Vietnam targets to contain Covid-19 outbreak in September: PM

Vietnam targets to contain the current fourth Covid-19 outbreak in September, which remains a decisive factor to ensure economic recovery.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at the meeting. Photos: Nhat Bac

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh stressed the view in a monthly government meeting today [September 6].

According to Chinh, as the country has sacrificed economic benefits to adopt stay-at-home order, provinces/cities have to contain the pandemic and soon take people’s lives back to normal.

“At a time when vaccine supplies remain scarce, the most effective solution continue to be restriction measures, including social distancing,” Chinh added.

Based on the actual situation, Chinh urged government agencies to ensure the country's economic growth by adapting to the pandemic situation that includes safe transportation, movement, production, and services.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment is tasked with setting up growth scenarios on the condition of mass vaccination, while monetary and fiscal policies should be maneuvered in a flexible manner to stabilize macroeconomic conditions, protect social welfare and avoid disruption to supply chains.

At a time of difficult economic period, Chinh urged the authorities to ensure State budget collection and accelerate digital transformation in tax payment to avoid losses and ensure safety during the pandemic.

As public investment continues to be a key measure to support growth, Chinh requested stronger efforts from localities to speed up the process, focusing on projects of national priority.

“State budget allocations would be shifted from provinces/cities with slow disbursement process to those with higher pace. In the coming time, the Government's leaders and officials will discuss the issue with localities having disbursement rate below 40%,” Chinh said.

On this issue, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh noted the disbursement rate in the first eight months remained somewhat over 40%, below the 46% recorded in the same period of last year.

“As public projects have high spillover effects to economic growth, ministries should evaluate the impact of each project before allocating budget,” he added.

Overview of the meeting.

For the remainder of the year, Chinh expected the Ministry of Industry and Trade to address the issue of trade deficit and monitor market prices of essential goods.

Chinh called for Government agencies to soon review the existing legal frameworks to address overlapping laws and regulations that are hindering business operations, calling the current situation an opportunity to reevaluate state governance efficiency and the opportunity to develop the digital economy.

Among measures to boost growth, Chinh suggested the pilot reopening of Phu Quoc Island for two to three million foreign tourists from now on until late 2021.

Measures for fully vaccinated people

During the Government meeting, Minister of Health (MoH) Nguyen Thanh Long said the country expects to receive 90 million doses of vaccines till late 2021, of which over 20 million are set to arrive this September.

Long suggested all provinces/cities focus on expediting vaccination programs in the coming months to ensure at least one million doses are administered per day.

For the time being, five major cities of Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Binh Duong, Long An, and Dong Nai are expected to administer the first dose for all locals before September 15.

“The MoH is considering the pilot lifting of restriction for those fully vaccinated in southern provinces/cities,” Long noted, but warned people injected with two doses are still at risk of being infected and transmit the virus to others.

Meanwhile, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung said the global trend in the post-Covid-19 period would be a green and digital economy, as this is seen as the new driving force for growth.

Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh added while the economic prospect is much dependent on the Covid-19 situation, ministries should set up economic plans and submit them to the Government until September 15 at the latest to prepare for the reopening of the economy.