Experts dwell on negatives in year gone by
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With 2011 almost upon us, experts in various fields take stock of the country’s achievements and failures this year, especially the latter, for Tuoi Tre.
Truong Trong Nghia, Ho Chi Minh City lawyer: We need a strategic breakthrough before it is too late.
This year marks the end of the country’s five-year plan while Ho Chi Minh City posted significant growth for the 10th year in a row.
However, the achievements remain incomplete since the city’s economic growth is in contrast with people’s living standard.
We spend billions of dollars on new bridges, but we fail to get rid of traffic jams. City residents continue to suffer from flooding after heavy rains though thousands of billions of dong are spent on construction for flood prevention.
Public zones including pavements and parks are already small but face illegal encroachment. Hundreds of cubic meters of domestic, industrial, and medical wastes are being dumped into rivers.
Sinkholes keep appearing on the streets and we don’t when it will stop. Red tape remains a nightmare for the city people. Ethics are disappearing, especially among the youth, while the rich-poor gap is widening.
So what is the goal of the growth, investments, town planning, and hundreds of billions dongs of annual taxes?
Improving the working environment and living standards of its citizens is the priority of every country.
Compared with other cities in the region, Ho Chi Minh City is probably growing at a slower pace. However, it is not too late for us to speed up if we know how to improve.
Changes in thinking and improvement of the city’s growth model may be the most important things in 2011.
Truong Thi Mai, director of the Parliamentary Committee of Social Affairs: I feel an obligation towards voters since I still get thousands of complaints every year.
Some ask me if I mind or am annoyed by the huge piles of complaints. I reply that I am upset by the fact that people send the complaints because they are inconvenienced by certain issues.
I am also unhappy about the fact I am unable help some people who have problems that do not fall under my jurisdiction.
During meetings with the Committee, some people express their opinions and comments politely while some others are more brusque. However, I understand that the complaints are due to problems they face in their daily lives. My duty as a member of the Committee is to find solutions.
Financial expert Le Trong Nhi: It is necessary to impose strict discipline on monetary policy.
Monetary policy and the banking system did not work well this year, while the capital market remains in fledgling state, leaving businesses constantly facing a high risk of losses.
Wasteful public investments for many years have accelerated inflation, causing public debts and impacting the monetary market. And there is no connection between monetary and fiscal policies.
Imposing strict discipline on the monitoring and management of monetary policy and banking system will be one of the key tasks in 2011 to cool off the high inflation.
“The State Bank of Vietnam’s monetary policy should quickly connect with the Ministry of Finance’s fiscal policy.
