Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, who is also head of the Sub-Committee for Socio-Economic Affairs of the 13^th National Party Congress, chaired its sixth plenary session in Ha Noi on 28 August.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the event (Photo: VNA)

PM Phuc lauded the sub-committee's members for their efforts in building the 2021-2030 socio-economic development strategy and socio-economic orientations and tasks for 2021-2025, which were sent to Party congresses at all levels for further comments.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he said, the economy grew just 0.36 percent in the second quarter, the lowest in the past three decades, adding that the figure reached only 1.81 percent in the first half.

Despite the difficulties, the Government will strive to post positive growth this year, he said, adding that several sectors still grew, while trade was in surplus by over 10 billion USD and positive signs were seen in boosting the disbursement of public investment.

In a survey conducted recently by the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Education and Information, 97 percent of respondents expressed their belief in the measures adopted by the Party and State to fight COVID-19. Therefore, national aspirations, innovation, and creativity with Vietnamese culture as a basis should be affirmed in draft documents, PM Phuc said.

He requested specifying outstanding results in achieving the dual goal of fighting the pandemic and restoring socio-economic development, which reflected efforts of the entire political system, business community, and people nationwide, making important contributions to strengthening public trust in the Party's leadership.

The leader also suggested further analysing newly emerging issues such as disasters, climate change, and pandemics, and agreed with the editorial group on adding contents of digital transformation and new national manufacturing capacity, with a focus on the development of national businesses, into draft documents.

The sub-committee consented with the editorial group’s proposal to supplement contents regarding talent nurturing, formation of new national manufacturing capacity with self-reliance and resilience of the economy being taken into account.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment, and the Ministry of Finance were asked to reconsider targets related to finance, State budget, and public investment to serve the building of documents and draft public investment plans for 2021-2025 for submission to the Government and National Assembly.

The PM also highlighted a need to step up investment, including social and public investment.

Source: VNA