8. Regarding the orientation to develop a Resolution of the Government on the tasks and solutions guiding the realization of the socio-economic development and state budget plan in 2017

The Government identified the year 2017 as a pivotal year for the realization of the medium-term plan 2016-2020. As such, this Resolution plays an important role throughout the Government’s direction and implementation of the socio-economic development plan in 2017. It is essential to analyze and assess closely the local and international situation to set out the specific objectives, targets and measures to overcome limitations and weaknesses in each sector and each field, select a number of priority areas for breakthrough interventions to create momentum for economic growth, specify tasks and solutions of ministries, agencies, and localities, roadmaps and responsibilities of Heads of agencies, including sanctions on slow performance of assigned tasks, avoid assigning general and unclear responsibilities.

Ministries, agencies, and localities are required to actively detect and propose tasks and solutions that call for the Government’s attention on the direction and management in 2017, especially solutions on mechanisms and policies to create momentum for development, and report to the Ministry of Planning and Investment before December 08, 2016 for synthesis and incorporation in the draft Resolution of the Government.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall lead and coordinate with the Government Office to collect comments of the Cabinet members at the meeting, urgently draft the Resolution and report to the Prime Minister before December 20, 2016 to consult with the Cabinet members to collect comments and improve the draft Resolution, and submit to the Prime Minister for issuance and announcement at the meeting between the Government and provinces at the end of December 2016.

9. Regarding the draft Resolution of the Government on the Action Plan to implement the Resolution adopted at the 4^th plenary session of the 12^th Party Central Committee on a number of key policies and directions to continue the innovation of growth model, improve quality of growth, labor productivity and competitiveness of the economy and the Resolution of the National Assembly on the economic restructuring plan in the 2016 – 2020 period

The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall collect comments of the Cabinet members, improve the draft Resolution, and collect comments of relevant ministries, agencies and localities.

Ministries, agencies and localities shall be assigned to comment on the draft Resolution and submit to the Ministry of Planning and Investment before December 15, 2016. The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall lead and coordinate with the Government Office to collect comments and consult with members of the Government, improve the draft and submit to the Prime Minister for signing in December 2016.

10. Regarding the socio-economic situation in November and the first 11 months of 2016; the implementation progress of the Resolution No. 01/NQ-CP dated January 07, 2016 of the Government on the major tasks and solutions guiding the implementation of the socio-economic development and state budget plan in 2016

The Government unanimously agreed that: With the drastic leadership of the Party, the supervision of the National Assembly, the management of the Government and the Prime Minister, and the efforts of all sectors, all levels, and businesses, our country’s economy continued to maintain its recovery and growth momentum. The major economic balances including financial, monetary, basic credit balances were guaranteed and rather stable. Inflation was kept under control. Foreign exchange reserves increased. The inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI), ODA and preferential loans from foreign donors increased. Business environment continued to improve. Business activities observed positive changes. Both the number of newly registered enterprises and the number of enterprises returning to operations increased. Most industries achieved higher growth rates than those of the same period last year. Agricultural production gradually recovered. Fisheries continued high growth rate. The service area observed many improvements. Total retail sales continued to rise. International arrivals to Viet Nam increased sharply. Exports also regained growth momentum, in which exports of agricultural and forest products continued to reach a relatively high level and better than that of the same period last year. The fields of education and training, science and technology, labor, employment, health care and protection and other social fields received full attention and achieved many positive results. Political security and social order were relatively stable.

However, our country's economy still faced with many difficulties and challenges. Macroeconomic balances remained unsustainable. Central budget revenues remained low. Disbursement of Government bonds was slow. Exports of mineral commodities fell sharply. Smuggling, commercial fraud, counterfeiting and shoddy goods remained complicated and had not been addressed thoroughly. Business still encountered a number of difficulties. Life a portion of people in mountainous areas, ethnic minority and areas affected by natural disasters such as floods, droughts, saltwater intrusion, environmentally contaminated areas, remote areas remained rather difficult. Incidents of crime, traffic safety, fire remained complicated. It was forecasted that the world’s complicated and unpredictable situation would somehow affect our country.

The Government requested ministries, agencies and localities to focus on directing and innovating measures, approach in direction and management, stay determined in implementing synchronously the remaining tasks and solutions in the last month of the year, strive to reach the highest growth results to realize the targets of 2016; aggressively implement the Resolutions of the Party Central Committee, the National Assembly and direction and administration documents of the Government and the Prime Minister, propose specific tasks and solutions to effectively implement the socio-economic development plan in 2017 from the first day and the first month of the year, in which attention should be paid to the implementation of the following tasks and solutions:

- The Government assigned the Prime Minister to decide on the allocation of the State budget in 2017. The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Planning and Investment shall guide ministries, agencies and localities to assign and implement the State budget plan in 2017. Ministries, agencies and localities shall expeditiously prepare the conditions necessary for the effective implementation of the socio-economic development and State budget plan right from the beginning of 2017.

