The teleconference was held for the first time to discuss the socio-economic situation in the first four months of the year with leaders of ministries, sectors and eight cities and provinces representing the three regions of the country.

Mr Dung said the country was not short of rice because the recent winter-spring crop supplied more than 9 million tones.

The PM said the recent increase in the price of rice in HCM City was due to commercial and public speculation. He wanted the city to strengthen information dissemination, and noted that speculation and unreasonable price increases would be strictly punished.

At the meeting, the chairmen of people’s committees of cities and provinces including those from Hanoi, HCM City, Khanh Hoa and Can Tho reported to the Prime Minister the status of local socio-economic development and existing problems.

Participants also discussed the Posco project in Khanh Hoa and construction of Can Tho Bridge in Can Tho.

PM Dung asked ministers to reply to proposals from localities in a timely fashion. Concluding the online discussion, he stressed that the Government would continue to work with provinces through online teleconferences. On the other hand, representatives from remote areas would meet with Government leaders to address their concerns and receive instant feedback. The aim of teleconference is to reduce the number of national conferences and local leaders’ working visits to Hanoi, saving time and money, the PM added.

Except for Government conferences, Mr Dung said he would use online teleconferences to work with ministries, sectors and localities on concrete and urgent issues, such as fighting the blue ear pig disease epidemic and smuggling. After the meeting, the Government Office would send reports to relevant agencies and localities.

After the meeting, leaders from localities agreed that the teleconference in an effective method to follow in the future.

Chairman of the Da Nang municipal People’s Committee Tran Van Minh said the teleconference is very convenient. “This way we can save money from the local budget and we will apply this method”.