Government lays down Resolution No.01

The resolution highlights the need to attract high-quality foreign direct investment (FDI) flows, especially those into the semiconductor industry, and encourage projects implemented under Public-Private Partnerships.

The Government has recently brought Resolution No.01 into force, which centres around economic, fiscal, and legal plans to move Việt Nam up in the global competitive rankings this year.

One of the resolution's key objectives involves macro-economic stability, fast economic growth and low inflation.

To achieve the objective, policymakers are required to keep a close watch on price fluctuations, domestically and globally, to quickly respond to inflationary shocks.

They are also required to step up tax reforms to improve collection and put an end to fraud. The continuation of tax cuts is among the fiscal possibilities that would be employed to support the economy this year.

As the objective hinges on the stability of the monetary, corporate bond, securities, and realty markets, the resolution also requires stricter supervision of financial institutions in those markets to ensure their robust operation.

"Push ahead with the scheme to reorganise credit institutions and settle bad debts between 2021 and 2025 to guarantee their stable operation," said the resolution.

It also highlights the need to attract high-quality foreign direct investment (FDI) flows, especially those into the semiconductor industry, and encourage projects implemented under Public-Private Partnerships.

Trade promotion is another must-do to achieve the objective. The resolution underlines trade matching, e-commerce, e-transaction, and free trade agreements as the catalysts for better commercial performance.

"The prices of goods and services under the State management, including electricity and fuels, need to be managed in a more open and transparent manner to keep the price levels in check," the resolution stated.

Curbing the COVID-19 pandemic is another objective on the agenda, which calls for new preventive measures and the development of domestically-produced medications for COVID-19 treatment.

The resolution also highlights the importance of international cooperation and foreign aid in the fight against the virus.

The next objective involves institutional improvement, law enforcement, and crackdowns on corruption.

To this end, the law-making process needs to be accelerated, in pace with what has been laid out in the National Assembly's guidelines on law-making for 2023, to ensure the timely enactment of important legal documents, especially those regulating the business environment.

"The step of inviting stakeholders to comment on the latest drafted version of the Law on Land should be done in a manner that ensures every single voice is heard," said the resolution.

Fighting against corruption, according to the resolution, demands a hands-off approach to administration, higher accountability of public leaders, and keeping power in check.

Those notions will be elaborated in the National Strategy to Combat Corruption until 2030 and the Scheme to Observe UN Convention against Corruption. A National Database on Personal Income is also under development to add to the corruption-preventive effort.

Achieving the objective requires the acceleration of administrative reform and digital transformation, the improvement of national competitiveness, and the development of e-government.

Additionally, the number of civil servants is planned to decrease by 5 per cent in 2026, and that of public employees by 10 per cent to streamline public agencies.

The resolution stresses the need for digital systems that facilitate public administration, including a national portal that provides public services to firms and individuals.

"As data creates value, 2023 will be designated as the Year of National Digital Data," said the resolution.

The fourth objective is to streamline the economy by improving national productivity, resilience, adaptability, and competitiveness.

Achieving the objective requires tougher measures to step up the delivery of public money, especially the money to critical projects that would act as the engine of growth in 2023 and also requires the Government to double down on its effort to restructure State-owned enterprises, handling those that run unprofitably and canceling inefficient investments.

Achieving the objective also calls for the restructuring of the digital sector and the deeper involvement of local firms in global supply chains. The contribution of the digital economy to gross domestic product (GDP) is aimed to reach around 15.5 per cent by 2023.

The next objective revolves around infrastructure upgrades, environmental protection, and the efficient use of natural resources.

The construction of critical projects, which is instrumental in achieving the objective, will be expedited to complete on schedule. Of the projects, Mỹ Thuận - Cần Thơ Highway, Mai Sơn - National Road 45 Segment, and Vĩnh Hảo - Phan Thiết Segment are among the projects expected to launch this year.

Another item on the to-do list is to remove the obstacles in the way of key power facilities, including Thái Bình 2 Thermal Power Plant and Vân Phong 2 Power Plant, to get them operational in 2023.

Environmental protection, one pillar of the objective, exposes the need for higher bars on waste disposal and garbage classification, which can be achieved by imposing heavy penalties for environmental infringement and the construction of interprovincial waste treatment facilities.