The Government's regular meeting - March 2017

RESOLUTION

THE GOVERNMENT’S REGULAR MEETING – MARCH 2017

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 March 2017, held on April 3rd, 2017,

RESOLVES:

1. Regarding the implementation progress of the ordinance and law making program and the promulgation of legal documents detailing the implementation of laws and ordinances in the first quarter of 2017

In the quarter, ministries and agencies have made great efforts in completing the task of developing and promulgating legal documents. However, the submission of some draft laws has still been delayed while a number of backlogged legal documents, including circulars guiding the implementation of laws and ordinances remained high.

In the second quarter of 2017, the Government requested ministries and ministerial-level agencies to earnestly complete the following tasks:

- Ministers and Heads of agencies shall have to direct and take full responsibility for institutional development and improvement, regularly monitor, urge and inspect the implementation of the ordinance and law making program and the development and promulgation of legal documents detailing the implementation of laws and ordinances to resolutely avoid delays and backlogs.

- Ministries and ministerial-level agencies having unissued legal documents detailing the implementation of laws that shall take effect from June 1, 2017 and July 1, 2017 must expeditiously complete the draft legal documents to submit to the Government for consideration and approval at the Government's regular meeting in April 2017 as prescribed by law. The ministries and ministerial-level agencies shall have to coordinate with the Government Office and other relevant ministries and agencies in handling and agreeing on controversial issues before submitting them to the Government and the Prime Minister.

- The Ministry of Justice shall lead and closely coordinate with the Government Office in fortifying the monitoring, acceleration, inspection and handling of difficulties and problems in the development and promulgation of legal documents.

2. Regarding time limit for transformation of a notary bureau into a notary office

The Government requested for strict compliance with Clause 1, Article 79 of the Law on Notarization. The Ministry of Justice shall take the lead and coordinate with the People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities in taking appropriate measures to step up the transformation process to meet public demands. For difficult areas that do not have enough conditions for transformation of notary offices, provincial Departments of Justice shall be assigned to guide the provision of notarization services in compliance with regulations on notarization.

3. Regarding the development of the National Assembly's Resolution adjusting the level of contribution to the unemployment insurance fund by employers

The Government unanimously proposed to adjust the unemployment insurance premiums for employers, which is stipulated in Article 57 of the Labor Code, from 1% down to 0.5% in a bid to create favorable conditions for business development. The adjustment shall take effect from the validation date of the Resolution of the National Assembly adjusting the level of contribution to the unemployment insurance fund by employers until the end of December 31, 2019.

The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs shall lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Justice and the Government Office to quickly collect the Government's comments and complete related procedures as prescribed by laws. The Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, authorized by the Prime Minister and acting on behalf of the Government, will submit the Resolution to the National Assembly.

4. Regarding the draft Decree on management and development of industrial clusters

The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall take the lead and coordinate with the Government Office and concerned ministries and agencies in gathering comments of the Cabinet members, finalizing the draft Decree and submitting it to the Prime Minister for signing.

5. For measures to control prices for dairy products for children under six years old

The Government agreed with the proposal of the Ministry of Industry and Trade to terminate the application of price stabilization measures for dairy products for children under six years old from April 1, 2017. The Government requested the Ministry of Industry and Trade and concerned ministries and agencies to control prices for dairy products for children under six years old according to the Law on Price and other relevant legal documents. At the same time, the Government requested these agencies to strengthen state management over price control, anti-speculation and anti-monopoly

6. Regarding the separation of land acquisition including compensation, assistance and resettlement to form a sub-project of the Long Thanh International Airport Project in Dong Nai Province.

In order to ensure the progress of the Long Thanh International Airport Project, the National Assembly approved the investment policy in its Resolution No. 94/2015/QH13. The Government agreed that it will ask the National Assembly to allow the separation of compensation, assistance and resettlement of the Long Thanh International Airport Project in Dong Nai Province to form a sub-project and assign Dong Nai People's Committee to take responsibility for the implementation of the sub-project.

The Minister of Transport, authorized by the Prime Minister and acting on behalf of the Government, will report on the above mentioned sub-project to the National Assembly at its third working session.

7. Regarding the Thematic Report on the fourth industrial revolution

The Government acknowledged and appreciated the Thematic Report developed by the Ministry of Science and Technology and experts of the Viet Nam Software and IT Services Association (VINASA). The fourth industrial revolution is a development trend based on digitization and digital interconnectivity that has a strong impact on all aspects of socio-economic life, triggering changes in production modes and labor forces in the future and could give Viet Nam many opportunities to accelerate industrialization and modernization, while at the same time bringing numerous challenges to the development process. Viet Nam needs to take an initiative role, having practical solutions to seize opportunities and mitigate negative impacts of the fourth industrial revolution. The first priority of all is to create breakthroughs in information technology.

