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| Loading cargo on a ship for export at Tien Sa port, Da Nang__Photo: Tran Le Lam/VNA |
Having assessed that 2024 is the year of acceleration, bearing an especially important significance for the successful implementation of the 2021-25 socio-economic development plan, the Government on January 5 adopted simultaneously two resolutions. Resolution 01/NQ-CP specifies major tasks and solutions to implement the 2024 socio-economic development plan and the state budget estimates. Resolution 02/NQ-CP sets major tasks and solutions to improve the business environment and raise the national competitiveness in 2024. Last year, the contents of Resolution 02/NQ-CP were part of Resolution 01/NQ-CP.
Tasks and solutions to implement the 2024 socio-economic development plan
According to Resolution 01/NQ-CP, in order to successfully accomplish the 2024 socio-economic development and state budget objectives and tasks set out in the resolutions and conclusions of the Party Central Committee and the National Assembly, the Government requests authorities at all levels, sectors and localities to overcome difficulties and challenges, persistently holding the spirit of unity, self-reliance, resilience, proactive adaptation, flexibility, resolute action, efficiency, active innovation under the theme “responsible discipline, prompt proactivity; accelerated innovation; sustainable efficiency” according to six guiding viewpoints.
The Government also identifies a dozen of major tasks and solutions. The top priorities include promoting economic growth, maintaining macro-stability, controlling inflation and ensuring major balances. In particular, credit solutions will be implemented in a way suitable to macro-economic and inflation development, meeting the capital demand of the economy. These solutions include controlling credit for domains with potential risks; encouraging credit institutions to minimize expenses and simplify lending procedures; striving to lower the lending interest rates with a view to supporting the economy. In addition, solutions to increase the credit accessibility of enterprises and people, will be promoted, restricting and putting an end to “black credit”.
The Government also urges the enhancement of financial-state budget discipline; strict management of state budget collection and tax refund according to regulations; and the absolute practice of thrift on expenditures, especially recurrent expenditures. Right from the beginning of 2024, the recurrent expenditure estimates will be cut by 5 percent compared to the allocated estimates. The application of policies on tax, charge, fee, land rent exemption, reduction or extension will be further considered to support people and enterprises. The targets of 18 million international arrivals and 110 million turns of domestic tourists will be strived for in 2024.
It is also important to further review and complete institutions, laws, mechanisms and policies in association with raising the efficacy and efficiency of law enforcement; and vigorously step up the reduction and simplification of administrative procedures and business regulations. In addition, the construction and development of strategic synchronous and modern infrastructure systems, especially expressways, airports, seaports, urban infrastructure, inter-regional infrastructure, digital infrastructure, and social, medical and educational infrastructure, will be stepped up.
The Government clearly states that efforts should be concentrated on speeding up the construction of national important transport projects such as eastern North-South expressway, ring road 4 of Hanoi capital region, ring road 3 of Ho Chi Minh City, Khanh Hoa-Buon Ma Thuot, Chau Doc-Can Tho- Soc Trang, Bien Hoa-Vung Tau, and Tuyen Quang-Ha Giang roads, Long Thanh airport, and Terminal 3 of Tan Son Nhat international airport; early completing the upgrading of maritime channels into Cai Mep-Thi Vai port, and South Nghi Son port; putting into operation the overhead section of Nhon-Hanoi railway station urban train and Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien urban railroad, striving to achieve the 2025 target of 3,000 km of expressways with at least 130km being put into operation in 2024.
In addition, the Government clearly states the tasks to further complete and build streamlined apparatuses operating effectively and efficiently; further step up the prevention and combat of corruption and negative practices, waste and group interests; and tighten the administrative discipline.
Major tasks and solutions to improve the business environment
In order to definitely remove the bottlenecks in the investment and business environment for breakthrough development, Resolution 02/NQ-CP to improve the business environment and raise the national competitiveness was issued as a separate document after being incorporated last year in Resolution 01/NQ-CP. This new move conveys the message that improving the investment and business environment is regarded as a crucial task, requiring the concerted settlement by the Government, ministries, ministerial-level agencies and localities.
Resolution 02 sets out a number of guiding viewpoints. First, it is important to firmly grasp, strictly abide by, and implement in a synchronous, resolute, efficient and substantive manner the resolutions and conclusions of the Party, resolutions of the National Assembly and the Government, and directives of the Prime Minister. Second, it is necessary to enhance the right to business freedom for people and enterprises in accordance with the 2013 Constitution; create a favorable environment for investment and business activities and develop new and creative business ideas; and reduce procedures, time, expenses and risks for enterprises.
Another viewpoint is to heighten the quality of policy making; assess the comprehensive impacts based on scientific and practical data before proposing the issuance or revision of regulations affecting the people and enterprises, strictly complying with the consultation process; ensure the widespread consultation of affected stakeholders; and hold public dialogues for consensus. There is a need to refrain from issuing regulations requesting enterprises to share information and data outside the jurisdiction and scope defined in legal documents. Requesting enterprises to share data must comply with the law, jurisdiction, management scope and clear regulations of state management agencies in protecting the information and data of enterprises.
