Maximum decentralization for Ho Chi Minh City, implementing Resolution 98 faster and more effectively

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized: Maximum decentralization to Ho Chi Minh City, implementing Resolution 98 faster and more effectively - Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

Attending the Conference were Comrade Nguyen Van Nen, Politburo member, Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, Deputy Head of the Steering Committee; Comrade Le Minh Khai, Secretary of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Prime Minister; Comrade Phan Van Mai, Party Central Committee member, Deputy Secretary of the City Party Committee, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, Head of the Steering Committee's Working Group; leaders of ministries, branches, central and local agencies, members of the Steering Committee.

Resolution No. 98/2023/QH15 stipulates the piloting of a number of specific mechanisms and policies for the development of Ho Chi Minh City on (i) investment management; (ii) finance and state budget; (iii) urban, resource and environmental management; (iv) priority industries and occupations to attract strategic investors to the City; (v) science and technology management, innovation; (vi) organization of the apparatus of the Ho Chi Minh City government and Thu Duc city.

Immediately after the National Assembly passed Resolution 98 (June 24, 2023), Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chaired a working session of the Government Standing Committee with Ho Chi Minh City to implement the Resolution. The Prime Minister then signed a decision to establish a Steering Committee to implement Resolution 98.

At the first meeting (November 26, 2023), the Prime Minister assigned specific tasks to each ministry, branch and Ho Chi Minh City in implementing Resolution 98. At the second meeting, delegates focused on reporting on the implementation of Resolution 98, the Prime Minister's instructions in Notice No. 506/TB-VPCP concluding the first meeting, causes, experiences, difficulties, recommendations, and proposed directions, tasks and solutions for the coming time.

Achieving some initial results, contributing to creating new motivation, new spirit, new confidence

Reports and opinions at the conference assessed that the implementation of Resolution 98 has achieved some initial results, contributing to creating new momentum, new spirit, and new confidence for Ho Chi Minh City to continue to develop and grow.

The Prime Minister requested that the City's ministries, branches and agencies frankly analyze what has been done and what has not been done, without being lenient so that work is delayed, efficiency is low and the practicality of the Resolution is reduced.

With the implementation of Resolution 98, the Prime Minister acknowledged that Ho Chi Minh City has completed 10/22 tasks. The City People's Council has passed 49 resolutions to implement socio-economic development tasks, including 9 resolutions to implement Resolution 98 - Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

Leaders of ministries and branches reported on the implementation status and made specific commitments on the progress of the following tasks: Submitting for promulgation 4 Government decrees; completing the Project on developing the carbon credit market in Vietnam; adding the function of an international transit port to the Can Gio port area; investing in expanding the Ho Chi Minh City-Trung Luong expressway; studying the investment plan to expand the Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay expressway; studying and implementing the procedures for changing the purpose of using forest land in the Can Gio area according to the provisions of law; completing the Project on the International Financial Center in Ho Chi Minh City; conducting a comprehensive study of provinces and cities with poverty standards higher than the national poverty standards to propose specific plans and solutions, including Ho Chi Minh City; guiding the decentralization of the issuance of judicial records to the Justice Department under the People's Committee of Thu Duc City, districts and other tasks.

On the side of Ho Chi Minh City, in the Notice of Conclusion of the First Conference, the City was assigned to preside over 5 tasks. In the past time, Ho Chi Minh City has urgently and drastically implemented mechanisms and policies, completing many assigned tasks on schedule. The City People's Council has issued 9 resolutions to implement policies in Resolution 98, the City People's Committee has completed 6 tasks and is actively completing the remaining tasks on schedule.

Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen highly appreciated the efforts, attempts and sense of responsibility of relevant agencies in implementing Resolution 98, but said that the work needs to be accelerated further.

Get more done, faster, with higher quality

In his concluding remarks, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, on behalf of the Government, thanked, commended and highly appreciated the Party Committee, government and people of Ho Chi Minh City for their great efforts and efforts to comprehensively complete the political tasks of 2023, achieving many important results.

The socio-economic situation next month is better than the previous month, the next quarter is better than the previous quarter, and 2023 is generally better than 2022, especially contributing to GDP growth, national budget revenue and doing a good job of ensuring social security.

Ho Chi Minh City has also recently worked with relevant agencies to welcome overseas Vietnamese and successfully organize the 2024 Homeland Spring program with positive and widespread effects.

With the implementation of Resolution 98, the Prime Minister acknowledged that Ho Chi Minh City has completed 10/22 tasks. The City People's Council has passed 49 resolutions on implementing socio-economic development tasks, including 9 resolutions implementing Resolution 98; held 4 sessions, passed 24 resolutions specifying 19/27 mechanisms and policies under its authority.

The City People's Committee has issued a Plan to implement Resolution No. 98; completed 6/25 contents, provided comments for the presiding agencies to supplement and complete the remaining 19/25 contents, and submitted to the City People's Committee for promulgation according to schedule.

Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai speaks at the conference - Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

Regarding the promulgation of legal documents and the tasks of central ministries and branches, up to now, ministries and branches have submitted for promulgation 2/4 Government decrees and 1 decision of the Prime Minister.