The Ministry of Science and Technology shall take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Information and Communications, the Ministry of Education and Training, and other concerned ministries and agencies and VINASA in drafting a Directive on enhancing access to the fourth industrial revolution and submit it to the Prime Minister in April 2017.

8. Regarding the evaluation report on the actual situation of resources of the economy

Ministries and agencies shall urgently review, evaluate, update data and assess resources of each corresponding sector and area, ensuring that data of resources are properly reflected by each subject of the economy, and report to the Ministry of Planning and Investment before April 10, 2017.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall continue to receive comments from the ministries and agencies and finalize the report in accordance with the Prime Minister's direction in Notice No. 162/TB-VPCP dated March 25, 2017 to ensure the objectivity, accuracy, transparency and clarity to have an overall view of the resources of the whole country. Data and assessment of resources of enterprise and individual/household business sectors should be supplemented and compared to those of other countries in the region and the world. Measures to mobilize, allocate, manage, use and bring into full play resources of the economy for development should be proposed and submitted to the Prime Minister before April 15, 2017 for reporting to the Politburo.

9. Regarding the report on the socio-economic situation in March and the first three months of 2017; the implementation progress of the Resolution of the Government on the major tasks and solutions guiding the implementation of the socio-economic development plan and the state budget plan in 2017  

The Government unanimously agreed that: With the coherent effort and coordination of the whole political system, the business community and the people in the whole country, the socio-economic situation in the first quarter of 2017 observed positive changes. Macroeconomic stability was maintained. Inflation was kept under control. In principle, major balances of the economy such as finance balance, monetary balance, and credit balance were relatively stable. Strong credit growth was achieved. Monetary and securities markets observed positive developments. Gold and foreign exchange markets were stable. Agricultural production recovered at a satisfactory level. Service sector recorded a high growth rate, in which the number of international tourists to Viet Nam increased. Foreign direct investment (FDI) increased sharply. The quality of FDI projects improved. Total realized social investment capital was higher than that of the same period last year, of which domestic private investment accounted for the largest proportion of the total realized social investment. The state budget revenue achieved decent increase. Exports of domestic enterprises elevated. The business environment continued to improve, with a sharp upsurge in the number of start-ups. Social security and social welfare were earnestly deployed, especially activities for the improvement of people's lives and social policy beneficiaries. Activities to improve people's health care, food hygiene and safety were also strengthened. Education and training observed positive improvements. Many art and cultural activities, communication and propagation took place, creating an atmosphere of excitement for the people. Management of festivals was strengthened. Quality of socio-economic management of most People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities was relatively good. Administrative reform, inspection, settlement of complaints and denunciations and anti-corruption activities, application of thrift practices and waste combat received due attention. National defense, security, social order and national sovereignty were sustained. Foreign affairs and international integration continued to be promoted and achieved positive results. Information and communication were emphasized.

However, Viet Nam’s economy is now facing with many difficulties and challenges. The risk of high inflation is now on the rise. GDP growth rate of the first quarter was relatively low. Industrial and construction growth rates were lower than those of the same period last year, especially growth rate of the mining sector declined sharply. Disbursement progress of public investment remained slow. The number of state-owned enterprises that were restructured or equitized was small. The number of traffic accidents decreased over that of the same period last year, but there remained a few serious and particularly serious traffic accidents, in which railway traffic accidents tended to increase, especially in intersections where a railway line crosses a road or path. The number of fires and explosions tended to rise. Deforestation and illegal sand mining observed complicated developments. Adverse weather conditions and natural disasters occurred and were relatively unpredictable.

Fulfilling the growth targets in 2017 and the tasks set out in the coming time is an extremely heavy mission. The Government requested ministries, agencies and localities to strengthen the direction and implementation of tasks and solutions set out in Resolutions of the Party, the National Assembly and the Government, especially Resolutions No. 01/NQ-CP, No. 19-2017/NQ-CP and No. 35/NQ-CP in association with the implementation of programs and action plans of ministries, agencies and localities, to promptly develop specific solutions to remove difficulties and obstacles, boost production and business activities, speed up the restructuring, renewal and equitization of State enterprises, to ensure the growth targets of each sector, each area and locality, strive to achieve the highest results while at the same time focusing on performing the following tasks and solutions:

- Each ministry and sector shall actively review and develop specific growth scenarios for each sector, each field and each key product, clearly defining specific targets and solutions to maintain macroeconomic stability, accelerate growth, and achieve growth target in 2017 as planned. Ministries shall closely monitor the development situation of sectors and promptly take measures to remove difficulties, step up production and business activities, and promote the sale of inventories. Ministries shall concentrate on directing the accelerated completion of key projects for early commissioning.

