HÀ NỘI — Deputy Prime Minister Trịnh Đình Dũng yesterday requested the transport sector to increase its efforts to prevent and reduce traffic accidents.

Speaking at a year-end review meeting with officials from the Ministry of Transport, Dũng acknowledged the severity of several road accidents that took place across the country in 2018.

He asked the ministry to review road traffic regulations and collaborate with other sectors to tackle the issue in a comprehensive manner.

“The transport ministry needs to work in close collaboration with the National Traffic Committee, the Ministry of Public Security and localities to have tougher measures to reduce traffic accidents this year, especially during the upcoming Lunar New Year (Tết) holiday,” he said.

He requested the ministry to shake up the management, maintenance and exploitation of transport infrastructure, as well as put tighter controls on vehicle loads and driver training and testing.

The Deputy PM said the Vietnamese Government would continue to provide support to the transportation sector in tackling the obstacles and challenges it is facing.

He stressed the important missions the sector will take on this year as a “pioneering sector” in the country’s industrialisation and modernisation process.

“The transport sector should provide the Government with advice and recommendations on developing infrastructure, make sure ongoing projects finish on time and restructure transport services to reduce logistics costs and increase the competitiveness of the country’s economy,” he said.

Dũng asked the sector to focus on building and perfecting institutions, policies and regulations in the field of transportation.

They should be considered a leading factor in creating an environment for economic development and a decisive factor in calling for investments and mobilising resources to develop the infrastructure system, he said.

The transport ministry should review and make adjustments, if necessary, to current development plans, he added.  

They should also take deliberate action to develop comprehensive plans for the 2021-30 period that involve roads, railways, aviation, seaports and inland waterways, he said.

“The plans must ensure connections among different transport modes, as well as between economic zones, industrial parks and seaports,” Dũng said. “They should also connect local transport networks with the national one.”

The implementation schedule of those plans must also be planned carefully; their capital structure, capital sources and investment priorities must be identified, he said. — VNS