Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has written an article about majorcontents of the draft socio-economic development strategy for the2011-2020 period and the country’s key tasks in 2011.
I. National situation and international circumstance
1. In continuing to follow the Party’s renovation guidelines, wehave, during the 2001-2010 period, created new driving force for thenational development.
By expanding democracy in the economythrough stipulating and enacting the Enterprise Law, promoting thedevelopment of privately-run economy, stepping up State-owned enterpriseequitisation and foreign investment attraction, implementingadministrative reforms with the focus on administrative procedures,participating deeply and broadly into regional and internationalintegration process, and joining the World Trade Organisation, we havebeen able to tap our country’s inner strength and potential, make use ofexternal resources and combine national strength with the power of ourtimes.
During a decade of implementing the 2001-2010strategy under effects from the regional crisis and adverse impacts fromthe global crisis, our country has weathered a great array ofdifficulties, challenges, as well as complex developments in the globaleconomy to record immense and very important achievements. The draft2011-2020 socio-economic development strategy gives an overview of themajor results we have gained as well as problems and difficulties anddraws lessons from reality.
2. We enter a newstrategic phase in the context of rapid changes and unexpectedfluctuations occurring in the word. The following is the prominenttendencies.
(1) The leaping development ofscience and technology; the formation of the knowledge-based economy,the use of energy-saving and environmentally-friendly technologies; thedevelopment of a green-economy. These will be seen as the major drivingforce to change the global economic and market structures and boosteconomic reforms and restructuring in each country as well as economicstructure shifting among countries. Each country will accept the processnaturally or in a proactive manner depending on its own internalcapacity and policies.
(2) Deeper and broaderglobalisation and economic connectivity, thus pushing up theinternationalisation of production and labour assignment and shaping aglobal production network and a global value chain. In that context,competition will increasingly be fiercer. Accordingly, developing anindependent, self-reliant, and highly-competitive economy will becomeour country’s biggest economic challenge in the next decade.
(3) The growing role of newly-emerging economies, especially therobust development of India and China , will change the balance ofeconomic and political power in the world. Holding a crucialgeostrategic position, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN) has been making deeper and broader integration, thusfacilitating each member country’s development and affirming its majorrole in regional architecture that is taking from. However, there arerisks hidden in this region that may affect stability and development inour country as well as other countries in the region.
Aftercrisis, the global economy’s recovery has been occurring slowly and fullof contradictions; the public debt crisis is still spreading andthreats of a monetary warfare yet being eliminated. In thatcircumstance, policy adjustment made by countries, especially powerfulcountries, will amplify risky level and uncertainty.
Inparallel with that, environmental degradation and climate change,particularly sea level rise, to which our country is among a few thatwill be hardest affected, can become a big variable in our country’sdevelopment course.
With such ample challenges and opportunities,never has the international circumstance exerted such big influence onour country’s development. The question is what we must do and whatposition we will stand in this complicated movement.
Thedraft strategy has defined the viewpoints to serve as the basis fordetermining goals and outlining development orientations for the2011-2020 period that suit the national circumstance and internationalcontext and ensure their unity with long-term goals set forth in thedraft Platform.
II. New progress in development thought
1. Viewpoints on development
The viewpoint on sustainable development as presented in this draftstrategy pursue a new internal perception which reflects the close linkbetween fast development and sustainable development and considerssustainable development a requirement that run-through the Strategy. Theviewpoint aims to handle the relations between economic development andsocio-cultural development in the right way to achieve social progressand fairness and protect the environment. It emphasizes securing a fastgrowth rate, narrowing the development gap with other countries, and atthe same time eliminating the way of thinking that focuses on growthrate rather than growth quality.
In the renovation courseover the past 25 years, our Party begun with economic reform, making itthe key in liberating all resources available in our country. This stepis necessary and correct. However, when the economic renewal hasrecorded great achievements and economic relations made basic changes,it is essential to carry out economic and political renewalsconcurrently to promote a comprehensive renewal. This reflects ourParty’s accurate awareness on moves to be taken and the dialectics ofdevelopment of the renewal process. The draft strategy underlines that“renewal should be taken in a simultaneous and proper manner in botheconomic and political spheres towards the goal of building a SocialistRepublic of Vietnam into a strong, democratic, just and civilisedcountry with rich people. The implementation of this goal must be takenas the highest standard to evaluate the effectiveness of the renewal anddevelopment process”.
The focus of political renewal isto perfect the content and breath a new life into the Party’s leadingmethods, combine Party committees’ power and responsibilities inperforming their leading role, broaden democracy in the Party and theentire society with the aim of bringing into full play the Stateagencies’ active role, the people’s great creative capability and thestrength of the national great unity bloc in the national constructionand defence.
We are living in the era of globalisation duringwhich economic competition is taking place fiercely. Each country triesto seek ways to make the best use of its available comparativeadvantages and turn them into competitive advantages and at the sametime creating new competitive ones. Though being very importantavailable comparative advantages, natural resources and geo-economiclocation are, however, not the most decisive factors. Reality has provedthat human resources are an internal dynamic factor which decides anation’s long-term competitive advantage. This is especially right at atime when science and technology – human being’s intellectual producthas made leaping developments as seen in our era. Moreover, economicdevelopment goals are eventually set for the people, thus a person candevelop comprehensively, leads a life that is materially and spirituallyrich, has intellectual ability and is able to utilize his/her creativeability, while aware of the inevitable so that he/she is able to masterhimself/herself as well as society and reach freedom. The draft strategyhighlights the viewpoint of “maximising the human factor, consideringthe people the subject, the key resource and the target of development”.It also emphasises the need to enhance capacity and create mechanismsto enable the people to fully exercise their rights to mastery,especially to direct democracy, to bring into full play all forms ofcreativity and ensure a high consensus in society, thus creating adriving power for the country’s development.
Theviewpoint of “strongly developing production forces with increasinglyhigh scientific and technological levels while at the same timeperfecting production relations in the socialist-oriented marketeconomy” lays stress on a new, important requirement of productionforces and production relations.
Production forces need to relyon growingly high scientific and technological level, which reflects thetrend that science and technology has become a direct production forcewhile production relations in the socialist-oriented market economy mustensure that “all economic sectors and all forms of enterprises developin a fast and harmonious manner. The State economic sector’s potential,strength and efficiency are enhanced. The State economy holds theleading role and acts as an important material force to help the Stateregulate and orientate the national economy, thus contributing tostabilising the macro-economy. The collective economy is developed indiverse forms with cooperative playing the core.”
TheState economy not only comprise State-owned enterprises but also otherresources owned by the State, including the state budget, land,natural resources and national reserve. Through development policies andeffective regulating and allocating mechanisms, these resources will befactors to activate and direct the implementation of structuralpolicies and socio-economic development in general. Hence, the Stateeconomy’s leading role does not involve only materials resources butalso in policy impacts and the State’s ability to use these resourceseffectively. This role is not only involve economic development either,but also socio-economic development in general. This requires us tostudy again and re-define the operation and management mechanisms ofState enterprises.
