(VOVworld)- The Vietnamese government is determined to fulfill next year’s targets despite numerous challenges ahead. Cabinet members showed their determination at the government’s online meeting in the last 2 days discussing socio-economic development and budget implementation tasks for next year.
Next year, Vietnam will be likely to face high inflation, an unstable macro economy, slow progress in economic restructuring and weak business environment. To achieve socio-economic targets set for next year, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung called for greater efforts to stabilize the macro-economy and rein in inflation. “In 2013, sectors and localities need to focus on keeping inflation lower than in 2012, below 6.8%. This will be a major challenge requiring ministries, agencies and localities to monitor prices and inflation on a monthly basis. Prices usually increase in the first months of the year, especially prior to Tet. So, it’s important to prepare sufficient goods to meet the Tet demand, especially in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and other cities. We need to continue stabilizing prices and keep an eye on inflation from the first quarter of the year”, said PM Dung.
Prime Minister Dung asked the State Bank to ensure the monetary supply, regulate interest rates in line with the inflation rate and continue stabilizing exchange rates. He called on localities to balance budgets in line with adopted plans and focus on improving the real estate market. In regard to this task, Minister of Construction Trinh Dinh Dung said: “It’s important to integrate solutions to improve the real estate market in the national housing strategy. This will help enterprises overcome their difficulties and low income people find housing. This will stimulate the real estate market because social houses are subject to several preferences, exemption of land use fees and reduction of VAT and corporate income taxes”.
In 2013, the Vietnamese government hopes to attract further foreign investment with priority given to high-tech, high-value-added, environmentally friendly and energy-efficient projects which will contribute to economic restructuring. The government will issue an incentive mechanism to attract foreign investors to Vietnam. Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh said: “We propose adding industrial parks to the preferential list because they deserve government’s incentives. This will help attract more foreign investors”.
Minister of Finance Vuong Dinh Hue says that to realize next year’s socio-economic development targets, the Ministry of Finance has submitted to the government a package of 21 financial and monetary solutions, and has proposed deferring and reducing VAT and Corporate Income Taxes for small and medium-sized enterprises, which invest in agriculture, rural areas, real estate, or construction materials.
Hong Van