It is essential to step up the power decentralization and division in couple with resource allocation and enhanced supervision and inspection; raise the quality of enforcement of legal documents, and resolutely cut the costly administrative procedures for people and enterprises; and settle administrative procedures strictly according to schedule without raising additional requests and conditions for enterprises. Clear mechanisms to protect civil servants who settle investment and business procedures in case of inconsistencies and disparities of provisions in different legal documents will be established.
It is important to preserve and widely develop good and advanced policy experiences in state management of production and business activities, and promptly establish and complete institutions and policies on business environment for flexible adaptation suitable to new development trends such as innovation, digitalization, and green transformation.
The Resolution puts forth the general objectives being vigorous qualitative improvement of business environment to suit the development situation and trend, aiming to heighten our country’s position on international rating tables. It says it is important to create a healthy competition environment; quickly increase the number of newly set-up enterprises; reduce the rate of enterprises temporarily suspending operation; increase the number of enterprises engaged in innovation, green transformation, or digitalization; reduce the input and law compliance costs in investment and business activities; reduce policy risks; and strengthen the confidence of, and create restoration mainstay for, enterprises.
By 2025, Vietnam must strive for attaining the competitiveness rankings as follows:
- Sustainable Development Index, ranked by the United Nations (UN): among top 50 countries;
- Global Innovation Index (GII), ranked by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO): up by at least three places;
- E-Government Development Index (EGDI), ranked by the UN: up by at least five places;
- International Property Rights Index (IPRI), ranked by the Property Rights Alliance (PRA): up by at least two levels;
- Logistics Performance Index (LPI), ranked by the World Bank (WB): up by at least four levels.
- Travel and Tourism Development Index (TTDI), ranked by the World Economic Forum (WEF): up by at least two places.
- Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI), ranked by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU): among top 30 countries.
Regarding specific goals for 2024, the Resolution determines that the number of enterprises joining the market (those newly set up and resuming operation) will increase by at least 10 percent over 2023. The number of enterprises withdrawing from the market (dissolved or bankrupt) in 2024 will rise by below 10 percent only as compared to 2023.
- For GII: Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Development Index (IDI), up by at least three levels; Environmental Quality Index, up by at least 10 levels; and ICT Service Export Index, up by at least five levels.
- Registering Property Index in the IPRI: up by at least two levels.
- Efficiency of Customs Clearance Process in the LPI: up by at least 0.2 point.
- TTDI: Prioritization of Travel and Tourism component index, up by at least five levels; Tourist Service Infrastructure component index, up by at least three levels.
For realizing the above goals, the Government will implement various tasks and solutions to enhance responsibility, proactivity and promptness of ministries and agencies assigned to act as focal points to monitor the improvement of index sets and ministries and agencies assigned with the main responsibility for groups of indexes and component indexes.
Specifically, the cabinet will attach importance to some groups of solutions. These include removing inadequacies in the implementation of investment projects; raising the quality of reforming the list of conditional investment and business lines as well as business conditions; and heightening the efficiency of management activities, stepping up the reform of specialized inspection activities over commodities and efficiently implementing the Vietnam National Single Window. It is necessary to intensify the application of information technology and data connection and sharing among state agencies so as to raise the effectiveness of settlement of administrative procedures. The capital accessibility and absorbability of enterprises need to be enhanced. Policies must be improved in order to boost enterprises’ investment, production and business in association with innovation, digitalization and green transformation toward sustainable development. It is also vital to raise the quality of business development services.
In the January interview with the VnEconomy correspondent at the 2024 Vietnam Economic Scenario Forum, Dorsati Madani, senior economic expert of the World Bank, held that for growth, attention should be paid more to domestic driving forces. Consumption would continue to be the principal driver for growth. Domestic private investment, if being restored and improved, could constitute a good source of contribution to economic growth.
The expert recommended Vietnam, in addition to policies on restoration of the private economy, continue attaching importance to green transformation and digital transformation as these are inevitable global trends in the time to come.
The Government requests ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-attached bodies and chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees to regard improving the business environment as a focal priority task. They should personally direct and take responsibility before the Government and Prime Minister for the results of implementation of this Resolution.
They are urged to formulate and adopt before January 20 action programs and plans and specific documents for realizing this Resolution, clearly identifying the specific goals, tasks and implementation schedule as well as tentative implementation results. They are required to send reports thereon to the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Government Office for submission to the Prime Minister. They are also asked to organize communications activities on improving the business environment in the fields under their respective charge.
Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung said that in 2024, his Ministry will thoroughly study reports of enterprises so as to remove difficulties and problems for them, slash business conditions, improve the investment and business environment, and support big enterprises and sole proprietorships to enter the global market.-