Apart from defining the Stateeconomy’s leading role, the draft strategy stresses on the need “tocreate an equal environment for competition among all economic sectors,encourage the development of multi-ownership forms of production andbusiness mainly joint stock businesses to make this economic formpopular in the national economy, thus speeding up socialisation ofproduction, business and ownership. Mechanisms and policies need to beperfected for the strong development of the private economy, turning itinto one of the driving forces behind the national economy.”
Beginningwith economic integration, countries are expanding their integrationcourse to other fields as part of an objective process. In order to beactive and proactive in our international integration and improve theeffectiveness of the process, we need to “build an increasinglyindependent and self-reliant economy in the context of wider and deeperinternational integration”. It is very necessary to stress in thecurrent circumstance. Only when the country’s economic potential andbusiness forces are strong, then the national economy is robust and thecountry’s position in integration is heightened. The more effective ourintegration is, the more favourable conditions we can enjoy to build anindependent and self-reliant economy.
2. The strategy’s goals and breakthrough points
The draft strategy outlines the general goals of “striving to turnour country basically into a modern industrialised country by 2020; withstable, democratic, rule-governed, and consensual politics-society; thepeople’s spiritual and material life is enhanced remarkably;independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity aremaintained; Vietnam’s position in the international arena continues tobe heightened; and a firm premise will be created for the country todevelop further in the next phase.”
Taking economic developmentas the core, the general goals and specific targets mentioned in thedraft strategy constitute the unity of economy, social affairs,politics, defence and security. They combine mid-term tasks withlong-term development requirements to become the “Party’s secondplatform” with the aim of deploying tasks set in the first phase ofimplementing the Platform.
To achieve these general goalsand specific targets, we need to carry out simultaneously varioussolutions and make breakthroughs in areas with blocked points which arehindering development. Once these areas are cleared, premises will becreated for us to liberate all potential and effectively exploit allresources for development. The draft strategy plans to make threebreakthroughs as follow:
Firstly, to perfect thesocialist-oriented market economy institution, focusing on forming anenvironment of equal competition and administrative reform. The goodpoint of the market economy has is the rational distribution ofresources in accordance with the market’s signals, thus increasing theeconomy’s common efficiency. The market economy can only be perfectedwhen all factors and all kinds of markets are formed synchronouslywithin an environment of equal competition. Competition is an inherentcharacter of the market economy. Through competition, businesses areforced to seek ways to cut down production costs and increaseproductivity – which in the final analysis is the decisive factor forthe triumph of a mode of production, a social regime. The market economyis always run by administrative institutions and procedures. Thus, inorder to perfect the socialist-oriented market economy institution, itis necessary to accelerate administrative reform, creating favourableconditions to people and businesses. On the other hand, the marketeconomy that we are building is a socialist-oriented market economy, inwhich economic development must be in harmony with socio-culturaldevelopment and the implementation of social progresses and justice inevery step and every development policy. Therefore, the State shouldhave proper policies and effectively use regulation tools in order todeal with problems caused by the market economy.
Secondly, to rapidly develop human resource, especially thehigh-quality one, focusing on reforming basically and comprehensivelythe national education system; and combine closely the development ofhuman resource with the application of scientific and technologicaladvances. Human beings are the subject producing all material andspiritual products. Humans create institutions, develop and applysciences and technologies, and are the most important productive force.Hence, to basically and comprehensively renew the national educationsystem in order to develop the human resource, especially high-qualityone, must be seen as a strategic breakthrough. This is both an urgentdemand and a long-term task. The need to combine closely the developmentof the human resource with the development and application of sciencesand technologies is a new content, showing the target of the humanresource development. Only the human resource that is able to developand apply scientific and technological advances in production andmanagement work can obtain a high productivity for a rapid andsustainable development.
Thirdly, to build acomprehensive infrastructure system and a number of modern projects,concentrating on large-scale urban infrastructure and transport systems.Infrastructure is a “link’ for productive factors to shift and acondition for the socio-cultural development in regions of the country.The weakness of the infrastructure system now is a big obstacle forsocio-economic development, increasing costs, reducing competitiveness,preventing the converging and spreading effects from inner factors, aswell as the use of our country’s geo-economic location in the globalchains of supply, and threatening to expanding the gap in livingconditions between regions in the country. In the next ten years, weshould mobilise all resources to make this breakthrough.
3. Directions for development
Based on the above-mentioned points of view and overall targets, thedraft strategy maps out 12 directions for development, forming asynchronous system of major solutions in all fields of economy, society,environment, national defence, security and external relations as aperfect whole of sustainable development; ensuring the combination oftwo strategic tasks of building socialism and defending the socialistrepublic. The following are the some new contents:
It can be said that restructuring the economy, shifting thedevelopment model, developing social fields in harmony with developingthe economy and environmental protection are the most important ideas aswell as the new points in the development thought.
The restructuring of the economy is not an issue to be consideredonly in the context of crisis. This process happens in progress or byleaps and bounds in correspondence with the development of sciences,technology and the shift of competitive advantages between countries.The content and pace of restructuring depends on the specific conditionsin each country. For our country, the restructuring of the economy mustbe conducted synchronously in the fields as follows:
(1) To accelerate industrialisation andmodernisation process, push up the economic restructuring, increaserapidly the proportion of industry and services in GDP. In the otherhand, it is necessary to attach importance to the long-term strategicrole of agriculture in stabilising the society, ensuring food securityand improving farmers’ living conditions.
(2)To restructure production and services sectors,focusing on developing supporting industries and hi-quality services ofbig added value in order to produce competitive products capable ofjoining the global production network and value chains. At the sametime, we must build a commodity agriculture using high technology inorder to increase value added on an unit of land acreage; closelycombine scientific-technological application with production, productionand processing with distribution within a value chain, ensuring theharmony of interests among links of this value chain, and agriculturaldevelopment with the building of new-styled areas.
(3) To restructure enterprises, continuerenewing State-owned businesses, and strongly develop private ones. Inparallel, each enterprise must conduct self-restructuring to adapt tothe technological and market changes in order to increase productivity,quality and efficiency.
(4)To pay more attention to the domestic market. Businesses shoulddevelop the distribution network of domestic market in order to dominatethis market, using it as the base to reach further to the worldmarkets, expand export markets and effectively exploit the markets thatjoin free trade agreements.
(5)To adjust investment mechanism and increase investmentefficiency. The State concentrates investment on developing humanresource and most essential socio-economic infrastructure projects, atthe same time mobilising resources of economic sectors for developmentinvestment. To encourage investment in production of big value addedproducts, supporting industries and those using clean technologies. Tolimit investment in mining industry and industries occupying largeacreages of land or using a lot of energy, and to reject low-techinvestment projects polluting the environment.