- The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Finance and other ministries, agencies and localities in implementing the Government's Resolution No. 60/NQ-CP dated July 8, 2016 on accelerating disbursement of public investment plan in 2017, review and eradicate unnecessary investment procedures, create favourable conditions for enterprises, investors and donors to quickly implement investment projects, avoid delays in disbursement of private investment, foreign investment and ODA. The General Statistics Office shall report to the Prime Minister on the method of calculating GDP in April 2017.

- The State Bank of Viet Nam shall closely monitor the global and domestic monetary situation, actively and flexibly pursue monetary policy in combination with fiscal and other macro policies to control inflation, maintain macroeconomic stability and support economic growth, comprehensively implement measures to keep interest rates stable, create favourable conditions for credit capital access, reserve credit capital on priority areas associated with assuring credit quality, consider and determine an appropriate ratio of medium and long-term credit capital, and promote the restructuring of weak banks and effective settlement of bad debt.

- The Ministry of Finance shall focus on institutional improvement, accelerating the reform of administrative procedures in finance, taxation and customs areas, strengthening management of state budget collection, closely and economically managing state budget expenditures, and coordinating with the Ministry of Industry and Trade to quickly negotiate the sale prices of coal in support of coal production and consumption.

- The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall lead and coordinate with the concerned ministries and agencies in developing specific plans and solutions to meet growth targets of industrial production; develop a comprehensive solution to remove difficulties for the iron and steel industry and mining, instruct the Viet Nam Oil and Gas Corporation (Petro Viet Nam) to control and adjust the crude oil exploitation plan in 2017 to support economic growth, concentrate on reviewing and having timely solutions to handle poor projects, promote the development of export markets, focus on exploiting traditional markets, markets with which Viet Nam has signed free trade agreements (FTAs) ​​and other potential markets, intensify the strict control over the import of goods, especially those which can be produced at home, build technical barriers in line with international commitments to protect domestic production, focus on developing the domestic market, lead and coordinate with the Government Office and concerned ministries and agencies in conducting a comprehensive and objective evaluation of the implementation of the Prime Minister's Directive No. 03/CT-TTg dated March 30, 2015 for appropriate adjustment solutions, and report to the Prime Minister in April 2017.

- The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall speed up the transformation of structure of plants and livestock combined with the application of high technology in alignment with the advantages of each region and area to adapt to climate change, lead and co-ordinate with the Ministry of Industry and Trade to exploit and expand the market of agricultural products, strengthen the coordination of management of food safety and hygiene, strictly control sources of inputs in agricultural production, actively take measures to prevent natural disasters in the rainy season.

- The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism shall lead and coordinate with ministries, agencies and localities in effectively implementing the Politburo's Resolution No. 08-NQ/TW on developing tourism into a spearhead sector of the economy, study on solutions for managing full service tourism, non-spending tourists in Viet Nam and solutions to increase tourism revenue.

- The Ministry of Transport shall direct the intensified inspection and surveillance of the speed and quality of construction works, focus on accelerating progress of key transport projects, especially the roads connecting with major transport hubs, discontinue granting artisanal mining license for the dredging and maintenance of inland waterways, lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and other concerned ministries and agencies in reviewing and elaborating legal documents on the management of sand and gravel, ensuring uniformity in planning formulation and approval, and delegating licensing mining competencies to localities and report to the Prime Minister in April 2017.

- The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall expeditiously complete the environmental impact assessment of investment projects which are being halted, ensuring harmony between environmental protection and development requirements.

- The Ministry of Education and Training shall lead and coordinate with ministries, agencies and localities in organizing the national high school examination and admission of universities and colleges in 2017 to ensure safety and convenience for candidates, promote the implementation of the autonomy mechanism for public higher education institutions.

- The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs shall coordinate with localities in effectively implementing social welfare policies and the national target program on sustainable poverty reduction; lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Finance and the Viet Nam Social Insurance in preparing a report on solutions to expanding the coverage of social insurance, then submit it to the Government at the Government’s regular meeting in August.

- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall lead and coordinate with ministries, agencies and localities in further expanding and deepening relations with partners, engage in diplomatic activities, especially diplomatic activities of senior leaders and activities during the APEC Year 2017.

- The Ministry of Information and Communications shall direct and orientate the dissemination of guidelines and policies of the Party and the State, as well as direction and administration of the Government and the Prime Minister, encourage entrepreneurship and innovation, create social consensus, strive to fulfil targets and tasks of socio-economic development in 2017.

10. Regarding the payment of investment capital from the state budget and government bond capital in 2016, and disbursement progress of public investment plan of state budget in 2017

- The Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Justice and other concerned ministries and agencies shall, base on their assigned functions and tasks, continue reviewing regulations on capital construction investment amendment and supplement to these documents or reporting to competent authorities for amendment and supplement in line with reality and to ensure consistency among legal documents, in order to remove difficulties and problems in procedures on investment and mechanisms on management and use of public investment capital. At the same time, these ministries shall have to attach this with responsibilities of each agency, unit and individual in the use of investment capital, to raise public investment efficiency, and report to the Prime Minister in April 2017.