Specifically, including Decree No. 07/2024/ND-CP dated February 1, 2024 detailing the election, recruitment, management, and use of cadres and civil servants working in communes, towns, and ward cadres; Decree No. 11/2024/ND-CP dated February 2, 2024 stipulating loan interest, reasonable profits, payment methods, and settlement of investment projects under BT contracts; exemption of corporate income tax and personal income tax in Ho Chi Minh City; Decision No. 20/2023/QD-TTg dated August 10, 2023 stipulating the decentralization, order, and procedures for local adjustment of the general planning for construction of functional areas, local adjustment of the general urban planning, and local adjustment of the specialized planning of technical infrastructure in Ho Chi Minh City.

Regarding the implementation of 13 tasks in Notice No. 506/TB-VPCP, up to now, the agencies have completed 2/13, are implementing 10/13, and task No. 7 has not been implemented (construction of urban railway infrastructure).

"Compared to the implementation of Resolution 54 in 2017, the implementation of Resolution 98 has more work, but the implementation is faster and of higher quality. However, compared to the requirements, practices, and wishes of Ho Chi Minh City and the Government, there is still a gap, and the implementation is still slow," the Prime Minister stated.

Therefore, ministries, branches, and members of the Steering Committee need to further enhance awareness, promote a sense of responsibility, self-awareness, proactiveness, and creativity to focus on performing their work; be more drastic, stronger, more closely, more determined, draw lessons, and coordinate more closely and effectively.

"The process does not stop at the proposed tasks, but needs to be proposed if new problems or issues arise. If anything is stuck or not suitable, we will continue to supplement it," the Prime Minister emphasized.

The Prime Minister requested ministries and branches to innovate their approach to Ho Chi Minh City, in which ministries and branches that have not completed their assigned tasks must assign specialized personnel with sufficient capacity, qualifications, responsibility and passion to carry out related work.

The Prime Minister emphasized the spirit of promoting decentralization, delegation of authority, improving the capacity of implementing officials, allocating appropriate resources, and strengthening inspection and supervision. The Prime Minister said that with the powers of the Prime Minister, he will decentralize to the maximum extent to Ho Chi Minh City. He also requested that ministries and branches decentralize completely to Ho Chi Minh City, and which ministries do not decentralize or decentralize must clarify.

Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Phan Van Mai speaks at the conference - Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

The Prime Minister assigned specific tasks to ministries and branches.

Regarding specific tasks, the Prime Minister assigned Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang to preside over and directly direct the completion and submission of the Government's decree on decentralization of state management in a number of fields to Ho Chi Minh City (Ministry of Home Affairs presides), to be completed in February 2024.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha presides over and directly directs the completion and submission for promulgation of a Decree regulating mechanisms and policies to encourage the development of rooftop solar power installed at the headquarters of administrative agencies and public service units (presided over by the Ministry of Industry and Trade), to be completed in the second quarter of 2024.

Regarding the guidance on decentralization of the issuance of criminal records, the Prime Minister directed the Ministry of Justice to urgently guide the decentralization of the issuance of criminal records to the Department of Justice under the People's Committee of Thu Duc City and districts.

"Wherever people are, that is the most convenient place for issuing criminal records, making it as simple as possible for people, so that people do not waste time and money on compliance," the Prime Minister said.

Regarding the development of Can Gio International Transit Port, the Prime Minister stated that it is necessary to select a strategic investor to form a joint venture with a Vietnamese partner to comply with Vietnamese law and international commitments, including UNESCO's requirements related to the Can Gio Biosphere Reserve.

The Prime Minister requested to further strengthen and do a good job of communication so that domestic people and international partners clearly understand the issues related to the development of Can Gio port, emphasizing that Can Gio port and the current Cai Mep-Thi Vai port will promote the combined strength, not Cai Mep alone, Can Gio alone. At the same time, thoroughly assess the environmental impact and submit it to competent authorities in the first quarter of 2024.

The Prime Minister also assigned specific tasks related to a number of expressway projects, in which Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai directly directed the handling of issues related to capital sources for investment in expanding the Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway. Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha directly directed relevant agencies to urgently submit procedures for implementing the Ho Chi Minh City-Moc Bai Expressway project and investing in expanding the Ho Chi Minh City-Trung Luong Expressway.

Delegates attending the conference - Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

Regarding investment in urban railway infrastructure construction, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee urgently researched and proposed a comprehensive investment plan, mobilizing sufficient domestic and foreign resources to synchronously implement the city's urban railway lines according to the plan. Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Phan Van Mai said that this comprehensive plan will be submitted in the first quarter of 2024.

Regarding the application of poverty standards according to the characteristics of Ho Chi Minh City, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs is assigned to synthesize provinces and cities with poverty standards higher than the Central poverty standards and complete the dossier to report to the Prime Minister by the end of February 2024.

The Prime Minister requested that the next meeting must make more progress than the previous meeting so that Resolution 98 can be successfully implemented. On this occasion, the Prime Minister also requested that Ho Chi Minh City continue to review the work to organize for people to celebrate Tet happily, safely, economically, healthily, and meaningfully, so that no one will not have Tet.

Source: https://baotainguyenmoitruong.vn/thu-tuong-phan-cap-toi-da-cho-tphcm-trien-khai-nghi-quyet-98-nhanh-hon-hieu-qua-hon-369626.html