The Prime Minister has issueda number of measures on public debt control such as strengtheningmanagement of public spending, increasing long-term, domestic andofficial development assistance (ODA) loans at low interest rate(averagely 1.6 percent per year), and strictly managing theGovernment-guaranteed loans, the official said.
Regarding international economic integration, he stressed Vietnam’sproactive and active integration in 2015. The ASEAN Free Trade Area(AFTA) offers both opportunities and challenges, he said, adding theimprovement of legal institution and investment climate, and economicrestructure are of importance.
Vietnam is one of thecountries to actively implement the three pillars of the ASEANCommunity, namely politics-security, economics, and social-culturalaffairs, he said, warning difficulties still lie ahead such as how topreserve the national cultural identities when engaging in the ASEANcommon house.
Deputy PM Phuc also underlined the Government’skey measures to fulfil the 2015 national socio-economic plan such aspromoting agriculture production and sales of farm produce; increasingsocial investment in infrastructure building, especially transportsystem; bettering business climate and increasing competitiveness; whileaddressing social concerns, mitigating impact of natural disasters, andensuring social order and safety.
He reported thatin the first five months of 2015, the consumer price index (CPI)increased by 0.2 percent and the credit growth reached 5.18 percent,higher than 1.51 percent of the same period last year.
The Government pledged to implement more effectively the agriculturerestructure project towards increasing the added value of the productsand selecting plants and animals suitable with conditions of eachregions and localities, he said.
Regarding thequestion on anti-corruption, Deputy PM Phuc said the country detectedand handled 256 cases in 2014, up 25 cases from the previous year.
The Central Steering Committeefor Corruption Prevention and Fight has put forthmajor measures such as building institutions, increasing internationalcooperation, and promoting the role of elective agencies and the VietnamFatherland Front in detecting dishonest or illegal behaviours.
As regards encouraging the involvement of all sectors ininfrastructure development investment, he said this is a policy of theParty and State, but it does not means privatisation and must be underthe State management for the sake of the stakeholders: the State,investors, and people.
He added that the privateeconomic sector plays a crucial role in the economy to generate jobs andcreate gross domestic product (GDP). The Law on Business, which tookeffect in 2005, has enabled the development of enterprises, he said,noting that the establishment of large-scale and highly competitivefirms is essential in the integration process.
TheGovernment pledged to create favourable business environment, stabilisethe macro economy, accelerate equitisation of State-run businesses andadministrative reform to ensure fair and transparent playing grounds forbusinesses, he stated.
Concluding thequestion-and-answer session, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hungsaid the session heard over 130 opinions from the deputies and morethan 200 issues of public concerns put on the table. The discussion tookplace in a democratic, straightforward, and constructive fashion, hesaid.-VNA