- The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall coordinate with relevant ministries and agencies to develop a draft Resolution of the Government on the key tasks and solutions to improve the business environment and enhance national competitiveness in 2017, and introduce the Resolution at the meeting between the Government and provinces in December 2016.

- The Ministries of Planning and Investment, Finance, Industry and Trade and the State Bank of Viet Nam shall closely monitor the economic situation, trade, international finance to proactively develop plans and solutions to respond to the situation, closely cooperate in macroeconomic policy management, inflation control, macroeconomic stabilization and growth promotion. The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall study and develop a comprehensive assessment report on new trends and developments of the global and domestic economy, recommend management guidelines to respond to new developments in the world, and report to the Prime Minister in December 2016.

- The State Bank of Viet Nam shall actively and flexibly regulate monetary policy to stabilize the gold and foreign currency markets, effectively coordinate fiscal policy and monetary policy to boost growth; expeditiously improve the legal framework for handling bad debts; improve the capacity of Viet Nam Asset Management Company (VAMC); have a plan to supervise and effectively handle commercial banks that were subject to compulsory acquisition to ensure system safety.

- The Ministry of Finance shall coordinate with ministries, agencies and localities to focus on directing the fulfilment of this year’s plan on State budget collection, strengthen inspection, examination, and strictly handle tax arrears to avoid losses to the budget, strictly save current expenditures, and review the allocation model of state-owned vehicles to replicate this model while ensuring fairness, efficiency and economy. In 2017, each ministry, agency and locality shall strictly apply practices to save current expenditures, especially expenditures for organizing conferences, seminars, festivities, travel expenditures for research, survey overseas, expenditures for procurement of cars and expensive equipment to reserve resources for base salary adjustment in accordance with Resolution of the National Assembly and Decision of the Prime Minister on the State budget plan in 2017, study and recommend additional regulations related to prevention of negative equitisation practices, especially the inclusion of value of the land lease and use right in the value of the equitized enterprises during the equitisation process.

- The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall promote trade promotion and expansion of export markets, especially the ASEAN market, preside over the construction of plans and solutions to respond to developments related to the TPP and free trade agreements signed by Viet Nam for each area, sector, and report to the Prime Minister in December 2016, lead and coordinate with localities to organize the wholesale and retail distribution system in two major cities including Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City first, coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and other ministries, agencies and localities to ensure goods supply to meet consumer demand during the Lunar New Year, especially the supply of essential goods and services to remote, mountainous and island areas, urgently adopt measures to deal with 05 ineffective investment projects that had been reported to the National Assembly, ensure the maximum recovery of funds and assets of the State, clearly define responsibilities of involved partners for settlement as stipulated by law.

- The Ministries of Construction, Natural Resources and Environment, and Transport shall coordinate with local authorities to review planning schemes related to urban management, especially in big cities, and propose intervention measures. The Ministry of Construction shall lead and coordinate with the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City and Ha Noi to organize inspection and examination of urban planning management, especially granting of construction permits in new residential areas, high-rise apartment buildings, and report to the Prime Minister in the second quarter of 2017.

- The Ministry of Science and Technology shall lead and coordinate with relevant ministries and agencies to study and propose a plan to mobilize resources and take the fullest advantage of the opportunity of the 4^th industrial revolution and report to the Prime Minister in February 2017, review, propose and report to the Prime Minister to assign specific tasks to ministries, agencies and localities to improve each indicator in the set of indicators on innovation as announced by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in February 2017, lead and coordinate with the Ministry of industry and Trade and other relevant ministries and agencies to review and develop national standards and technical norms to build technical barriers in accordance with international commitments signed by Viet Nam.

- The Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs shall coordinate with local authorities to continue policies on social security and social welfare, coordinate with the Ministry of Finance to provide support and food aid to local people during the pre-harvest period and during the Lunar New Year in time and to the right person, continue strict implementation of the Directive No. 06/2006/CT-TTg dated March 6, 2006 on enhancing the direction and execution of labor legislation in enterprises, suspend the amendment and supplement to the Decree No. 126/2007/ND-CP of the Government, review the implementation of the Law on Vietnamese workers working overseas under contracts, report and provide recommendations to the Government to consider amending and supplementing this Law, report on the management of drug addicts at the meeting between the Government and provinces in December 2016, and lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Public Security and relevant agencies and localities to draw up a plan to strengthen the governance of drug addicts and complete the plan in the first quarter of 2017.

- The Government Office shall improve the Directive strengthening management and administration in order to stabilize the market and prices, ensure social order and safety during the Lunar New Year 2017, and submit to the Prime Minister for issuance before December 15, 2016.

