Efficient planning that helps realize the unique strength and competitive edge of each province/city would lay the necessary groundwork for quality projects and investors to come.

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

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh gave the remarks at a national online conference on master planning held today [August 19], noting such works are essential to realizing public investment targets for sustainable socio-economic development.

“Every step would need planning in advance, which should be done holistically and serve as guidance,” Chinh said.

While planning is routine, Chinh added this time, it should be done simultaneously at the national, regional, and local levels under the Law on Planning.

In this regard, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung said to ensure an efficient planning process, each ministry or locality must put national interests first in working on their respective planning while keeping close communication with other provinces/cities and the central government during the process.

According to Dung, in 2021, the Government would complete 19 out of 38 national plans, one regional plan, and 26 out of 63 local plans, with the remainder being finalized in 2022.

Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung.

Dung noted since the Law on Planning became effective in early 2019, ministries and government agencies have removed planning on specific goods, products, and services, which are replaced with conditions and criteria as a way to simplify business conditions for enterprises and investors.

“The quality of planning has been gradually improved by a more flexible approach and the application of advanced technologies that help prevent overlapping and incompatibility between different planning processes,” Dung said.

Acknowledging the current slow planning process for the 2021-2030 period with the current Covid-19 outbreak as one of the main issues, Dung called for government agencies to speed up the review of the existing legal framework to ensure their compatibility with the Law on Planning, along with the setup of a national database on planning.

“Each agency should draft a specific roadmap to work out plans and consult with the government on any difficulties,” Dung noted.

“The most important issue is the commitment and awareness of leaders of each province/city and ministry in the planning process, while a strategic vision is needed to ensure the feasibility of planning in the long run,” Dung concluded.