The Government held its regular monthly meeting in Hanoi on January 30 which was chaired by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Deputy Prime Ministers Nguyen Sinh Hung, Pham Gia Khiem and Truong Vinh Trong.

Cabinet members discussed draft reports on transforming State-owned companies into joint stock companies, policies on rearrangement of redundant workforce due to the restructuring of State-owned companies, the National Assembly Standing Committee’s resolution on transferring agricultural land use right to households and individuals and national holiday to mark Hung Kings’ death anniversary.

They also discussed the Government’s action programme on implementing the 10^th National Party Congress’s resolutions concerning a number of key policies aimed at developing the national economy rapidly and sustainably after the country joined the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Cabinet members agreed to make some new changes in the Government’s decree No 187 on transforming State-owned companies into joint stock companies. Accordingly, subjects for equitisation will embrace groups, State-run companies, one-member State limited liability companies whose 100 percent of registered capital is held by the State. Shares will go public in the form of auction or contract to avoid losses for the State.

To ensure rapid and sustainable development of the national economy in the wake of Vietnam’s entry to the WTO, the Government will perform the following 12 key tasks:

1-       Disseminating Party policies and guidelines to make people fully aware of the Party’s stance on international economic integration, the country’s admission to the WTO and its opportunities and challenges.

2-       Perfecting the law-making process, issuing clear and specific law-regulated documents to ensure free trade in goods and services of all subjects in the market.

3-       Building and developing elements of the market economy with a focus on labour, land and real estate, finance-monetary and science-technology markets while building a roadmap of market prices for different types of goods and services.

4-       Renewing and increasing the efficiency of investment, diversifying the inflows of capital and forms of investment and adopting incentive mechanisms to attract foreign investors, with a strong financial and technological capacity to develop transport infrastructure and energy.

5-       Raising enterprises’ competitive capacity

6-       Enhancing administrative reform

7-       Focusing on education, training and human resource development

8-       Boosting agricultural and rural development

9-       Effectively solving social welfare issues

10-   Promoting environmental protection and sustainable development

11-   Preserving and bringing into full play national cultural values

12-   Ensuring security and national defense and safeguarding national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity in any circumstance.

Regarding the Government’s action programme, PM Nguyen Tan Dung stressed the need to synchronously implement the 12 key tasks with a focus on perfecting institutions in line with market mechanisms, accelerating administrative reform, intensifying the training of human resources and promoting infrastructure development.

On January 31, cabinet members continued to discuss the Draft Law on Special Amnesty and reports on inspection work and settlement of denunciations and petitions in 2006, and issues relating to socio-economic development, domestic market and export-import activities in January, 2007.