All ministries and sectors must review their shortcomings, concentrate more on production investment in order to obtain an economic growth rate of 8.5 percent this year, said Prime Minister (PM) Nguyen Tan Dung in an irregular meeting held yesterday to discuss the country’s socioeconomic development plans in the upcoming years.

PM Dung urges all ministries and sectors to accelerate production and exports to narrow the trade gap

PM Dung urged all ministries and sectors to focus on accelerating production and exports to narrow the trade gap, tightly controlling consumer prices and reducing the rate of poor households in the country.

PM Dung also stressed that the year 2008 is a vital period marking the country’s first achievements in the five-year socioeconomic development plan (2006-2010) and the ten-year socioeconomic development strategy (2001-2010).

Also, he added that in 2008, Viet Nam must strive for many goals including obtaining a growth rate of 9.1-9.2 percent, an average GDP of US$1,000 per person and reducing the rate of poor households to 11 percent.

In order to achieve such goals, PM Dung called for speedier administration reform, further investments in domestic production, infrastructure construction, education, healthcare and urged all organizations and sectors to have more drastic measures in the fight against corruption and waste.

On the same day, the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee also asked the Department of Commerce to find solutions for ensuring the demand-supply balance and reining the consumer price hike. 

By Staff Writers – Translated by Khanh Hong