- Ministries, sectors and localities shall urgently assign the 2017 capital plan to investors to speed up the implementation and disbursement of capital plan for 2017.

- The Government shall allow allocation of public investment for 2017 to projects that disbursed less than 30% of the budget plan for 2016 by September 30, 2016 but disbursed more than 90% of budget plan for 2016 by 25 January 2017.

- The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall regularly inspect and accelerate ministries, agencies and localities in the implementation of the 2017 public investment plan, provide timely guidance to ministries, agencies and localities in the implementation of the 2017 public investment plan.

- The Ministry of Finance shall continue reviewing disbursement procedures to create favourable conditions for investors to settle public investment in 2017.

11. Regarding the supplementary assessment report on the implementation results of the socio-economic development plan in 2016 and the implementation progress of the socio-economic development plan in 2017.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Finance in collecting comments of the Government, finalizing the supplementary assessment report on the implementation results of the socio-economic development plan in 2016 and implementation progress of the socio-economic development plan in 2017. The Minister of Planning and Investment, authorized by the Prime Minister and acting on behalf of the Government, will submit the report to the National Assembly.

12. Regarding the State Budget Settlement Report in 2015

The Government agreed with the State Budget Settlement Report in 2015 submitted by the Ministry of Finance. The Minister of Finance, authorized by the Prime Minister and acting on behalf of the Government, will report this to the National Assembly.

13. Regarding the supplementary assessment report on the implementation results of the state budget plan in 2016 and the implementation progress of the State budget plan in 2017.

The Government agreed with the supplementary assessment report on the implementation results of the state budget plan in 2016 and the implementation progress of the State budget plan in 2017 submitted by the Ministry of Finance. The Minister of Finance, authorized by the Prime Minister and acting on behalf of the Government, will report this to the National Assembly.

14. Regarding the performance of tasks assigned by the Government and the Prime Minister and assessment results in March 2017 of the Working Group at ministries and agencies.

The Government appreciated efforts of ministries, agencies and localities in implementing tasks assigned by the Government and the Prime Minister, acknowledged the results of the inspection and acceleration of activities of the Working Group at the Ministry of Transport, the Viet Nam Post and Telecommunications Group and the specialized inspection results on the development of documents detailing the implementation of laws and ordinances. The Government requested that ministries and agencies which had been inspected promptly draw experience, adjust and overcome the indicated limitations, concentrate on completing the pending tasks and work, and resolutely address shortcomings in management, direction and administration according to their functions and tasks.

The Government agreed with recommendations of the Working Group. The Government assigned the Working Group to finalize and issue a report on the implementation of tasks assigned by the Government and the Prime Minister and inspection results of March 2017. Ministries, agencies and localities shall earnestly deploy recommendations of the Working Group and report on the implementation results to the Working Group latest by April 25, 2017.

The Working Group shall continue to inspect a number of ministries, agencies, and localities; urge the deployment of policies and laws and the direction and administration responsibilities of ministries, agencies and localities.

15. Regarding reports on the implementation of Resolution No. 19-2017/NQ-CP on the continuous implementation of major tasks and solutions to improve the business climate and strengthen national competitiveness in 2017, orientations towards 2020; the implementation of Resolution No. 35/NQ-CP on supporting and developing enterprises by 2020; public administration reform in the first quarter of 2017; inspection and settlement of complaints and denunciations and prevention of corruption in the first quarter of 2017; the implementation of Resolutions of the Government's meetings and working programs of the Government and the Prime Minister in the first quarter of 2017; and the implementation of Resolution 36a/NQ-CP on e-Government.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Government Inspectorate and the Government Office were assigned to receive comments of the Cabinet members and finalize the above-mentioned reports and promulgate them according to their competency for implementation.

16. Regarding the capital transfer of Vietinbank Avia Life Insurance Company Limited

The Government agreed with the decision allow Aviva International Holdings Limited (AIH) to receive capital transferred from Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade to Vietinbank Aviva Life Insurance Company under the conditions reported by the Ministry of Finance at the Official Letter No. 29/TTr-BTC dated March 10, 2017.

The Ministry of Finance shall appraise and decide to approve the transfer and at the same time, supervise the operation of the enterprise in a safe and effective manner and as prescribed by law.

17. Each Deputy Prime Ministers based on their assigned responsibilities shall directly supervise and effectively direct corresponding ministries, agencies and sectors to overcome shortcomings and weaknesses mentioned above./.

ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT

PRIME MINISTER

(Signed)

Nguyen Xuan Phuc