Planning for 2013

By Dzung Trieu law firm

It is expected that the GDP will increase by 6-6.5 percent in 2013

(VEN) - Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung recently announced Instruction 19/CT-TTg which included the target of increasing Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 6-6.5 percent in 2013, which will meet 2012's target but still remain less than the National Assembly-adopted average growth target for 2011-2015.

Next year will be vital as Vietnam ends the Socioeconomic Development Plan for 2011-2015 and sets to create momentum to reach the goals set in the 2011-2020 Socioeconomic Development Strategy.

The Instruction indicates a general goal for the short term - improving the quality of growth together with economic restructuring, continuing to stabilize the macro economy, ensuring sustainable economic development, creating an engine for successful implementation of the 2011-2015 Socioeconomic Development Plan, ensuring social welfare, expanding foreign relations, and raising Vietnam's position in the international arena.

Next year Vietnam will focus on nine major tasks. These include to develop the economy, stabilize the macro economy, develop education and training, science-technology, culture and social welfare, ensure natural resources and the environment, cope with climate change and develop in a sustainable manner, reform administration, ensure national security, enhance international cooperation, create a stable environment and make the most of external forces, improve the quality of international and domestic economic analysis and predictions and finally, renew and improve information and explanations from state agencies.

Specifically, next year the country will apply policies related to fiscal spending, credit, taxation, land and administrative reform, to reduce troubles for businesses and investors and make it possible for them to overcome difficulties and boost growth. It is expected that the GDP will increase by 6-6.5 percent.

The Government will intensify economic restructuring, firstly focusing on three major areas - investment, the financial market and businesses to improve the quality, efficiency and competitiveness of the Vietnamese economy. It will also raise and effectively use investment sources. The Government said that it would continue accelerating the pace of restructuring state-owned businesses, while applying strong and transparent sanctions to effectively manage and supervise capital and assets of state-owned groups and corporations.

It will develop agricultural products with competitive advantages and ability to join the global production value chain, prioritizing high-quality, high-added-value, high-tech and clean-technology products. Other major tasks are developing support industries, processing, manufacturing, renewable energy and electronic technology, continue attracting investment capital, effectively using capital resources to develop complete infrastructure and focusing state capital on national major projects and to draft a strategy to attract and properly choose foreign investors.

Flexible money policies will be in place in 2013 to stabilize the macro economy, facilitate production and trading, recover growth, while at the same time controlling inflation, stabilizing the value of the Vietnamese currency, harmonizing money policies in order to stabilize the macro economy and recover growth, and consistently apply policies related to the State management of market-based prices of power, coal, gasoline, oil and public services following a proper road map.

The Prime Minister underlined the need to progressively develop education and training through standardization, modernization, investment diversification and international integration until 2020, renew the educational management mechanism, develop teaching and managing staff, improve the quality of education and focus more on remote and mountainous areas and ethnic minorities, develop science and technology in order to increase productivity and product quality and to boost growth model renovation and economic growth competitiveness (it is expected that investment in science and technology will account for a little more than two percent of the GDP by 2020) and continue implementing poverty reduction projects and programs to ensure rapid and sustainable poverty reduction, particularly in poor districts and communes to progressively bridge the gap between the rich and the poor.

The Government will next year try to solve major public issues, particularly in terms of land withdrawal, resettlement, health, education-training, traffic accidents and traffic congestion in large cities, while ensuring social safety and better preventing criminals and social evils.

It is expected that tax and charge revenues will contribute 22-23 percent of the GDP in 2013. Domestic tax and charge revenues (not including crude oil and land use charges) are set to increase by a minimum 14-16 percent during 2012. Import-export tax revenues are set to increase by a minimum 5-7 percent.

A State Budget investment plan for 2013-2015 must be drafted on the basis of harmonizing investment goals and demands and budget revenues.

The Prime Minister asked the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance to complete the draft socioeconomic development plan and budget estimates for 2013 and the investment plan for 2013-2015 this coming August in order for other ministries, local authorities and businesses to provide their opinions. The plans must be submitted to the Government this coming September and to the National Assembly at the year-end session so that all related parties will be ready to implement them before the end of this year./.

Nguyen Hoa/VEN