Implementing the contents of the above-mentioned restructuring requiresthe shifting from the growth model that depends on increasing investmentcapital, exploiting natural resources and low-quality human resource tothe in-depth growth model that relies on applying new scientific andtechnological achievements and using skillful human resource and modernmanagement skill. These factors are closely related to one another andhave an integrated impact and a decisive role in raising the efficiencyof capital utilisation, increase labour productivity andcompetitiveness. Science and technology are the decisive motive powerand human beings play the central role who invent and use science andtechnology and execute management functions. Only can modern managementskills bring into play the impacts of the two factors.
Changing the growth model is an objective requirement of thedevelopment process, particularly in the context of globalisation andfierce competitiveness but it is impossible to act under one’s wish.Premises and conditions must be created for the shifting process. Thesepremises and conditions are strategic breakthroughs. Hence, the firstyears of the coming strategic period should focus on settlingbreakthroughs and logically combining wide-scale and in-depth growthtowards the in-depth model.
Economicrestructuring and changing the growth model require the efforts of allbranches, authorities at all levels and the business community in whichthe State is responsible for paving the way and providing assistancewhile businesses are the subject and the major force of the process.
Socio-culture is a broad field with interactiveassociated contents and has a strong impact on economics, all fields oflife, each person and the whole community. Culture forms a value systemof a nation, creates an identity of a nation and is an important factorin the development thought. President Ho Chi Minh said “culture lightsup the road for people”. The draft strategy aims for “the comprehensivedevelopment of socio-cultural fields in harmony with economicdevelopment, and the good handling of the relationship between economyand culture to turn culture into a real spiritual foundation for thesociety and a development driving force.” The draft strategy sets therequirement of basic and comprehensive reform of the national educationto increase the human resource’s quality. This is a highlight in thedraft strategy, aiming to overcoming shortcomings and weaknesses andcreating new developments in socio-cultural fields.
Over the past years, the Party and State have always paid attentionto ensuring social security and welfare for the people with documentswith regulations on a number of concrete policies. The draft strategyoutlines a system of uniform and comprehensive viewpoints and policieswhich will serve as a foundation for the development of an effective andsustainable social security and welfare system.
Manifesting a full awareness of the threat of environmental pollution,climate change and rising sea level to sustainable development, thedraft strategy presents basic directions and concrete targets regardingenvironmental protection and improvement, emphasising the requirement ofenvironmental protection in each branch and locality’s developmentstrategy and scheme as well as in each project, promoting thesociety’s involvement in environmental protection and environmentalservices’ development. The draft strategy lays stress on theimplementation of programmes to cope with climate change, particularlyrising sea level, and accelerating international cooperation in thisglobal issue.
4. Raising the effectiveness and efficiency of State management
To successfully implement the strategy with the above mentionedcontents, unceasing efforts are required to perfect the mechanism of theParty leadership, the State management and people’s mastery. The draftstrategy manifests more profound awareness of the relationship amongthree components of the mechanism in the context of our Party being theonly one holding power and the existence of a socialist law-governedState. The Party plays the leading role while the people are themasters; the Party performs its leadership by the State and through theState. In this mechanism, the people entrust the State with implementingthe management power with the basic function of creating an environmentfor development and serving development. It is a must to set therequest of enhancing the Party leadership in the relationship withincreasing the effectiveness and efficiency of the State management andbringing into play the people’s right to mastery. The draft strategydefines the State’s functions of management and facilitation ofdevelopment, the relationship between the State and the market; putsforward solutions to renovate the Party’s leadership modes and raisesthe effectiveness and efficiency of State management; and emphasises therequirement of bringing into play the role of the Vietnam FatherlandFront, socio-political organisations and the people’s right tomastery in Party building and the State construction. Together withfinalising institutions to exercise democracy and increase directdemocracy, the draft highlights social critics’ role and theresponsibility of explanation of State agencies at all levels. Socialcritics and the responsibility of explanation contribute to, perfectingpolicies and increasing management and leadership capability.
III. Creating a strong change in the first year of implementing the strategy
The 2011-2020 strategy’s viewpoints and orientations must be includedin the 2011 socio-economic development plan. The Government hasreported and the National Assembly has adopted a Resolution on the 2011socio-economic development plan which comprehensively puts forwardtargets, tasks and big solutions. Following are key tasks of 2011.
1. Stabilising macro-economy and controlling inflation
We implement the 2011 socio-economic development plan in the contextof a predicted slower growth of the world economy, higher commodityprices than 2010, the likely spread of the public debt crisis in theEuro zone, the devaluation of the US dollar – the major currency ininternational payment, and the rise in gold price which will changeinvestment channels and cause big fluctuations in the internationalfinancial market.
In the country in 2010, theeconomy recovered and attained a relatively high growth rate (6.78percent), exports increased sharply (25.5 percent), trade deficitrepresented only 17.3 percent of export revenues and deficits in balanceof payments was reduced dramatically. However, the high inflation andinterest rates and the fluctuations of the exchange rate have putpressure on macro economic stability, caused difficulties to businessand production activities and threatened sustainable growth. In 2011,efforts need to be focus on reinforcing macroeconomic stability andcontrolling inflation which are considered a key task.
The gap between savings and investment must be narrowed, unnecessaryprojects cut to concentrate resources on projects that create newproduction and export capabilities and essential socio-economicinfrastructural facilities, budget overspending and trade deficit mustbe cut and inflation curbed. Recent years’ reality has proved that macropolicy must convey clear messages in order to create confidence for themarket and make orientations for business and production activities. Itis a must to closely follow the world and domestic economic movements,improve forecast capability, make active and sharp reactions, flexiblyuse monetary policies’ tools under the market principles, restrict theuse of administrative measures when unnecessary, increase the interbankmarket’s efficiency in stabilising and regulating capital sources amongcredits organisations, and closely combine financial policy withmonetary policy to stabilise the macro economy and control inflation. Itis necessary to increase monitoring the activities of creditsorganisations, securities companies, investment funds so as to ensurehonest business activities and abide by safety standards.
2. Strongly starting the economic restructuring process and changing the growth model
To focus on perfecting institutions and creating a healthy landmarket based on the principle that land is national asset and farmers’main production material. The State and people who hand over the landuse rights must be those who benefit from transferring land use rights.This is a basic principle to make land policies and market.
