Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on Friday, March 29, urged ministries and localities to boost agricultural and industrial production because they were solid foundations for sustainable development.

A worker operates a machine at the Hai Phong Machinery Manufacture Joint-stock Company. The Prime Minister has urged ministries to boost agricultural and industrial production.

He was addressing a two-day monthly Cabinet meeting which reviewed socio-economic performance this month and in the first quarter, highlighting the achievements recorded in the service and export sectors.

GDP was up 4.89 per cent in the first quarter, higher than the same period last year, and CPI this month fell by 0.19 per cent in comparison with last month.

The PM asked relevant sectors to continue removing barriers for enterprises and deal with bad debts and high inventories.

They also needed to boost investment and explore new export markets, he said.

The PM said favourable mechanisms to attract foreign investment, especially in the fields of high technology and support industries, should be formed and applied.

He emphasised the process of lowering interest rates would continue to improve the operation of enterprises in agriculture and rural development, and those with large workforce.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat and other Government members said there should be more measures to mobilise sources for developing agricultural production and support enterprises that traded agricultural products.

He asked the National Assembly to consider lowering taxes for enterprises that traded agricultural products to under 20 per cent, and reduce VAT for input materials used in agricultural production such as fertilizers and feed.

He urged localities to focus on controlling diseases in plants and cattle.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh said one of the difficulties the country was facing was finding the right markets for its products.

A specific itinerary for adjusting coal and power prices should also be drawn up to avoid any negative impacts, he said.

Low-income housing

The PM asked ministries and localities to focus on supporting poor and low-income people via social security policies.

He suggested it was necessary to form suitable policies and mechanisms for low-income people to borrow money to buy houses. These should include low interest rates and long-term mortgages.

Cabinet members also asked relevant ministries to publish guidelines to implement these policies.
Minister of Construction Trinh Dinh Dung said measures to encourage enterprises to participate in developing low-income housing should also be looked at.

This would serve as an effective way of facilitating the purchase of low-income housing by poor people, he said.

The minister also stressed the importance of removing barriers for the real-estate market because this would contribute to settling inventories of enterprises that produced construction materials.

Sharing the same opinion as Dung, Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh suggested the Government consider allowing foreigners to buy houses in the country.

This would boost trade in the real-estate market, he said.

PM Dung agreed with this idea but affirmed specific regulations on this issue should be drafted to prevent possible negative impacts on society.

Constitution amendments

During the meeting, the cabinet members discussed a draft decree on the establishment, organisation and operation of a real estate management company and a bill on the Law on People's Public Security.

They also discussed a draft report on the progress to collect public opinion on amendments to the 1992 Constitution.

The Government's Steering Board reported that it had to date collected 30 reports relating to the constitutional amendments from ministries and Government bodies, and 63 reports from municipal and provincial People's Councils and Committees.

PM Dung stressed that amending the 1992 Constitution aimed at building a progressive Constitution that suited the country's current process of development.

The amendments would be grounded firmly on the basic principles of the national construction platform adopted at the 11th National Party Congress, he said.

It was also aimed at realising the programme on national industrialisation and modernisation, firmly safeguarding the country's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, fully upholding human rights and citizens' rights; and building a law-governed state of the people, by the people and for the people, Dung added.

Source: VNS