RESOLUTION No. 41/2004/QH11 OF DECEMBER 3, 2004 ON THE 2005 TASKS THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM Pursuant to Article 84 of the 1992 Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, which was amended and supplemented under Resolution No. 51/2001/QH10 of December 25, 2001 of the X th National Assembly, its 10 th session; Having considered the report of the Government, reports of various agencies of the National Assembly, the concerned agencies and opinions of National Assembly deputies; RESOLVES: The National Assembly has basically agreed with the assessment of implementation of 2004 tasks; the 2005 orientations and tasks with objectives, targets and solutions mentioned in the Government’s report, the reports of agencies of the National Assembly and the concerned agencies; and at the same time has laid stress on some following issues: I. ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE 2004 PLAN In 2004, despite numerous difficulties at home and adverse impacts from overseas, Vietnam’s economy still saw a fairly high growth rate. Almost all major socio-economic development targets have been attained or topped the plans under the National Assembly’s Resolution. Encouraging results have been obtained in agricultural production; the industrial growth rate has been fairly high, improvements have been seen in service provision, export has witnessed high increase. Resources mobilized for development investment have been diversified, internal strength has been better promoted, thus accelerating the economic restructuring for the better. The State budget revenue has surpassed the estimate. Progress has been made in some cultural and social aspects. Many results have been obtained in the work of hunger elimination and poverty alleviation. The people’s life has continued to improve. The political situation has been stable; national defense, security and social order and safety have been firmly maintained. External relations have been constantly expanded; Vietnam’s role and position have been raised, the process of negotiations for accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) has seen marked progresses. The above results have been attributed to the great efforts of the entire Party, entire population and entire army; to the dynamic and effective administration by the Government, ministries, branches, localities; the active supervision by people-elected bodies; the increasingly effective contributions of overseas Vietnamese and the support and assistance of foreign friends. However, the 2004 socio-economic situation still sees many limitations and weaknesses. Economic growth is recorded at a rate lower than the set target; marked improvement has not yet been seen in its quality, efficiency and sustainability. The State’s development investment capital has been slowly disbursed and scattered, resulting in outstanding debts and big losses. The consumer price indexes have risen high, adversely affecting many production branches and people’s life. The socialization of social domains has been slow to be materialized and seen numerous weaknesses; burning issues in education and training have been slow to be tackled. Traffic accidents have not yet been curbed and repelled. The situation on crimes and social evils has developed in a complicated manner. Red tape and corruption remain to be acute. The life of people in rural, deep-lying, remote, natural disaster-hit areas remains difficult. The living standard gap between regions, particularly between cities and the countryside, remains fairly big. Administrative reform has seen no considerable improvement. Social management has seen weaknesses. II. MAJOR OBJECTIVES AND TARGETS OF 2005 1. The overall objectives: 2005 is the final year of the 2001-2005 five-year plan, hence vigorous improvements in growth rate and quality must be created in the year. To strive to develop the economy fast with higher efficiency and sustainability. To mobilize to the utmost and efficiently use all resources within and without the country. To improve the investment, production and business environments. To create marked improvement in administrative reform, and perfect the economic institutions. To work out mechanisms to strongly encourage resources among the population to join the State in caring for the cause of education and training, healthcare, culture, physical training and sports. To firmly maintain political stability as well as social order and safety, maintain defense as well as border, marine and island security. 2. Major targets: - The gross domestic product (GDP) to increase 8.5%; - The agricultural, forestry, fishery production value to increase 5.2%; the added value to increase 3.8%; - The industrial production and construction value to rise 16%; the added value to increase 11%; - The added value of services to increase 8.2%; - The consumer price indexes to rise below 6.5%; - The total export turnover to increase 16%; - The total development investment capital of the entire society to represent 36.5% of the GDP; - To create new jobs for 1.6 million laborers; including 70,000 export laborers; - The number of vocational trainees to rise 12%; - The poor household rate to drop to below 7%; - The malnourished under-5 children rate to drop to 25%; - The birth rate to reduce by 0.04%. III. MAJOR TASKS AND SOLUTIONS 1. To raise the quality of economic growth. To restructure investment in association with the target of vigorous economic restructuring; production and business investment in association with the assurance of raw material sources and outlets. To attach importance to technological renewal. To develop industrial products involving high technology, industries in support of agriculture and the countryside. To apply appropriate mechanisms for various economic sectors to participate in strongly developing services, particularly those capable of quickly generating added value, high-grade services, services with great potential and competitiveness. To apply synchronous measures against scatteredness, losses, wastage and negative phenomena in capital construction investment. To well implement the National Assembly’s Resolution on capital construction investment with State capital. To concentrate on strongly developing the medium-term and long-term capital market. To raise the capability of attracting foreign direct investment capital. To continue attracting and efficiently using the official development assistance (ODA) capital sources. To apply synchronous valorization measures, concentrating on production development in order to regulate supply and demand, to intervene in time through financial, monetary, administrative and other economic measures in order to create favorable environment for investment, sustainable economic growth and people’s life improvement. To reorganize, renew and consolidate State enterprises operating in key branches and domains, thereby to actively carry out equitization according to set programs and schedule. To concentrate efforts on making healthy the financial relations in State enterprises. To implement the mechanism of bidding, placing orders for production and/or provision of public-utility products or services for all enterprises, regardless of economic sectors. To strive to increase revenues and absolutely save expenditures, to combat formality. To actively implement the monetary, exchange rate and interest-rate policies suitable to the market fluctuation. To raise the quality of credit, to enhance the work of examination, inspection and supervision in order to raise the safety in banking operations. To step up export, to strictly manage import of every commodity group so as to limit trade deficit. 