To accelerate the reform of State-owned enterprises (SOEs).Although the SOEs reform is a content of business restructuring, it is acondition to create an equal competitive environment for all economicsectors – a criteria of the market economy. The orientation and maincontent of the SOEs reform are to speed up the equitisation andrenovation of State corporations and groups. State economic groups andcorporations should focus on major fields of the national economy andchange from operating in various fields to specialised fields so as toimplement the restructuring policy. They should promote renovation andcreativeness, raising the efficiency and creating long-termcompetitiveness to take part in the global production network and valuechain. It is important to place State businesses in the competitiveenvironment and stipulate quality criteria for business operation. Therenovation of mechanisms and organisations should be conducted to raisethe responsibility and the effectiveness, efficiency of State managementand owners’ management for SOEs. Compulsory auditing mechanism must beimplemented and auditing results should be made public.
In 2010, it is a must to strongly carry out the supporting industrialdevelopment programme, considering it as a key content of therestructuring of industrial production sectors. It is an urgent need toperfect the mechanism and policies for development and management of thesupporting industry. A link must be created between manufacturing andassembling enterprises, local firms and foreign investors in selectingand developing supporting industry in product groups based on themarket’s need and with state orientations, focusing on a number ofengineering products, electric and electronic appliances and ITproducts. Foreign investors are encouraged to invest in development ofsupporting industry.
It is necessary to strongly develophigh-value-added services which have widespread effects, such astourism, distribution, transport, logistics and seaport services, inorder to take advantage of the country’s geo-economic position in theglobal supply chain. Improvement of the management mechanism should bemade to accelerate healthy development of financial services and realestate business. The national IT development programme should beimplemented, with the aim of turning Vietnam into an IT power by2020.
Efforts should be made to raise awareness on theimportant and strategic role of agriculture in the nationalindustrialisation and modernisation process, and to implement the 7 thParty Central Committee Resolution on agriculture, farmers and ruralareas. It is necessary to accelerate the implementation of the programmeon building new-styled rural areas. The State increases investment andencourages enterprises to develop socio-economic infrastructure in ruralareas, invests in biotechnology, processing industry to producehigh-yield, high-quality and competitive products. Examinations shouldbe stepped up on the compliance to food safety and hygiene standardsfrom production, processing, circulation to consumption. More investmentshould be made in storage and preserving systems to prevent losses andensure goods’ quality, regulation of supply-demand, price stability.
3.Creating favourable conditions for businesses to invest in productionand business development and expand markets, focusing on the followingtasks:
To perfect investment policies and mechanisms to mobiliseresources for development investment and improvement of investmentefficiency; expand forms of investment under the BOT, BT forms, quicklyissuing regulations on public-private-partnership (PPP) cooperation fortraffic system development, especially major projects. To speed upadministrative procedure reform in investment, establishment of land userights, customs procedure and taxation, helping reduce businessexpenditure for enterprises.
To improve businesses’ access tocapital. The development bank’s operations should focus on supportingsmall- and medium-sized enterprises; increase this bank’s fundings forcredit guarantee and project appraisal capacity. Priority should begiven to credit resources for key products, while considering a systemof allocating credit quota for business areas based on theircontributions to GDP and export turnover.
To developsupport services for business start-up. It is necessary to acceleratetrade promotion, overseas market expansion to help sharply increaseexports, while increase quality checks of imported commodities toprotect consumers and encourage domestic production. More attentionshould be paid to the domestic markets, especially rural ones. TheCampaign “Vietnamese use made-in-Vietnam product” should intensified.
4. Developing socio-cultural areas, focusing on urgent issues
Toeffective build and implement the 2011-2020 social security strategy,the sustainable poverty reduction programme and the job placementprogramme for the 2011-2015 period, with the aim of reducing the povertyrate by 2 percent in 2011 under the new criteria; developing insurancetypes and expanding social security network.
To completepolicies on medical examination and treatment and hospital fees. Tospeed up construction of hospitals using the State budget, encourageeconomic sectors to invest in building hospitals; sending more doctorsto district- and commune-level hospitals, ensuring compatibility betweenfacilities, equipment and medical workers who use the equipment,improving quality of medical check and treatment at grassrootshospitals, to reduce the burden of provincial and central-levelhospitals. State management on medicines, food hygienic safety isrequired to strengthen.
To take comprehensive measures to improveeducation quality; continue to implement approved education-trainingprojects; focusing on both two contents in the quality of generaleducation which are knowledge and morality. The teaching staff, teachingand learning conditions should be improved to expand scale of tertiaryeducation and improve its quality; building a number of high-qualityuniversities and colleges under cooperation programmes with foreigncountries, international organisations. Vocational training must bestrongly developed with quantity and structure suitable to marketdemand, focusing on vocational training for the supporting industry.Rapid development of the technology market is needed. Incentives must beissued for businesses to apply and renew technology in order to promoteeconomic restructuring, and the shifting of growth model.
Tocontinue pushing up the movement of “All people unite to build culturallife” focusing on establishing of cultured behaviour, abolishingsuperstitions, and making each person behave and live in a culturedmanner.
To implement information disseminationactivities to raise awareness on environmental protection among peopleand businesses. Checks, inspection and strict punishment of lawviolations must be intensified. It is necessary to implement thenational target and action plan on climate change resilience, sea andriver embankment upgrading programmes, flooding control solutions formajor cities and effective response to natural disasters.
To highlight the responsibility of Party organisations and authoritiesat all levels, promoting the roles of the Fatherland Front, massorganisations, the people and media in the fight against corruption andwaste. It is a must to effectively implement anti-crime and social evilprogrammes, ensuring traffic safety order.
5.Accelerating completion of management mechanism based on the principlesof ensuring the people’s democratic right and promoting the synchronousformation of the market economy’s elements. It is a need to reviewdecentralisation system to ensure that the central management ondevelopment planning is strengthened to fully tap comparative advantagesin inter-region vision to save human resources and ensure economicscale while promoting the proactive, creative and responsible role oflocalities. Preparations for elections of the National Assembly,people’s councils and consolidation of the administrations at all levelsfor the new term must be done in accordance with the requirements ofbuilding a streamlined, more effective and efficient stateadministrative apparatus, focusing on serving people as the mainfunction of administrations at all levels.
Together withthe above-said tasks, we have to attach importance and well implementnational defence, security, diplomacy tasks, creating a stable peacefulenvironment for socio-economic development, firm protection of nationalindependence sovereignty and territorial integrity.
TheGovernment and ministries, localities have to pay attention topreparation for the Tan Mao (the Year of the Cat) Lunar New Yearfestival, take synchronous measures to ensure commodities supply,control prices, maintain social order and security, and traffic safety,and care for the poor and welfare beneficiaries to ensure that allpeople enjoy a happy, healthy and economical Tet festival.
Over the past time, the entire Party, people and army actively gaveopinions to draft documents to submit to the 11 th National PartyCongress. We firmly believe that the Congress will set out a strategy tomeet the country’s development requirement. The good implementation ofthe strategy, first of all fulfilling the 2011 tasks, is a practicalwork to translate the 11 th Congress Resolution into reality and carryout Uncle Ho’s statement teaching: “the Party needs to make good plansfor economic and cultural development, in order to unceasingly improvethe people’s life.”/.
