HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has urged the prompt resumption of work immediately after Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday, rejecting thinking that the first lunar month is a time for festivals. 

He required cadres, civil servants and public employees to follow administrative and labour disciplines, focusing on work especially those delayed due to Tết holiday and those related directly to production, manufacturing and investment of enterprises and people.

In a dispatch sent to ministries, sectors and localities on the first working day of the Lunar New Year on Wednesday, the PM called for no parties or Tết celebrations and to avoid post-Tết indulgences that affect working effectiveness.

Employees of ministries, sectors and localities are not allowed to go to festivals during working hours and use State-owned cars to visit festivals except when performing their duties. Leaders of agencies and localities are not allowed to attend festivals if they are not assigned to by authorities.

He stressed that administration at all levels, sectors and units must set specific tasks immediately.

The ministries of planning and investment, finance, industry and trade, and the State Bank must monitor the macro economic situation, prices and market fluctuations to take timely actions to maintain macro-economic stability and control inflation, the PM instructed. 

He requested Cabinet members to monitor fields and units under their management, and urged continued administrative procedure reform and improvement of investment and business environment to stimulate production activities. 

Ministers and heads of ministry-level units, governmental agencies, chairmen of people’s committees at central level, State-owned groups and corporations must be responsible and show high determination from the first working days of the year. They have been asked to implement tasks and step up supervision to avoid stagnation.

Each unit must complete development plans for each quarter and send it to Ministry of Planning and Investment no later than March 10.

The Ministry of Finance has been ordered not to increase prices of essential products and services managed by the State in the first quarter while stepping up inspection on service fee hikes including hikes of parking fees and entrance fees at tourism spots.

The Ministry of Transport has been requested to ensure traffic safety during festival season and to propose proper rates of Build-Operate-Transfer toll fee collection while applying non-stop electric toll collection. The ministry must also issue a resolution to begin construction on some sections of the eastern North-South expressway in February and start the expansion of Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport in HCM City.

The Ministry of Public Security was directed to complete its vehicle registration plate auction plan and submit it to the Government by March 15.

The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Sports and localities must step up inspection on negative behaviours such as service fee hikes and violence at festivals.

New year visits

Visiting Hòa Lạc Hi-Tech Park in the outskirts of Hà Nội on Thursday, PM Phúc expressed his wish that the park will make great contributions to the fourth industrial revolution and serve as a place where Việt Nam’s start-up ecosystem is formed. 

He said he hopes that it will be filled with investment activities and become a big production centre of the capital city, contributing to the country’s science and technology development and bringing added value to the economy.

He asked ministries, sectors and the municipal People’s Committee to speed up its construction to avoid missing any science-technology development opportunities. 

Specifically, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) need to realise policies to attract more high-quality human resources, while the Hà Nội People’s Committee should speed up land clearance to quickly complete the park’s construction, he said.

The Government leader also requested the MoST and related offices to soon grant investment licences to NIDEC Group, which decided to pour US$400 million into the first phase of its two projects and plans to invest in three more projects with total registered capital of $1 billion in the next stage. 

During the visit to Việt Nam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) the same day, Phúc asked the confederation to thoroughly prepare for dialogues between the PM and workers in the northern region.

PM Phúc also noted that labour and trade union issues are part of negotiations of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and asked the confederation to take the initiative in assisting workers in enhancing their skills and proposing legal institutions to protect the rights of workers amidst a competitive environment. 

Also on Thursday, Phúc visited officials and employees of the Party Central Committee’s Mass Mobilisation Commission, the Party Committee of the Central Agencies Bloc, the Party Committee of the State-owned Businesses Bloc and the Party Committee of overseas Vietnamese agencies. 

He affirmed that the leadership of the Communist Party of Việt Nam and people’s support are fundamental factors for State agencies to fulfill their tasks. 

PM Phúc recognised the committees’ efforts in their work and giving advice serving the Party in leading the country and State agencies in implementing their functions and duties. 

He said the Party Committee of the State-owned Businesses Bloc plays an important role in promoting national development, as the State-owned Businesses Bloc is crucial in directing the socialist-oriented development of State-owned enterprises.

The Party Committee of the State-owned Businesses Bloc should work closely with the committee for managing State capital in enterprises to manage State capital and Party members in these firms, the Government leader said, noting that he will spend more time working with the Mass Mobilisation Commission and other Party agencies to address arising problems. — VNS

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HÀ NỘI — Secretary of the Hà Nội Party Committee Hoàng Trung Hải ordered local authorities to resume work after Tết and focus on implementing their tasks in the first quarter of the year.

The city has banned all agencies from using State-owned cars to go to festivals and will punish State employees and agencies which use State-owned cars to attend festivals or to visit each other during work hours.

After the holiday, the city’s People’s Committee has set key tasks including ensuring traffic safety and order, taking measures to help enterprises overcome obstacles, caring for labourers and managing festivals. — VNS