2. To formulate a strategy on socialization of social activities, to heighten the responsibility of administrations at all levels, to mobilize resources among population, the participation of mass organizations, economic sectors and social organizations in investment in development of healthcare, education, culture, science, sports.... To raise the quality of vocational training for laborers, particularly rural youth, ensuring jobs for farmers whose land is recovered for use for other purposes and meeting labor export demands. To work out specific policies, especially that on accommodation for laborers working in industrial parks and export processing zones. To reorganize and raise the efficiency of social insurance, take steps to realize the scheme on wage policy reform, social insurance and preferential allowances for people with meritorious services. To adjust the poverty criteria corresponding to those of regional countries. To concentrate to efficiently and steadily settle the question of hunger elimination and poverty alleviation in rural, deep-lying, remote regions and areas inhabited by ethnic minority people, particularly poor families of people with meritorious services, abolishing makeshifts. To intensify the propagation and mobilization for the control of population growth rate; to promptly promulgate legal documents guiding the implementation of the Ordinance on Population. To enhance the State management over hospital fees and medicine prices; to prioritize the development of domestic production of essential medicines; to invest in upgrading of district-level medical establishments and those in difficulty-hit areas, regions of ethnic minority people. To improve and expand forms of health insurance. To raise the professional ethics of medical workers. To continue implementing the scheme on management of, and job-training and job creation for, drug addicts who have gone through detoxication in Ho Chi Minh city and a number of provinces and cities. To apply synchronous measures for drug and prostitution prevention and combat. 3. To efficiently realize the target programs on culture and information; to step up the movement for entire population to unite together in building a cultured life; to raise the people’s cultural and spiritual life; to enhance inspection and examination against unhealthy activities in the field of culture. To raise the radio and television coverage of mountainous, border and island regions; to build up radio and television programs in ethnic minority languages. To intensify cultural and art exchanges with countries in the world. To raise the quality of education. To study the adjustment of educational strategy till 2010 and formulate long-term educational strategy for subsequent years. To well implement the National Assembly’s resolutions on education. To raise the quality of healthcare for children, to efficiently realize the policy on free-of-charge medical examination and treatment for under-6 children. To integrate socio-economic programs with the protection, care and education of children in exceptional circumstances, reduce the numbers of street children and minor law offenders. To enhance education of morality and good manner in sports; to combat negative phenomena in sports. To efficiently tap material foundations in service of physical training and sports, particularly works built in service of SEA Games 22. 4. To step up scientific research in service of the formulation of socio-economic development strategies, policies and plans of the whole country, each region, each branch. To develop technology market; to finalize legal documents on intellectual property; to boost the fast development of hi-tech domains and raise the technological levels in production, business and services. To intensify transfer of scientific and technological advances in service of agriculture and the countryside. To renew the financial mechanisms applicable to scientific and technological activities, the mechanism for organization and management of scientific research institutions; to promote the application of scientific research results; to set time-tables for shifting technological research, application and transfer institutions to operate as enterprises. To speed up the construction of hi-tech parks and key national laboratories. To continue perfecting the system of Vietnam standards on environment. To well assess the environment according to the viewpoint of sustainable development in socio-economic development programs, plans and projects. To enhance the management and supervision of activities of natural resource exploitation and use; to work out measures to actively ward off and handle environmental pollution, redress environmental degeneration, to improve environment and conserve nature. To step up environmental protection propagation and education. To expeditiously study, amend and supplement the Environmental Protection Law. To diversify sources of investment for environment with separate State budget expenditures reserved for non-business environmental activities. 5. To assess the efficiency of implementation of socio-economic development in mountainous areas and regions facing exceptionally difficult socio-economic conditions; to revise mechanisms and policies applicable to ethnic minority regions in order to make timely adjustments suitable to the practical situation. To realize the program on production-land, residential land, dwelling-house and clean-water supports for ethnic minority households. To well carry out the sedenterization and production stabilization; to renovate mode of production, to transfer technologies and supply information with a view to strongly developing the commodity economy; to efficiently implement the policy of training grassroots officials for mountainous regions, islands, border areas and ethnic minority regions. To assess the results of 15 years’ implementing the regime of nomination and selection of trainees so as to work out appropriate measures for subsequent periods in order to create sources of cadres for each ethnic group, especially those having no cadres of university or college degree. To preserve and develop spoken and written languages of various ethnic groups. 