I. National situation and international circumstance
1. In continuing to follow the Party’s renovation guidelines, wehave, during the 2001-2010 period, created new driving force for thenational development.
By expanding democracy in the economythrough stipulating and enacting the Enterprise Law, promoting thedevelopment of privately-run economy, stepping up State-owned enterpriseequitisation and foreign investment attraction, implementingadministrative reforms with the focus on administrative procedures,participating deeply and broadly into regional and internationalintegration process, and joining the World Trade Organisation, we havebeen able to tap our country’s inner strength and potential, make use ofexternal resources and combine national strength with the power of ourtimes.
During a decade of implementing the 2001-2010strategy under effects from the regional crisis and adverse impacts fromthe global crisis, our country has weathered a great array ofdifficulties, challenges, as well as complex developments in the globaleconomy to record immense and very important achievements. The draft2011-2020 socio-economic development strategy gives an overview of themajor results we have gained as well as problems and difficulties anddraws lessons from reality.
2. We enter a newstrategic phase in the context of rapid changes and unexpectedfluctuations occurring in the word. The following is the prominenttendencies.
(1) The leaping development ofscience and technology; the formation of the knowledge-based economy,the use of energy-saving and environmentally-friendly technologies; thedevelopment of a green-economy. These will be seen as the major drivingforce to change the global economic and market structures and boosteconomic reforms and restructuring in each country as well as economicstructure shifting among countries. Each country will accept the processnaturally or in a proactive manner depending on its own internalcapacity and policies.
(2) Deeper and broaderglobalisation and economic connectivity, thus pushing up theinternationalisation of production and labour assignment and shaping aglobal production network and a global value chain. In that context,competition will increasingly be fiercer. Accordingly, developing anindependent, self-reliant, and highly-competitive economy will becomeour country’s biggest economic challenge in the next decade.
(3) The growing role of newly-emerging economies, especially therobust development of India and China , will change the balance ofeconomic and political power in the world. Holding a crucialgeostrategic position, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN) has been making deeper and broader integration, thusfacilitating each member country’s development and affirming its majorrole in regional architecture that is taking from. However, there arerisks hidden in this region that may affect stability and development inour country as well as other countries in the region.
Aftercrisis, the global economy’s recovery has been occurring slowly and fullof contradictions; the public debt crisis is still spreading andthreats of a monetary warfare yet being eliminated. In thatcircumstance, policy adjustment made by countries, especially powerfulcountries, will amplify risky level and uncertainty.
Inparallel with that, environmental degradation and climate change,particularly sea level rise, to which our country is among a few thatwill be hardest affected, can become a big variable in our country’sdevelopment course.
With such ample challenges and opportunities,never has the international circumstance exerted such big influence onour country’s development. The question is what we must do and whatposition we will stand in this complicated movement.
Thedraft strategy has defined the viewpoints to serve as the basis fordetermining goals and outlining development orientations for the2011-2020 period that suit the national circumstance and internationalcontext and ensure their unity with long-term goals set forth in thedraft Platform.
II. New progress in development thought
1. Viewpoints on development
The viewpoint on sustainable development as presented in this draftstrategy pursue a new internal perception which reflects the close linkbetween fast development and sustainable development and considerssustainable development a requirement that run-through the Strategy. Theviewpoint aims to handle the relations between economic development andsocio-cultural development in the right way to achieve social progressand fairness and protect the environment. It emphasizes securing a fastgrowth rate, narrowing the development gap with other countries, and atthe same time eliminating the way of thinking that focuses on growthrate rather than growth quality.
In the renovation courseover the past 25 years, our Party begun with economic reform, making itthe key in liberating all resources available in our country. This stepis necessary and correct. However, when the economic renewal hasrecorded great achievements and economic relations made basic changes,it is essential to carry out economic and political renewalsconcurrently to promote a comprehensive renewal. This reflects ourParty’s accurate awareness on moves to be taken and the dialectics ofdevelopment of the renewal process. The draft strategy underlines that“renewal should be taken in a simultaneous and proper manner in botheconomic and political spheres towards the goal of building a SocialistRepublic of Vietnam into a strong, democratic, just and civilisedcountry with rich people. The implementation of this goal must be takenas the highest standard to evaluate the effectiveness of the renewal anddevelopment process”.
The focus of political renewal isto perfect the content and breath a new life into the Party’s leadingmethods, combine Party committees’ power and responsibilities inperforming their leading role, broaden democracy in the Party and theentire society with the aim of bringing into full play the Stateagencies’ active role, the people’s great creative capability and thestrength of the national great unity bloc in the national constructionand defence.
We are living in the era of globalisation duringwhich economic competition is taking place fiercely. Each country triesto seek ways to make the best use of its available comparativeadvantages and turn them into competitive advantages and at the sametime creating new competitive ones. Though being very importantavailable comparative advantages, natural resources and geo-economiclocation are, however, not the most decisive factors. Reality has provedthat human resources are an internal dynamic factor which decides anation’s long-term competitive advantage. This is especially right at atime when science and technology – human being’s intellectual producthas made leaping developments as seen in our era. Moreover, economicdevelopment goals are eventually set for the people, thus a person candevelop comprehensively, leads a life that is materially and spirituallyrich, has intellectual ability and is able to utilize his/her creativeability, while aware of the inevitable so that he/she is able to masterhimself/herself as well as society and reach freedom. The draft strategyhighlights the viewpoint of “maximising the human factor, consideringthe people the subject, the key resource and the target of development”.It also emphasises the need to enhance capacity and create mechanismsto enable the people to fully exercise their rights to mastery,especially to direct democracy, to bring into full play all forms ofcreativity and ensure a high consensus in society, thus creating adriving power for the country’s development.
Theviewpoint of “strongly developing production forces with increasinglyhigh scientific and technological levels while at the same timeperfecting production relations in the socialist-oriented marketeconomy” lays stress on a new, important requirement of productionforces and production relations.
Production forces need to relyon growingly high scientific and technological level, which reflects thetrend that science and technology has become a direct production forcewhile production relations in the socialist-oriented market economy mustensure that “all economic sectors and all forms of enterprises developin a fast and harmonious manner. The State economic sector’s potential,strength and efficiency are enhanced. The State economy holds theleading role and acts as an important material force to help the Stateregulate and orientate the national economy, thus contributing tostabilising the macro-economy. The collective economy is developed indiverse forms with cooperative playing the core.”
TheState economy not only comprise State-owned enterprises but also otherresources owned by the State, including the state budget, land,natural resources and national reserve. Through development policies andeffective regulating and allocating mechanisms, these resources will befactors to activate and direct the implementation of structuralpolicies and socio-economic development in general. Hence, the Stateeconomy’s leading role does not involve only materials resources butalso in policy impacts and the State’s ability to use these resourceseffectively. This role is not only involve economic development either,but also socio-economic development in general. This requires us tostudy again and re-define the operation and management mechanisms ofState enterprises.
