Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung was speaking on January 31 when he wrapped up a two-day cabinet meeting in Hanoi to review its performance in January.

The PM emphasised that ministries and services should accelerate the pace of major construction projects, putting them in the service of socio-economic development. Orientation plans for the services sector should be worked out as fast as possible, including import-export, tourism, and telecom fields in order to maintain the country's economy growth rate and the increase in the market shares of the services sector.

He added that the financial and banking sector, which is developing rather smoothly, should also take measures to ensure strict supervision of its growth process to facilitate the expansion of the market, avoiding major fluctuations.

Concerning administrative reform, the PM asked ministries and relevant authorities to continue reviewing and settling unsolved issues, underlining the Ministry of Home Affairs' role in reporting the administrative reform achievements at regular cabinet meetings.

On the fight against corruption, PM Dung urged the Ministry of Public Security, the Government Inspectorate to cooperate with ministries, branches and localities in promptly settling newly-uncovered cases in accordance with the Vietnamese law and punishing all criminals.

Cabinet members agreed that the stable economic growth was maintained in the first month of 2007, with a high increase of 26 percent in industrial production value over the same period last year.

In January, Vietnam earned an export value of US$3.3 billion, a 7.7 percent year-on-year increase, while its import value reached US$3.4 billion, up 30.8 percent. The country also attracted US$350 million in foreign direct investment from newly-licensed projects and additional capital of operational projects.

The cabinet also heard and discussed a number of reports, including the Government's action plan to implement the Resolution of the Party Central Committee's 4th session on major policies to ensure rapid and sustainable economic development after Vietnam joined the World Trade Organisation (WTO).