HÀ NỘI — The recent summit between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the US was a big success for Việt Nam, Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc said while chairing a regular government meeting in Hà Nội on Friday.

The position of Việt Nam as well as the country’s careful organisation of the event were recognised and appreciated by the two leaders and the international community, Phúc said.

Despite a short period of time to prepare, Việt Nam did its best to organise the summit and ensured absolute security and safety, he said.

Việt Nam promoted its image as a peace-loving country with various accomplishments in reform and international integration, he said.

The country also used the occasion to show international friends local food and its friendly and hospitable people, he added.

Some 2,600 foreign reporters from the world’s leading news agencies were present in Hà Nội and their reports helped promote the image of Hà Nội and Việt Nam, he said.

On other matters, the PM said the whole political system had worked to ensure a warm Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday for all, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, social welfare families and ethnic minority groups.

The Việt Nam Fatherland Front (VFF) mobilised 1.75 million gift packages and 900 billion ($38.6 million) to support poor people for the holiday, he noted.

While evaluating the socio-economic situation in February, PM Phúc highlighted the positive aspects such as the stable macro-economy, rising foreign investment and growth in tourism, exports and sales of goods.

He praised the agriculture sector for implementing several measures on trade and exports to increase product value.

At the meeting, cabinet members also discussed the plan for the central budget and the medium-term public investment scheme for 2016-20.

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), the socio-economic situation in February was stable, with positive developments in most fields.

The consumer price index (CPI) in the first two months of 2019 posted a year-on-year increase of 2.6 per cent. 

Total State budget collection reached VNĐ246 trillion (US$10.5 billion), up 18.2 per cent against the same period last year.

The PM also pointed out several difficulties, including the slow disbursement of public investment capital and increased trade deficit, saying business development and economic growth had not met targets.

Phúc asked for better efforts to promote macroeconomic stability and control inflation to foster sustainable and comprehensive economic growth.

He asked the MPI to work with organisations to assess, verify and announce GDP figures for the country’s informal economic area in an objective and scientific manner using relevant data.

He said it was necessary to focus on measures to promote growth, he said, asking ministries and sectors to find methods and specific actions to overcome market economy shortcomings.

In the face of challenges to the agriculture sector, the PM directed the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) to co-ordinate with localities to speed up agricultural, forestry and fishery production.

He agreed to a number of measures to deal with African swine fever (ASF) and foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).

A national campaign to raise public awareness of ASF prevention must be launched to stop the disease, he said, along with tighter border control to stop the disease spreading.

He also directed MARD to coordinate with the Ministry of Finance to buy rice for temporary storage in order to ensure better prices for farmers in the future.

The Ministry of Transport was also told to give regular updates on the Mỹ Thuận-Cần Thơ Expressway project to the PM.

PM Phúc asked the State Bank to work out measures to expand credit and reduce interest rates for priority fields to create momentum for growth.

The PM also directed the MPI to make the most of the second DPRK-USA Summit and roll out specific plans to attracting foreign investment, especially multinational corporations specialising in the high-tech fields. – VNS