Bridge to recovery
PM sees financial, transportation sectors as key to escaping economic downturn
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has emphasised the crucial role the State Bank of Viet Nam is expected to play to ensure Viet Nam weathers through the global recession forecast for next year.
“The central bank must act as a key consultant to the Government in the creation of policies to curb an economic slowdown and maintain economic growth,” he told a meeting in Ha Noi to set directions for the banking industry in 2009.
Flexible monetary and exchange-rate policies would be necessary to stimulate investment and spending as well as ensure socio-economic stability and secure the banking system, he said.
The global economy is expected to grow at 2.2 per cent in 2009, against 3.7 per cent this year.
Many developed countries are in recession while growth slows in developing countries.
An adverse impact on Viet Nam seems inevitable.
The central bank’s Governor, Nguyen Van Giau, re-assured the meeting that the bank would make prevention of an economic slowdown and the taming of inflation its priority.
The commercial banks were also obliged to meet the demand for funds, especially from exporters and small businesses, he said.
The central bank’s other major targets would be:
Improving credit quality; bank governance; banking laws and technology;
Co-operating with the ministries to ensure cohesive policy, especially between the monetary and the fiscal;
Improving statistics and forecasting so as policy makers can quickly react to domestic and global events as well as to ensure liquidity for the banking system;
Having credit institutions to restructure their business to ensure money goes first to manufacturing, exports, agriculture and small-to-medium sized enterprises; Enhancing the non-cash payment network; and
Enforcing the supervision and inspection of banks.
Road works
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has urged the transport ministry to improve its capacity and efficiency, particularly in traffic safety.
The Government leader was speaking at a workshop held in Ha Noi yesterday to review the transport sector’s achievements in 2008 and determine its targets for 2009.
He said the sector had made clear progresses in ensuring traffic safety, particularly in reducing traffic accidents and forcing drivers to wear helmets.
He also said it had effectively performed the spending of traffic infrastructure funds despite many difficulties, adding that this had contributed to national growth and jobs.
The PM urged the transport ministry to pay particular attention to building the mechanism for spending on construction, capital mobilisation and traffic safety and order.
He said the ministry should continue to carry out inspections to ensure the quality and efficiency of projects.
The PM asked the ministry to focus on keeping its steering role in ensuring safety in aviation and reducing road-traffic accidents.
Transport minister Ho Nghia Dung pledged to overcome any difficulties in achieving all these objectives in 2009.
The sector plans to spend more than VND4.9 trillion ($288 million) in Official Development Assistance (ODA) and VND10 trillion ($588 million) in Government bonds to implement projects and reduce traffic accidents.
Many delegates said there was a need to solve problems and shortcomings in developing traffic infrastructure, particularly overcoming slow land clearances that have delayed many projects.
They proposed the transport ministry simplify spending on infrastructure and procedures to help investors speed up projects.
The ministry reported that the sector disbursed VND2.4 trillion ($141 million) from the State budget in the first half of 2008, about 27.5 per cent of the yearly target.
Transport minister Dung said the construction of many transport projects nationwide had become faster. Work had also started on many new projects in the last months of the year thanks to measures by the Government to reform investment and bidding procedures.
In 2008, the sector transported 1.9 billion passengers, 604 million tonnes of goods, making year-on-year increases of 8.1 and 8.9 per cent, respectively.
The number of fatalities caused by traffic accidents dropped by 1,512 people to over 10,000.
The sector also had success in encouraging drivers to wear helmets and the aviation sector saw the country’s first fully private-owned airline, Indochina Airlines, open a route linking Ha Noi with HCM City.
However, shortcomings remain in the sector, including low-quality planning, low implementation of projects, lack of capital for upgrading traffic infrastructure, a low competitive edge and challenges in ensuring traffic and labour safety.
The sector has yet to make progresses in administrative reform and preventing and controlling corruption.
To solve these issues, the transport sector plans to prepare documents guiding the implementation of the Road Traffic Law, speed up the progress and quality of planning tasks and calling for investment in infrastructure and traffic-development projects. (VNS)