Apart from defining the Stateeconomy’s leading role, the draft strategy stresses on the need “tocreate an equal environment for competition among all economic sectors,encourage the development of multi-ownership forms of production andbusiness mainly joint stock businesses to make this economic formpopular in the national economy, thus speeding up socialisation ofproduction, business and ownership. Mechanisms and policies need to beperfected for the strong development of the private economy, turning itinto one of the driving forces behind the national economy.”
Beginningwith economic integration, countries are expanding their integrationcourse to other fields as part of an objective process. In order to beactive and proactive in our international integration and improve theeffectiveness of the process, we need to “build an increasinglyindependent and self-reliant economy in the context of wider and deeperinternational integration”. It is very necessary to stress in thecurrent circumstance. Only when the country’s economic potential andbusiness forces are strong, then the national economy is robust and thecountry’s position in integration is heightened. The more effective ourintegration is, the more favourable conditions we can enjoy to build anindependent and self-reliant economy.
2. The strategy’s goals and breakthrough points
The draft strategy outlines the general goals of “striving to turnour country basically into a modern industrialised country by 2020; withstable, democratic, rule-governed, and consensual politics-society; thepeople’s spiritual and material life is enhanced remarkably;independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity aremaintained; Vietnam’s position in the international arena continues tobe heightened; and a firm premise will be created for the country todevelop further in the next phase.”
Taking economic developmentas the core, the general goals and specific targets mentioned in thedraft strategy constitute the unity of economy, social affairs,politics, defence and security. They combine mid-term tasks withlong-term development requirements to become the “Party’s secondplatform” with the aim of deploying tasks set in the first phase ofimplementing the Platform.
To achieve these general goalsand specific targets, we need to carry out simultaneously varioussolutions and make breakthroughs in areas with blocked points which arehindering development. Once these areas are cleared, premises will becreated for us to liberate all potential and effectively exploit allresources for development. The draft strategy plans to make threebreakthroughs as follow:
Firstly, to perfect thesocialist-oriented market economy institution, focusing on forming anenvironment of equal competition and administrative reform. The goodpoint of the market economy has is the rational distribution ofresources in accordance with the market’s signals, thus increasing theeconomy’s common efficiency. The market economy can only be perfectedwhen all factors and all kinds of markets are formed synchronouslywithin an environment of equal competition. Competition is an inherentcharacter of the market economy. Through competition, businesses areforced to seek ways to cut down production costs and increaseproductivity – which in the final analysis is the decisive factor forthe triumph of a mode of production, a social regime. The market economyis always run by administrative institutions and procedures. Thus, inorder to perfect the socialist-oriented market economy institution, itis necessary to accelerate administrative reform, creating favourableconditions to people and businesses. On the other hand, the marketeconomy that we are building is a socialist-oriented market economy, inwhich economic development must be in harmony with socio-culturaldevelopment and the implementation of social progresses and justice inevery step and every development policy. Therefore, the State shouldhave proper policies and effectively use regulation tools in order todeal with problems caused by the market economy.
Secondly, to rapidly develop human resource, especially thehigh-quality one, focusing on reforming basically and comprehensivelythe national education system; and combine closely the development ofhuman resource with the application of scientific and technologicaladvances. Human beings are the subject producing all material andspiritual products. Humans create institutions, develop and applysciences and technologies, and are the most important productive force.Hence, to basically and comprehensively renew the national educationsystem in order to develop the human resource, especially high-qualityone, must be seen as a strategic breakthrough. This is both an urgentdemand and a long-term task. The need to combine closely the developmentof the human resource with the development and application of sciencesand technologies is a new content, showing the target of the humanresource development. Only the human resource that is able to developand apply scientific and technological advances in production andmanagement work can obtain a high productivity for a rapid andsustainable development.
Thirdly, to build acomprehensive infrastructure system and a number of modern projects,concentrating on large-scale urban infrastructure and transport systems.Infrastructure is a “link’ for productive factors to shift and acondition for the socio-cultural development in regions of the country.The weakness of the infrastructure system now is a big obstacle forsocio-economic development, increasing costs, reducing competitiveness,preventing the converging and spreading effects from inner factors, aswell as the use of our country’s geo-economic location in the globalchains of supply, and threatening to expanding the gap in livingconditions between regions in the country. In the next ten years, weshould mobilise all resources to make this breakthrough.
3. Directions for development
Based on the above-mentioned points of view and overall targets, thedraft strategy maps out 12 directions for development, forming asynchronous system of major solutions in all fields of economy, society,environment, national defence, security and external relations as aperfect whole of sustainable development; ensuring the combination oftwo strategic tasks of building socialism and defending the socialistrepublic. The following are the some new contents:
It can be said that restructuring the economy, shifting thedevelopment model, developing social fields in harmony with developingthe economy and environmental protection are the most important ideas aswell as the new points in the development thought.
The restructuring of the economy is not an issue to be consideredonly in the context of crisis. This process happens in progress or byleaps and bounds in correspondence with the development of sciences,technology and the shift of competitive advantages between countries.The content and pace of restructuring depends on the specific conditionsin each country. For our country, the restructuring of the economy mustbe conducted synchronously in the fields as follows:
(1) To accelerate industrialisation andmodernisation process, push up the economic restructuring, increaserapidly the proportion of industry and services in GDP. In the otherhand, it is necessary to attach importance to the long-term strategicrole of agriculture in stabilising the society, ensuring food securityand improving farmers’ living conditions.
(2)To restructure production and services sectors,focusing on developing supporting industries and hi-quality services ofbig added value in order to produce competitive products capable ofjoining the global production network and value chains. At the sametime, we must build a commodity agriculture using high technology inorder to increase value added on an unit of land acreage; closelycombine scientific-technological application with production, productionand processing with distribution within a value chain, ensuring theharmony of interests among links of this value chain, and agriculturaldevelopment with the building of new-styled areas.
(3) To restructure enterprises, continuerenewing State-owned businesses, and strongly develop private ones. Inparallel, each enterprise must conduct self-restructuring to adapt tothe technological and market changes in order to increase productivity,quality and efficiency.
(4)To pay more attention to the domestic market. Businesses shoulddevelop the distribution network of domestic market in order to dominatethis market, using it as the base to reach further to the worldmarkets, expand export markets and effectively exploit the markets thatjoin free trade agreements.
(5)To adjust investment mechanism and increase investmentefficiency. The State concentrates investment on developing humanresource and most essential socio-economic infrastructure projects, atthe same time mobilising resources of economic sectors for developmentinvestment. To encourage investment in production of big value addedproducts, supporting industries and those using clean technologies. Tolimit investment in mining industry and industries occupying largeacreages of land or using a lot of energy, and to reject low-techinvestment projects polluting the environment.
