The Government chief asked ministries, sectors and localities to lift difficulties, so as to facilitate production and export, stimulate investment and consumption, ensure social security, and fruitfully realize financial and monetary policies.

All these solutions must be carried out in a flexible and drastical way and commensurate to the real situations right in early months of 2009, stressed the PM.

Leaders of many provinces asked the Government to help localities implement long-term projects on job generation and assisting farmers through purchasing their products, raising agricultural production value, planning the rice growing areas, and attracting greater investment in agriculture.

Members of the Cabinet agreed with suggestions raised by local authorities.

Minister of Planning and Investment Võ Hồng Phúc proposed that, apart from small and medium enterprises, farms should be beneficiaries from the Government’s stimulation package.

Warning budget-related difficulties in 2009, Finance Minister Vũ Văn Ninh suggested that more money should be poured into education, health and remote areas. According to the chief of financial sector, small and medium credit funds should be managed by local authorities.

Governor Nguyễn Văn Giàu of the State Bank of Việt Nam revealed that a plan is designing to lower interest rates for credit contracts already inked between the commercial banks and businesses and households.

Urging localities to maky full use of lands to produce vegetables, sugarcane, and salt as well as seek for markets for husbandry products, Minister of Agricultue and Rural Development Cao Đức Phát stated that, instead of expanding coffee-growing areas, producers should pay attention to improve quality of this export.

Representatives of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Construction (MoC) highlighted efforts to assist the poor and low-income laborers. The MoC unveiled its plan to spend VND 800 billion to build housing for more than 500,000 households in 61 poorest districts nationwide.

The Ministries of Industry and Trade, Health, Information and Communications, and Education pledged to ensure sufficiency of electric power for production activities; boost up disease prevention and environmental hygiene; train healthcare staff for ethnic groups; and speed up e-government building and popularization of internet in remote areas.

By Hoàng Nguyên