Cabinet Asked to Boost Agricultural and Industrial Growth

The Vietnamese government has called on all ministries, sectors and localities to overcome recently emerging threats and take measures to boost agricultural and industrial production to achieve this year’s gross domestic product growth of 8 per cent.

 

“Ministries, sectors and localities should keep a close watch on the development of the real situation and take synchronous measures to prevent a bird flu pandemic and to ensure enough water for the winter-spring rice and industrial crops in northern regions as well as minimize the impact on shoe makers caused by the EU anti-dumping lawsuit”, said Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan at a monthly Cabinet meeting on February 28.

 

The national economy was facing several difficulties, Khoan said, revealing that although the industrial sector posted a growth rate of 15.8 percent, it was 0.2 percent less than the figure of the corresponding period last year.

 

“It is necessary to create favorable conditions to boost industrial production so as to secure month-to-month growth, particularly for products of high value and in localities with high industrial proportion,” said Khoan.

He requested the units to speed up the implementation of investment projects and other important projects, especially power plants and power transmission networks to ensure sufficient supplies for production and people’s daily consumption in the coming months.   

Droughts, flooding, pests and the consequences of bird flu badly affected agricultural production and people’s lives.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development should instruct the Mekong Delta provinces to focus on fighting brown plant hoppers, he added.

 

On the implementation of the Party’s Politburo resolutions and the government’s decisions on socio-economic development in northern mountainous, Central Highlands and Mekong Delta regions, he said, the Government will organize three conferences on these regions.

 

For the Anti-corruption Law, the Law on Thrift Practice and Anti-wastefulness and other laws, he urged concerned agencies to promulgate guidelines to put them into force in early June at the latest.

 

At the two-day session, the government discussed and gave opinions on the export development scheme for the 2006-2010 period, a draft law on sending workers abroad, and other issues.

 

Regarding current socio-economic development, the national industrial production value in January and February rose, even though many workers had time off during the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival, the figure exceeded VND78.8 trillion (nearly US$5 billion) in the first two months, a year-on-year increase of 15.8 per cent.

 

The bird flu pandemic has been contained thanks to concerted efforts by government agencies, breeders and consumers. No new outbreak of bird flu has been reported in the country since January 6, 2006.

 

In February, the bustle of tourism continued with 673,000 foreigners arriving in the country, up 15 per cent from last year. Goods and passenger transport activities met the increasing demand during Tet. The network of post and telecommunications services continued to be expanded.

 

The first two months of exports are estimated to reach US$5.5 billion, a year-on-year rise of 28.3 per cent. Of this figure, foreign-invested businesses contributed US$1.8 billion, excluding crude oil. Meanwhile, the January-February import value is estimated to reach almost US$5.4 billion, up 4.2 percent year on year.

 

Also in the last two months, new and additional investment capital totaled US$1.16 billion with 113 new projects licensed, a year-on-year increases of 15 percent in investment capital and 16 percent in the number of new projects.

 

In the reviewed period, the State budget also disbursed US$7.2 trillion (US$455.7 million) for development investment, accounting for 12.8 per cent of the yearly plan. The February consumer price index rose 2.1 percent. Progress was seen in education and training, health care, culture and sports and training sectors.