Topic: government

The Ministry of Finance’s plan on implementing the Public Debt Strategy to 2030, which has been approved by the Minister of Finance, outlines seven lists of tasks and projects, including a proposal to supplement and amend the Law on Public Debt Management in line with international practice. The 2030 public debt strategy sets a target that, by 2030, Vietnam’s public debt will not exceed 60 per cent of GDP, government debt will not exceed 50 per cent of GDP, and foreign debt will not exceed 45 per cent of GDP.

The government has issued measures for implementing the Planning for Inland Waterway Infrastructure in the 2021-2030 Period and Vision to 2050, which identifies 17 investment projects using State budget capital and a series of projects upgrading and expanding passenger and cargo ports using enterprise capital. A breakthrough mechanism on access to foreign preferential loans by the government will also be applied for infrastructure projects that effectively connect inland waterway traffic with seaports.

Addressing the Conference of Representatives of the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC)’s capital at enterprises on October 21, SCIC Deputy General Director Le Thanh Tuan said the total capital owned by the SCIC currently accounts for nearly 2 per cent of total State capital in enterprises. The SCIC will strive to improve the efficiency of representatives of State capital in enterprises and be a strategic investor of the government.

More than VND5.4 trillion ($220 million) will be set aside by the government for six railway projects in the 2021-2025 period, with construction of the Nha Trang - Ho Chi Minh City section hoped to begin by the end of this year. The Ministry of Transport is now urgently completing investment in four projects renovating and upgrading the Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City line, with total capital of VND7 trillion ($286 million), and is preparing to invest in important new international routes.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has said that, over the past year, the government and localities have spent more than VND86 trillion ($3.54 billion) on supporting over 56 million people facing difficulties due to the pandemic and also over 730,000 employers. But in order for the poor to sustainably escape from poverty, it is necessary to create appropriate mechanisms and policies and to secure the active participation of domestic and foreign enterprises and the support of international partners.

Within activities to celebrate the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Kazakhstan, Vietjet Air, the largest private airline in Vietnam, has announced routes connecting Nha Trang and Almaty. The announcement ceremony was held on October 13, in the presence of Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan, who was in Kazakhstan to attend the sixth Summit of Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, Kazakhstan Government leaders, and senior leaders from the two sides.

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's figures put total export turnover of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries products at $40.79 billion in the first nine months of 2022, up 15.2 per cent year-on-year. Growth in agriculture in 2022 is forecast at 2.8-3 per cent; higher than the government’s target of 2.5-2.8 per cent. Total export turnover of about $55 billion is expected, or $5 billion more than the government target.

Vietnam is yet to have a plan for sea areas for wind power development, and there are legal and technical problems for the offshore wind power sector. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has therefore proposed suspending appraisals of offshore wind power surveys until the government promulgates a Resolution on wind measurement, observation, investigation, and geological surveys and a topographic assessment of environmental impacts at sea.

Decree No. 65 on the private placement of bonds, issued by the government on September 16, has many new features and strict regulations on both issuers and investors. It has been supplemented with regulations stating that issuers are required to have credit ratings in certain cases, improving the obligation of issuers to disclose information to investors, and improving the professionalism of investors.

The government issued Decree No. 71/2022/ND-CP on October 1 amending and supplementing many articles in Decree No. 06/2016/ND-CP dated January 18, 2016, regarding the management, provision, and use of radio and television services. Domestic IPTV service providers will be able to compete equally with cross-border IPTV providers. The Decree will take effect on January 1, 2023.