Implementing the contents of the above-mentioned restructuring requiresthe shifting from the growth model that depends on increasing investmentcapital, exploiting natural resources and low-quality human resource tothe in-depth growth model that relies on applying new scientific andtechnological achievements and using skillful human resource and modernmanagement skill. These factors are closely related to one another andhave an integrated impact and a decisive role in raising the efficiencyof capital utilisation, increase labour productivity andcompetitiveness. Science and technology are the decisive motive powerand human beings play the central role who invent and use science andtechnology and execute management functions. Only can modern managementskills bring into play the impacts of the two factors.
Changing the growth model is an objective requirement of thedevelopment process, particularly in the context of globalisation andfierce competitiveness but it is impossible to act under one’s wish.Premises and conditions must be created for the shifting process. Thesepremises and conditions are strategic breakthroughs. Hence, the firstyears of the coming strategic period should focus on settlingbreakthroughs and logically combining wide-scale and in-depth growthtowards the in-depth model.
Economicrestructuring and changing the growth model require the efforts of allbranches, authorities at all levels and the business community in whichthe State is responsible for paving the way and providing assistancewhile businesses are the subject and the major force of the process.
Socio-culture is a broad field with interactiveassociated contents and has a strong impact on economics, all fields oflife, each person and the whole community. Culture forms a value systemof a nation, creates an identity of a nation and is an important factorin the development thought. President Ho Chi Minh said “culture lightsup the road for people”. The draft strategy aims for “the comprehensivedevelopment of socio-cultural fields in harmony with economicdevelopment, and the good handling of the relationship between economyand culture to turn culture into a real spiritual foundation for thesociety and a development driving force.” The draft strategy sets therequirement of basic and comprehensive reform of the national educationto increase the human resource’s quality. This is a highlight in thedraft strategy, aiming to overcoming shortcomings and weaknesses andcreating new developments in socio-cultural fields.
Over the past years, the Party and State have always paid attentionto ensuring social security and welfare for the people with documentswith regulations on a number of concrete policies. The draft strategyoutlines a system of uniform and comprehensive viewpoints and policieswhich will serve as a foundation for the development of an effective andsustainable social security and welfare system.
Manifesting a full awareness of the threat of environmental pollution,climate change and rising sea level to sustainable development, thedraft strategy presents basic directions and concrete targets regardingenvironmental protection and improvement, emphasising the requirement ofenvironmental protection in each branch and locality’s developmentstrategy and scheme as well as in each project, promoting thesociety’s involvement in environmental protection and environmentalservices’ development. The draft strategy lays stress on theimplementation of programmes to cope with climate change, particularlyrising sea level, and accelerating international cooperation in thisglobal issue.
4. Raising the effectiveness and efficiency of State management
To successfully implement the strategy with the above mentionedcontents, unceasing efforts are required to perfect the mechanism of theParty leadership, the State management and people’s mastery. The draftstrategy manifests more profound awareness of the relationship amongthree components of the mechanism in the context of our Party being theonly one holding power and the existence of a socialist law-governedState. The Party plays the leading role while the people are themasters; the Party performs its leadership by the State and through theState. In this mechanism, the people entrust the State with implementingthe management power with the basic function of creating an environmentfor development and serving development. It is a must to set therequest of enhancing the Party leadership in the relationship withincreasing the effectiveness and efficiency of the State management andbringing into play the people’s right to mastery. The draft strategydefines the State’s functions of management and facilitation ofdevelopment, the relationship between the State and the market; putsforward solutions to renovate the Party’s leadership modes and raisesthe effectiveness and efficiency of State management; and emphasises therequirement of bringing into play the role of the Vietnam FatherlandFront, socio-political organisations and the people’s right tomastery in Party building and the State construction. Together withfinalising institutions to exercise democracy and increase directdemocracy, the draft highlights social critics’ role and theresponsibility of explanation of State agencies at all levels. Socialcritics and the responsibility of explanation contribute to, perfectingpolicies and increasing management and leadership capability.
III. Creating a strong change in the first year of implementing the strategy
The 2011-2020 strategy’s viewpoints and orientations must be includedin the 2011 socio-economic development plan. The Government hasreported and the National Assembly has adopted a Resolution on the 2011socio-economic development plan which comprehensively puts forwardtargets, tasks and big solutions. Following are key tasks of 2011.
1. Stabilising macro-economy and controlling inflation
We implement the 2011 socio-economic development plan in the contextof a predicted slower growth of the world economy, higher commodityprices than 2010, the likely spread of the public debt crisis in theEuro zone, the devaluation of the US dollar – the major currency ininternational payment, and the rise in gold price which will changeinvestment channels and cause big fluctuations in the internationalfinancial market.
In the country in 2010, theeconomy recovered and attained a relatively high growth rate (6.78percent), exports increased sharply (25.5 percent), trade deficitrepresented only 17.3 percent of export revenues and deficits in balanceof payments was reduced dramatically. However, the high inflation andinterest rates and the fluctuations of the exchange rate have putpressure on macro economic stability, caused difficulties to businessand production activities and threatened sustainable growth. In 2011,efforts need to be focus on reinforcing macroeconomic stability andcontrolling inflation which are considered a key task.
The gap between savings and investment must be narrowed, unnecessaryprojects cut to concentrate resources on projects that create newproduction and export capabilities and essential socio-economicinfrastructural facilities, budget overspending and trade deficit mustbe cut and inflation curbed. Recent years’ reality has proved that macropolicy must convey clear messages in order to create confidence for themarket and make orientations for business and production activities. Itis a must to closely follow the world and domestic economic movements,improve forecast capability, make active and sharp reactions, flexiblyuse monetary policies’ tools under the market principles, restrict theuse of administrative measures when unnecessary, increase the interbankmarket’s efficiency in stabilising and regulating capital sources amongcredits organisations, and closely combine financial policy withmonetary policy to stabilise the macro economy and control inflation. Itis necessary to increase monitoring the activities of creditsorganisations, securities companies, investment funds so as to ensurehonest business activities and abide by safety standards.
2. Strongly starting the economic restructuring process and changing the growth model
To focus on perfecting institutions and creating a healthy landmarket based on the principle that land is national asset and farmers’main production material. The State and people who hand over the landuse rights must be those who benefit from transferring land use rights.This is a basic principle to make land policies and market.
To accelerate the reform of State-owned enterprises (SOEs).Although the SOEs reform is a content of business restructuring, it is acondition to create an equal competitive environment for all economicsectors – a criteria of the market economy. The orientation and maincontent of the SOEs reform are to speed up the equitisation andrenovation of State corporations and groups. State economic groups andcorporations should focus on major fields of the national economy andchange from operating in various fields to specialised fields so as toimplement the restructuring policy. They should promote renovation andcreativeness, raising the efficiency and creating long-termcompetitiveness to take part in the global production network and valuechain. It is important to place State businesses in the competitiveenvironment and stipulate quality criteria for business operation. Therenovation of mechanisms and organisations should be conducted to raisethe responsibility and the effectiveness, efficiency of State managementand owners’ management for SOEs. Compulsory auditing mechanism must beimplemented and auditing results should be made public.
