The two-day meeting heard reports by the Government Office’s Director and heads of the Planning and Investment, Trade, Interior, Finance and Industry ministries, as well as the State Chief Inspector.

The reports reviewed the Government’s activities this year and its planned agenda for 2007, which includes the establishment of steering committees for anti-corruption at central and provincial levels, socio-economic development, and development of domestic and foreign markets. The meeting also discussed administrative reform and Government-bond issuance and investment.

After hearing the reports and comments by the cabinet, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said the country had seen high economic growth this year, as well as increases in industrial production, exports and foreign investment.

Although Viet Nam’s economy had been affected by global inflation, domestic price rises had been kept under control, Dung told the cabinet. He added that social programmes, such as hunger eradication and poverty reduction had borne fruit, and that compared to last year, the number of poor households had fallen by three per cent.

Furthermore, the Prime Minister said that political stability in the country, together with sound social policies and improved international relations had raised Viet Nam’s profile abroad to a new height.

Despite progress in the fight against corruption this year, Dung said the country could do more to speed up disbursement of capital and to reduce wastage, particularly in construction. He also said the country was weak in terms of international competitiveness and that there was a shortage of skilled labour in the country.

He called on provincial authorities, ministries and relevant offices to resolutely carry out the country’s socio-economic development plans for next year.

As a matter of priority, the PM said ministers should speed up work on capital construction projects, while working to stabilise the price of raw materials such as cement, steel and coal, as well as agricultural products and food. The Prime Minister also said that serious efforts should be made to curb traffic accidents and to alleviate congestion, particularly in urban areas.

In terms of administrative reform, Dung instructed the Ministry of Planning and Investment to review legal documents relating to investment certificates and bankruptcy.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Construction was asked to review procedures regarding capital construction and inspection and the selling of State-owned houses.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment was asked to look into procedures for granting land rights and exploitation rights to natural resources.

He said regulations for residential registration and complaints should also be reviewed.

The PM asked the relevant ministries to submit reports in the first quarter of next year.

At the meeting, cabinet members also discussed issues of border control and the draft law on chemicals.

Meanwhile, speaking on the first day of the annual cabinet meeting, Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc said GDP growth this year stood at 8.2 per cent.

He said that industrial output was up 17 per cent on last year and the competitiveness of a number of industrial products had improved and that total exports were worth US$39.6 billion.

The Minister added that the country’s trade deficit in terms of value and proportion had fallen compared to last year.

Total foreign investment reached a record high of $10.2 billion, while Viet Nam had received pledges worth $4.44 billion in Official Development Assistance (ODA) loans. The percentage of poor households had also dropped by three per cent against last year, and 165,000 new jobs were created, Phuc said.

The Minister said the Government and the Prime Minister had focused this year on improving legislation. He said the State had promulgated 502 resolutions, decrees, instructions and decisions this year concerning the economy, society, culture, external relations, national security and defence, as well as administration and anti-corruption.

Phuc said this year’s sound economic figures were the result of the government’s commitment to making socio-economic reforms.

The Minister and Director of the Government Office reported that administrative reform entered its second phase this year and would be completed in 2010.

The government had issued working regulations to the people’s committees designed to clarify administrative procedures and to clearly set out the officials’ responsibilities, Giao said.

The fight against official corruption and bureaucratic waste has been at the heart of Government policy this year. The Government has set in place an action plan to fight corruption and waste, following approval of the anti-corruption law by the National Assembly. The Prime Minister has instructed the Ministry of Public Security to investigate and prosecute outstanding corruption cases.

Source: Vietnam News