The government has nominated eight cabinet members for the upcoming question and answer session with NA deputies: Deputy PM Nguyen Sinh Hung, Industry and Trade Minister Vu Huy Hoang, Minister of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, Health Minister Nguyen Quoc Trieu, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Pham Khoi Nguyen, Planning and Investment Minister Vo Hong Phuc, Finance Minister Vu Van Ninh and Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Hoang Tuan Anh.

Of the above, the four ministers of finance, industry and trade, natural resources and environment and health were questioned at the last Q&A session. This will be the fifth consecutive Q&A session for Finance Minister Vu Van Ninh.

Of the 171 questions, there are seven for PM Nguyen Tan Dung. The Ministry of Industry and Trade will receive the highest number of questions, 21, followed by the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs and Health Ministry with 16 questions each.

The Q&A session of the 5^th NA session will take place from June 11-13.

The biggest concerns of NA deputies are the effectiveness of the government’s stimulus package, the bauxite mining projects in the Central Highlands, and the scheme on finance reforms for education and training.

Illegal foreign workers and low-quality smuggled Chinese goods

Related to the latest report of the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) about foreign workers in Vietnam, government office chairman Nguyen Xuan Phuc said that PM Nguyen Tan Dung told MoLISA to look into this issue.

This matter will be solved based on the Vietnamese law and international precedence to protect the interests of and to ensure equal treatment for workers by strictly managing foreign workers who have work permits and illegal ones.

According to MoLISA’s report, there are 75,000 foreign workers in Vietnam, including 47,000 unskilled workers who don’t have work permits.

As for the inflow of low-quality Chinese commodities, mainly from Guangzhou, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Thanh Bien said that the ministry had sent an urgent dispatch to provinces along the Vietnam-China border (Quang Ninh, Lang Son, Cao Bang, Ha Giang, Lao Cai, Lai Chau, Dien Bien) asking them to monitor imports of clothing, toys, merchandise for children by local people in the form of goods exchange and to tighten control over trading activities of the above products at border market and border gates.

However, Bien said that Vietnam would not enact technical barriers to prevent imports of low-quality products. He said that as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Vietnam has the right and duty to develop technical standards for locally-produced goods and imported goods under WTO commitments.

Accordingly, any standard must ensure equality and non-discrimination between local and imported products.

“If we created technical barriers, Vietnamese goods would be affected firstly, not imported products,” Bien said.

He said Vietnam will strengthen management of imported commodities under its current mechanisms. Ministries and agencies are compiling sets of standards for goods and will take tough measures to prevent smuggled goods and fine smugglers.

PM calls for continued efforts to strengthen economy

Chairing the government’s monthly meeting on June 3, PM Nguyen Tan Dung ordered relevant ministries, agencies and local authorities to continue taking effective measures to curb economic decline while recovering and developing business and production.

He instructed the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) to keep a close watch on the development of the monetary market, interest rates and foreign exchange rates, and to keep credit growth and payments under control to ensure a secure banking system.

He asked the Finance Ministry to continue keeping and eye on the spending from the state budget and to ensure the stability and efficiency of the securities market.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development was told to provide farmers preferential interest rates to help them acquire equipment for agricultural production and to work with the Ministry of Industry and Trade to co-ordinate marketing of rice and farm produce and speed up rice exports.

The PM urged the cabinet and local officials to continue tackling difficulties in the implementation of social security polices, job creation, support for households living in poverty in 61 poorest districts and carrying out the nation’s housing policy to benefit students, industrial zone workers and the disadvantaged.

The cabinet also heard a report from Planning and Investment Minister Vo Hong Phuc on economic situation during the January-May period.

Industrial production managed a 4 percent in crease over the five-month period, reaching a value of 265.6 trillion dong (US$14.7 billion), up by 4 percent year on year.

Exports of key products began to rise again, with total export turnover during the period estimated at $22.86 billion, according to Phuc.

Agricultural and fisheries product was developing stably during this time, with seafood yields reaching 1.7 million tones, a rise of 6.4 percent over the same period of 2008.

Phuc said that exports, disbursement of capital sourced from government bonds and foreign investment figures remained disappointing, and acute diarrhea and swine flu threats were complicating matters further.

PM Dung responded by urging relevant ministries and agencies to hasten the implementation of projects using state capital, government bond, official development assistance or foreign investment funds, as well as to take measures to prevent diseases and natural disasters.

Cabinet members also discussed a decree on regulations relating to land use planning, land prices, and land rights withdrawal, compensation and resettlement, following a presentation from Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Pham Khoi Nguyen.

Source: Vietnamnet