At a regular Cabinet meeting in Hanoi on February 4, the PM asked ministries, sectors and localities to boost industrial production and exports in the coming months with a particular focus on investing in potential products.

He underlined the need to accelerate the disbursement of capital for key projects and keep a close watch on market fluctuations to have flexible monetary and fiscal policies.

He also asked them to take measures to implement poverty reduction projects by building houses for low-income earners, developing vocational training programmes and creating additional jobs.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment reported that the country’s industrial production fetched US$2.9 billion last month, down 4.4 percent compared to January 2008, while export value plunged by 24.2 percent to US$3.8 billion. Foreign arrivals numbered 370,000, down 11.9 percent. The consumer price index rose 0.32 percent compared to a month ago.

At the meeting, Cabinet members also discussed measures to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) in the 2009-2010 period, speed up capital disbursement and increase the efficiency of the use of FDI capital.

Over the past three years, the flow of registered FDI capital into Vietnam reached US$97.6 billion and, in 2008 alone, it hit US$64 billion, tripling the 2007 level. However, there are many problems like poor infrastructure, inconsistent policies, a shortage of skilled labourers and slow progress in land clearance.

PM Dung stressed that in the future, ministries, sectors and localities must give priority to FDI projects using high technology, saving energy and creating products of high export value.

Cabinet members also discussed a draft plan on cooking security until 2020, which aims to have an adequate supply of food for local consumption, improve the quality of meals and ensure food safety and hygiene.

Mr Dung said that the Government will issue a resolution on food security until 2020.

VietNamNet/VNS