Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc hasrequested resolutely no delay in law building in preparation for the upcomingfifth session of the National Assembly (NA) scheduled for mid-May.

During the government’s monthly meeting on May 3, the PMcriticised the slow progress and poor quality of draft laws to be submitted tothe NA, and asked the Ministry of Justice and other ministries and agenciesconcerned to devise specific solution to fix the issue.

“Building institutions is the top priority of the Governmentin this term,” Phuc said.

Looking back the past four months, the PM lauded ministries,agencies and localities for issuing specific action plans to fulfillsocio-economic development targets. In particular, the government held fourthematic national conferences to address difficulties across socio-economicfields. Via trade promotion forums, increasing inbound and outbound capitalhave fueled production and trade.

A number of measures regarding socio-culture, the settlementof complaints and denunciations, national defence-security, and especiallyexternal relations have proved effective, he said.

The PM noted that macro - economic stability has beenmaintained during January-April, with the consumer price index in April only risingby 0.08 percent month-on-month, and the four-month index up by only 2.8 percentannually. The total foreign reserves neared 63 billion USD while the State Bankof Vietnam bought more than 32 billion USD in two years, a positive signal forthe Vietnamese economy.

Rice output increased by 668,000 tonnes, industrialproduction index went up 11.4 percent in four months, and exports soared 20percent to approximately 74 billion USD. Trade surplus surpassed 3.39 billionUSD and State budget collection was 12 percent higher than the same period lastyear, or 33.8 percent of the estimate. Foreign arrivals in Vietnam topped 5.5million, up roughly 30 percent.

The PM said the business environment has improved withprogress in administrative reform, especially in industry and trade, healthcare, transport and construction. The provincial competitiveness index has hitrecord since 2005, proving that business climate in localities has been betterwith more than 41,000 newly-established firms during the period.

Localities were hailed for strictly dealing with lawviolations to protect the environment and strengthen investors’ trust.

On the fight against corruption, the leader said under the drasticdirection of the Party General Secretary and head of the Central SteeringCommittee on Corruption Prevention and Control, the government has exerted themost efforts to deal with cases of public concern such as the AVG televisionchannel purchase, land purchase in Da Nang city, and gambling on Internet, thusstrengthening public trust under the Party leadership and State management.

The PM pointed out an arrayof difficulties and challenges that need to be addressed such as unsustainablemacro economy, low disbursement of construction investment capital from Statebudget, and slow attraction of foreign direct investment (FDI).

He said the business environment should befurther improved since the market penetration index of Vietnamese enterprisesis only at 123rd among 190 nations worldwide.

He requested pushing ahead with investmentreform, noting that many ministries and departments have yet to proactivelyreduce administrative procedures, causing difficulties for businesses.

The PM also expressed his concerns over a numberof social, cultural, and religious issues and reminded localities to strengthenmanagement in the fields.

After his opening speech, the cabinet heard areport presented by the Ministry of Justice about the outcomes of building lawsand ordinances in 2018 and the promulgation of documents stipulating in detailsthe implementation of laws and ordinances in the first four months of thisyear.-VNA