6. To continue with the action program for implementation of the strategy for defense of the Fatherland in the new situation, combining the tasks of socio-economic development with the tasks of consolidating and enhancing the defense and security potentials. To actively prevent, detect in time and foil all schemes and factors causing political instability, disrupting social order and security, threatening to infringe upon national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, security. To enhance close coordination between the people’s army and the people’s police, between ministries, branches as well as localities and the people’s armed forces in efficiently performing the tasks of national defense and security, preventing and combating natural disasters and enemy sabotage. To concentrate on building and raising the quality of the people’s armed forces so as to have capability and strength to fulfill the assigned tasks. 7. To continue carrying out external activities in the spirit of initiative and activeness with a view to consolidating and improving the long-lasting and stable relations with neighboring countries in the region, primary important partners while expanding ties with international organizations. To perfect the uniform management mechanism in order to bring into full play the integrated strength of external activities in service of national construction and defense. To attach importance to outbound information and propagation, mobilization of overseas Vietnamese. To support market information and trade promotion; to guide enterprises in implementation of CEPT/AFTA program in order to actively participate in the ASEAN markets. To actively prepare and ensure conditions for accelerating the international economic integration. 8. To continue raising the quality and efficiency of the work of investigation, procuracy and adjudication of criminal cases, ensuring not to omit crimes and not to do injustice on innocent people. To promptly and lawfully settle civil, marriage and family-related, economic, labor and administrative cases. To overcome the state of violating provisions on procedural time limits, returning of case files for additional investigation, suspension of case investigation as the convicts are pleaded not guilty; the state of canceling or correcting many judgments or rulings; the late pronouncement of judgments and/or decisions and the failure to enforce already effective judgments and/or decisions of courts. To work out active and resolute measures to prevent and repel crimes, social evils and traffic accidents. To quickly promulgate adequate documents guiding the implementation of laws, ordinances, ensuring specific and transparent legal grounds in social relations, in management and legal proceedings. To strictly implement Resolution No. 388/2003/NQ-UBTVQH11 of the National Assembly Standing Committee on compensation for damage caused to persons on whom injustice was done by competent persons in legal proceedings. To consolidate and rearrange the contingent of judicial officials, paying special attention to raising the qualifications, sense of responsibility and moral qualities of investigators, procurators, judges, court clerks, executors in order to efficiently implement the undertaking of judicial reform. To detect in time and severely handle cases of corruption. To expeditiously prepare the Anti-Corruption Law and submit it to the National Assembly for consideration and adoption. The Government shall coordinate with the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuracy and the concerned agencies as well as organizations in studying and proposing solutions to raise the efficiency of the struggle to prevent and fight corruption. 9. To ensure the people’s legitimate rights and interests suitable to realities when formulating and promulgating policies especially on land recovery, ground clearance compensation, construction of new works; to publicize the organization of implementation thereof, to minimize complaints and denunciations by citizens. To concentrate on definite settlement of existing, complicated and prolonged complaints; to promptly settle newly arising complaints and denunciations; to intensify inspection and supervision of the settlement of complaints and denunciations. 10. To speed up the process of administrative reform. To review and adjust the existing regulations, abolishing irrational procedures. To continue reorganizing and consolidating the organizational apparatuses along the direction of high qualifications, tidiness, efficiency and clear-cut definition of functions and tasks. To raise the morality and sense of discipline observance of officials and public employees. To link responsibility to rights and specify the liability regime applicable to the heads of agencies or organizations. To well implement the Regulation on democracy and conciliation at the grassroots. To enhance rules and disciplines in the State agencies. To create big improvement in thrift practice and wastefulness combat. To intensify the people’s supervision, intensify inspection, detect and severely handle law-breaking officials or public servants. To study the renewal of regime of supply of transport and working means for officials in the State agencies. IV. IMPLEMENTATION ORGANIZATION The Government shall direct and administer branches and levels in successfully achieving the 2005 objectives, targets and tasks; to strive for the successful accomplishment of the 2001-2005 five-year plan. The Standing Committee, the Nationality Council and Committees of the National Assembly, the delegations of National Assembly deputies, the NA deputies, the People’s Councils of all levels and the People’s Council deputies must closely supervise the implementation of this Resolution. Vietnam Fatherland Front and its member organizations as well as other social organizations shall mobilize people of all strata to well implement the Resolution of the National Assembly. The National Assembly calls on the compatriots and combatants throughout the country and overseas Vietnamese to heighten the spirit of patriotic emulation, unity, mobilize all resources, surmount difficulties and trials, striving to successfully fulfill the 2005 tasks. This Resolution was passed on December 3, 2004 by the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam at its 6 th session. Chairman of the National Assembly NGUYEN VAN AN