- The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall lead and coordinate with local authorities to continue to review and reorganize environmental protection activities across the country and strictly handle violations, avoid recurrence of environmental pollution incidents, and continue to implement the Directive No. 25/CT-TTg dated August 31, 2016 on a number of urgent tasks of environmental protection.

- The Ministry of Public Security shall lead and coordinate with ministries, agencies and localities to strengthen security and order, inspect and examine safety assurance and prevention of fire and explosions, especially in big cities at the end of 2017 and during the Lunar New Year, strictly handle illegal exploitation of stone, sand and gravel.

- The Ministry of Home Affairs shall coordinate with ministries, agencies, localities to develop plans, strengthen public inspection in staff appointment, urgently study to propose regulations on the resignation of public officers and civil servants, and report to the Prime Minister in January 2017. The Ministry of Home Affairs and other ministries, ,ministerial-level agencies, which had not completed the issuance of Decrees regulating functions, tasks and organizational structure of their respective ministries and agencies, shall urgently submit the documents to the Prime Minister for issuance in December 2016.

- Ministers and Heads of agencies shall closely direct to strengthen administrative disciplines and order, resolutely and strictly handle public officers and civil servants who conduct negative practices, harass and fail to abide by administrative disciplines and order, focus on institutional improvement on anti-corruption, promote decentralization and delegation of authority associated with inspection and control, eliminate the “ask-give” mechanism, accelerate the application of information technology to control negative practices. Agencies of the State administrative system shall not be allowed to organize Lunar New Year celebration and send presents in the Lunar New Year of 2017.

- The Ministries of Health, Industry and Trade, Agriculture and Rural Development shall coordinate closely with the People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities to focus on addressing pressing problems of food safety, especially counterfeit agricultural materials, unauthorized use of chemicals in the production, storage, processing and consumption of food, enhance coordination of information and communication, coordinate with the Central Committee of the Viet Nam Fatherland Front to implement effectively the Program on Food Safety Advocacy and Monitoring coordinated by the Government and the Central Committee of the Viet Nam Fatherland Front.

- The Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Defense and Public Security shall strengthen monitoring and surveillance of the situation in the world and the region to actively analyze and evaluate new developments and promptly propose appropriate policy responses, and report to the Prime Minister, the Secretariat of the Party, and the Political Bureau.

- Each member of the Government shall attentively implement the requirements of the National Assembly, members of the National Assembly, especially commitments made before National Assembly and its members, pay attention to directing the study and proposal on the amendment and supplementation to Decrees proposed by the National Assembly and its members, report the results to the Prime Minister in April 2017 to report at the 3rd working session of the National Assembly XIV, strictly abide by Resolutions of the Government as stipulated in the Working Regulation of the Government, especially in institutional development.

- The Ministry of Information and Communications shall focus on inspecting and monitoring the implementation of legislation on communication and media and strictly handle violations. Ministries, agencies and localities shall implement well the provision of information to the press and ensure publicity and transparency.

11. Regarding the implementation progress of the Resolution No. 60/NQ-CP dated July 8, 2016 of the Government on the key tasks and measures to accelerate the implementation and disbursement of the public investment plan in 2016

The Government unanimously agreed with the contents and recommendations outlined in the Report No. 9872/BC-BKHDT dated November 28, 2016 of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, which requires ministries, agencies and localities to implement some of the following key tasks:

- Ministries, agencies and localities shall focus on directing investors to accelerate the implementation and disbursement of public investment plan in 2016, and ensure the effective use and completion of 100% of the assigned plan.

- The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Finance and other ministries, agencies and localities to analyse, evaluate and clarify causes of the slow disbursement of investment plan in 2016, withdraw lessons and propose solutions for 2017, and report to the Government at the regular meeting in December 2016.

- The Ministry of Finance shall urgently report to the Prime Minister on the detailed data of 9-month disbursement of foreign investment for each project of ministries, agencies and localities before December 10, 2016. The report must also include clear explanation on the exceeding disbursement of foreign capital in 2016 by some provinces for synthesis before submitting to the National Assembly Standing Committee.

- The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall urgently report to the Prime Minister ways to adjust foreign capital plan before December 15, 2016 and announce a plan to reduce government bonds in 2016 at the request of ministries, agencies and localities.

12. Regarding the Scheme to determine damages and compensation levels for production recovery and assurance of social protection for people affected by marine environmental incidents in Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue Provinces

In principle, the Government unanimously agreed with the content of the Scheme. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall be assigned to lead and coordinate with the Government Office to collect the Cabinet members’ comments, finalize the Scheme, and submit to the Prime Minister for signing in December 2016 for further implementation./.

ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT

PRIME MINISTER

(Signed)

Nguyen Xuan Phuc