Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung outlined seven major tasks for the rest of the year at the 12th-tenure government’s first meeting on Sunday.
Stabilizing consumer prices tops the new government’s agenda, followed by luring more investment capital, then improving road safety and food hygiene.
The Ministry of Planning and Investment reported that the nation’s consumer price index (CPI) rose by 6.19% from January to July, well above the 4.4% of the same period last year, and that bird flu and several pig diseases continued to spread.
The government has set a target of attracting US$15 million in foreign direct investment (FDI) this year, and the PM asked to see a quicker pace of FDI disbursement.
He said that all ministries, branches, provinces and cities should make an all-out effort to raise GDP to 9% this year, and asked them to work out detailed plans for administrative reform and adhere to these plans to the letter.
Since hunger eradication and poverty reduction are also on the government’s list of priorities, PM Dung urged all agencies and local-level authorities to include these tasks in their socioeconomic development plans.
He added that the dissolution of and merger between ministries should not interrupt the work of the people, businesses or the management of those ministries and thereby strain the public purse.
At a press briefing afterwards, Minister of Home Affairs Tran Van Tuan said another task for the government this year was to define the functions, tasks, powers and structures of ministries and other state agencies.