In 2010, it is a must to strongly carry out the supporting industrialdevelopment programme, considering it as a key content of therestructuring of industrial production sectors. It is an urgent need toperfect the mechanism and policies for development and management of thesupporting industry. A link must be created between manufacturing andassembling enterprises, local firms and foreign investors in selectingand developing supporting industry in product groups based on themarket’s need and with state orientations, focusing on a number ofengineering products, electric and electronic appliances and ITproducts. Foreign investors are encouraged to invest in development ofsupporting industry.
It is necessary to strongly develophigh-value-added services which have widespread effects, such astourism, distribution, transport, logistics and seaport services, inorder to take advantage of the country’s geo-economic position in theglobal supply chain. Improvement of the management mechanism should bemade to accelerate healthy development of financial services and realestate business. The national IT development programme should beimplemented, with the aim of turning Vietnam into an IT power by2020.
Efforts should be made to raise awareness on theimportant and strategic role of agriculture in the nationalindustrialisation and modernisation process, and to implement the 7 thParty Central Committee Resolution on agriculture, farmers and ruralareas. It is necessary to accelerate the implementation of the programmeon building new-styled rural areas. The State increases investment andencourages enterprises to develop socio-economic infrastructure in ruralareas, invests in biotechnology, processing industry to producehigh-yield, high-quality and competitive products. Examinations shouldbe stepped up on the compliance to food safety and hygiene standardsfrom production, processing, circulation to consumption. More investmentshould be made in storage and preserving systems to prevent losses andensure goods’ quality, regulation of supply-demand, price stability.
3.Creating favourable conditions for businesses to invest in productionand business development and expand markets, focusing on the followingtasks:
To perfect investment policies and mechanisms to mobiliseresources for development investment and improvement of investmentefficiency; expand forms of investment under the BOT, BT forms, quicklyissuing regulations on public-private-partnership (PPP) cooperation fortraffic system development, especially major projects. To speed upadministrative procedure reform in investment, establishment of land userights, customs procedure and taxation, helping reduce businessexpenditure for enterprises.
To improve businesses’ access tocapital. The development bank’s operations should focus on supportingsmall- and medium-sized enterprises; increase this bank’s fundings forcredit guarantee and project appraisal capacity. Priority should begiven to credit resources for key products, while considering a systemof allocating credit quota for business areas based on theircontributions to GDP and export turnover.
To developsupport services for business start-up. It is necessary to acceleratetrade promotion, overseas market expansion to help sharply increaseexports, while increase quality checks of imported commodities toprotect consumers and encourage domestic production. More attentionshould be paid to the domestic markets, especially rural ones. TheCampaign “Vietnamese use made-in-Vietnam product” should intensified.
4. Developing socio-cultural areas, focusing on urgent issues
Toeffective build and implement the 2011-2020 social security strategy,the sustainable poverty reduction programme and the job placementprogramme for the 2011-2015 period, with the aim of reducing the povertyrate by 2 percent in 2011 under the new criteria; developing insurancetypes and expanding social security network.
To completepolicies on medical examination and treatment and hospital fees. Tospeed up construction of hospitals using the State budget, encourageeconomic sectors to invest in building hospitals; sending more doctorsto district- and commune-level hospitals, ensuring compatibility betweenfacilities, equipment and medical workers who use the equipment,improving quality of medical check and treatment at grassrootshospitals, to reduce the burden of provincial and central-levelhospitals. State management on medicines, food hygienic safety isrequired to strengthen.
To take comprehensive measures to improveeducation quality; continue to implement approved education-trainingprojects; focusing on both two contents in the quality of generaleducation which are knowledge and morality. The teaching staff, teachingand learning conditions should be improved to expand scale of tertiaryeducation and improve its quality; building a number of high-qualityuniversities and colleges under cooperation programmes with foreigncountries, international organisations. Vocational training must bestrongly developed with quantity and structure suitable to marketdemand, focusing on vocational training for the supporting industry.Rapid development of the technology market is needed. Incentives must beissued for businesses to apply and renew technology in order to promoteeconomic restructuring, and the shifting of growth model.
Tocontinue pushing up the movement of “All people unite to build culturallife” focusing on establishing of cultured behaviour, abolishingsuperstitions, and making each person behave and live in a culturedmanner.
To implement information disseminationactivities to raise awareness on environmental protection among peopleand businesses. Checks, inspection and strict punishment of lawviolations must be intensified. It is necessary to implement thenational target and action plan on climate change resilience, sea andriver embankment upgrading programmes, flooding control solutions formajor cities and effective response to natural disasters.
To highlight the responsibility of Party organisations and authoritiesat all levels, promoting the roles of the Fatherland Front, massorganisations, the people and media in the fight against corruption andwaste. It is a must to effectively implement anti-crime and social evilprogrammes, ensuring traffic safety order.
5.Accelerating completion of management mechanism based on the principlesof ensuring the people’s democratic right and promoting the synchronousformation of the market economy’s elements. It is a need to reviewdecentralisation system to ensure that the central management ondevelopment planning is strengthened to fully tap comparative advantagesin inter-region vision to save human resources and ensure economicscale while promoting the proactive, creative and responsible role oflocalities. Preparations for elections of the National Assembly,people’s councils and consolidation of the administrations at all levelsfor the new term must be done in accordance with the requirements ofbuilding a streamlined, more effective and efficient stateadministrative apparatus, focusing on serving people as the mainfunction of administrations at all levels.
Together withthe above-said tasks, we have to attach importance and well implementnational defence, security, diplomacy tasks, creating a stable peacefulenvironment for socio-economic development, firm protection of nationalindependence sovereignty and territorial integrity.
TheGovernment and ministries, localities have to pay attention topreparation for the Tan Mao (the Year of the Cat) Lunar New Yearfestival, take synchronous measures to ensure commodities supply,control prices, maintain social order and security, and traffic safety,and care for the poor and welfare beneficiaries to ensure that allpeople enjoy a happy, healthy and economical Tet festival.
Over the past time, the entire Party, people and army actively gaveopinions to draft documents to submit to the 11 th National PartyCongress. We firmly believe that the Congress will set out a strategy tomeet the country’s development requirement. The good implementation ofthe strategy, first of all fulfilling the 2011 tasks, is a practicalwork to translate the 11 th Congress Resolution into reality and carryout Uncle Ho’s statement teaching: “the Party needs to make good plansfor economic and cultural development, in order to unceasingly improvethe people’s life.”/.
