2024 a year for making breakthroughs: PM

He set the tasks while chairing a national teleconference between the Government and local administrations. The event also saw the presence of State President Vo Van Thuong and National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue.

In his speech, PM Chinh held that despite internal and external difficulties and challenges last year, the socio-economic situation continued recovering with better performance recorded month on month and quarter on quarter. Vietnam basically obtained general targets and many important results in different fields.

However, he demanded steering clear of complacency as a number of problems, shortcomings, difficulties, and challenges remain.

Stressing the importance of 2024, he asked all-level authorities, sectors, and localities to closely follow the conclusions and resolutions of the Party Central Committee, the National Assembly, and  the Government to carry out tasks and reach targets.

With regard to governance orientations, he emphasised the need to govern in a proactive, flexible, and effective manner; closely and harmoniously coordinate policies; keep a close watch on the real situation and respond to emerging issues in a timely manner; tighten discipline; step up power decentralisation, administrative procedure reform, digital transformation, and the fight against corruption and other negative phenomena; and attach the same importance to cultural development as that to economic, political, and social aspects.

He also underlined ensuring political and social stability; consolidating defence and security; building an independent and self-reliant economy at the same time with active, comprehensive, intensive, substantive, and effective integration into the world; and firmly maintaining a peaceful and stable environment for fast and sustainable development.

Among the key tasks and solutions, the Government leader ordered priority be given to promoting growth, sustaining macro-economic stability, controlling inflation, and guaranteeing major balances of the economy; a proactive, flexible, timely, and effective monetary policy continued and harmoniously coordinated with the fiscal policy and others; the traditional growth drivers (investment, export, consumption) enhanced; and new growth drivers (such as regional connectivity, science - technology, innovation, digital transformation, green tradition, semiconductor, and hydrogen) promoted.

In addition, it is necessary to consolidate traditional markets and expand new ones like the UAE, Africa, and Latin America; accelerate public investment disbursement and the national target programmes; increase the State budget collection and cut spending; and strictly control overspending, public debts, Government debts, and foreign debts, he remarked.

PM Chinh requested ministries, sectors, and localities substantively conduct economic restructuring in tandem with growth model reform while developing digital economy, green economy, circular economy, and emerging sectors. They need to strongly recover and develop industries - especially processing, manufacturing, and semiconductor production - so as to ensure this year’s industrial production index will increase 7 - 8% and high-tech product exports account for over 50% of the total export value.

He also asked them to push ahead with the restructuring of agriculture and the credit institution system, as well as with the settlement of the four remaining projects and businesses with slow implementation or poor performance.

Besides, the PM demanded strongly developing cultural and social areas, guaranteeing social security, and improving people’s material and spiritual life quality.

Ministries, sectors, and localities need to enhance the management over natural resources, protect the environment, allocate resources for natural disaster and climate change response, and drastically implement the action plans for realising the commitments made at the 28th UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) and the Political Declaration on Establishing the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP).

They also need to comprehensively boost external affairs and international integration; build and fruitfully carry out action plans for implementing the country’s international commitments, agreements, and free trade agreements; effectively hold high-level diplomatic activities; and promote economy diplomacy, cultural diplomacy, foreign information service, and citizen protection, according to the Cabinet chief.

As the tasks for 2024 are very heavy but also critical to the realisation of the targets set in the resolution of the 13th National Party Congress, Government members, ministers, heads of ministry-level and Government agencies, and chairpersons of People’s Committees of localities have to ensure that the spirit of strong, timely, and effective action is thoroughly grasped by their staff members, and to strengthen their sense of responsibility, he noted, affirming the Government and PM’s support for ministries, sectors, and localities to fulfill the assigned tasks.