(VOVworld) - State management responsibility for the exploitation of natural resources, minerals associated with environmental protection, and the handling of pending complaints and denunciations regarding land use and management, topped the agenda of the 31
st session of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly (NA) in Hanoi on Monday.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment advised the government to issue instructions on implementing the Land Law and the Law on Minerals, said the National Assembly deputies, adding that implementation has been slow. Regarding the delay of a land price guideline, Minister Nguyen Minh Quang said: "For several reasons, government decrees regulating administrative violations and land price guidelines have not yet been issued. We are doing our best to ensure that a decree on land price guidelines will be issued as soon as the government price regulation is publicized. Beginning this January, a new price list will be introduced to localities to guide compensation activities."
Minister Quang attributed the increasing complaints and denunciations related to land issues to inadequate instructions: "We have different regulations on the exploitation of natural resources in different periods. According to the 2013 Land Law, 400 documents have been promulgated regarding land clearance and compensation activities. In addition to state management, it’s important to hold local authorities responsible for the implementation of these documents."
Minister Quang said his Ministry will consult with the government to promptly issue a decree on the exploitation of natural resources which will set penalties for organizations and individuals violating licensing activities or conducting illegal exploitation.
SBV Governor Nguyen Van Binh |
Over the past three years, nearly 250 trillion VND worth of bad debts have been settled, a remarkable reduction compared to the figure of nearly 465 trillion VND reported in September 2012. The Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Nguyen Van Binh released the figure at the National Assembly Standing Committee’s Q&A session on Monday. In regard to the one-year performance of the Vietnam Asset Management Company (VAMC), Mr. Binh said:“We need to have a separate law for VAMC. The State Bank of Vietnam has listed and submitted to the government all the content of the current laws that are not suitable for settling the bad debts of VAMC. The SBV will list all decrees and legal documents that conflict with one another to make appropriate changes. The bank has proposed the government improve the financial capacity of VAMC from 500 billion VND to 2 trillion VND. In the context of a limited budget, we need to use monetary tools more effectively to deal with bad debts”.
Binh said that the credit growth was on the right track now: “By the third quarter of this year, economic growth is at 6.19%. To achieve the target growth rate of 5.8% this year, the economic growth of the fourth quarter needs to be 6.2%. This growth is achievable. We can achieve the target of credit growth of 12 and 14% in connection with the economic growth of 5.8%”.
SBV Governor Nguyen Van Binh said that the restructuring of the mechanism and policies of the State Bank had stabilized the monetary market. Commercial banks have developed their restructuring plans and 4 state commercial banks have been equitized.
Addressing the closing of the Q&A session, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung expressed his hope for more progresses in the utilization of natural resources to boost socio-economic development. He asked the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to address problems in granting land use certificates and create a mechanism to develop the real estate market. Chairman Hung stressed the need to strengthen monetary policies and economic restructuring so that by 2015, Vietnam will have a transparent financial credit system. He called for more effective measures to deal with bad debts.