Socialist Republic of Vietnam

The Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee concluded its eighth plenum in Hanoi on July 12 with a resolution on the national defence strategy in the new stage of development.

The Party Central Committee also discussed a scheme on salary reform, social insurance and social welfare for people rendering great service to the revolution and the motherland, said a communique released at the end of the meeting.

The communique emphasised Vietnam's major and key achievements in national defence over the past decade. It said "We (the Vietnamese people) have firmly defended the national independence, territorial sovereignty and integrity as well as the leadership of the Party and the Socialist regime. We have managed to boost economic development, maintain political security and social order and stability, consolidate people's confidence in the renovation process, have built up a favourable international environment for broadening the external relations, and have constantly strengthened Vietnam's position."

It said that although Vietnam has much to do to overcome considerable mistakes and weakness, the country is now able to safeguard peace and stability in order to achieve national industrialisation and modernisation in line with the goals of socialism.

Determining the cause of defending the national independence together with socialism, and maintaining peace and stability for the sake of socio-economic development as the nation's highest interest, the plenum pointed out major tasks for national defence in the new stages of development. These are:

"First, to maintain the international environment favourable for national construction and defence, maintain eternal peace and firmly defend the national sovereignty, unification and territorial integrity.

"Second, to strengthen the Party as the key task, which should be closely combined with firm defence of the Party, internal political security, and the Party's absolute and direct leadership in all aspects of the cause of national defence. It's a must to make the Party, the State and the entire political system really transparent, strong and closely linked with the people and to ensure Party unity.

"Third, to make great efforts to fulfil the core task of economic development in close combination with socio-cultural development, boost national industrialisation and modernisation, constantly improve the population's living conditions, focus on hunger elimination and poverty reduction, ensure social equality, and build an economy of independence and self-reliance while taking initiatives in global integration.

Fourth, to promote the great national unity, further exercise democracy along with strengthening order and disciplines, well translate the Party's policies on ethnic minorities and religions into reality, and raise the role of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and mass organisations in the cause of national defence.

"Fifth, to strengthen national defence and to maintain security, national defence and territorial integrity are a regular key task of the entire Party, people and army. The task provides for continued building of the regular and modern people's army and revolutionary people's police in order to meet requirements for defending the motherland in new circumstances; consolidation of the position of the all-people national defence and the people's security; and making agencies involved in home affairs and defending the legal system transparent and strong.

"Sixth, to accelerate foreign activities and actively expand international co-operation in the spirit of 'Vietnam wishing to be a friend and a trusty partner of other nations in the international community and strives for peace, independence and development' are aimed at consolidating favourable international environment to maintain peace, stability and socio-politics, speeding up the national industrialisation and modernisation process, and raising the country's national status in the region and the world.

Also according to the communique, the meeting, while discussing the viewpoints, the principles and the main contents of the continued reform of the policies on salary, social insurance and priorities to those who rendered services to the nation, laid stress on the three fundamental issues. These are:

"First, reforming the policies on salary, social insurance and priorities to people having rendered great service to the nation should combine with the national socio-economic development, ensure the economy's principles on macro-balance, and maintain socio-political stability. Adjustment of salaries should be based on the increases of labour productivity and national income and on economic development. Making the right payment to labourers should be regarded as an implementation of investment for development, thus facilitating economic growth and contributing to purifying and raising the effectiveness of state management and the quality of public services.

"Second, the salary policy must be suitable with the market economy oriented towards socialism, in order to contribute to forming a healthy labour market, and drawing high quality and skilled workers into the important areas of the State and the society. It would also encourage workers to improve their professional proficiency, give priority to the armed forces and encourage officials and employees working in educational, health care, cultural, and art domains as well as those working in remote and isolated areas, and areas beset with difficulties. A suitable salary policy would also help implement a policy of additional payment for responsibility for those who work at the procuracy, courts and in and inspection and supervision areas.

"Third, salary reform policy must be implemented step by step and along with administrative and financial mechanism reform, permanent employment and wage payment at non-productive units: It must also gradually separate the salary policy from the social insurance policy and adjust the policy on allowance for those who had rendered service to the nation.

The Party Central Committee affirms:

"The reform of policies on salaries, social insurance and allowance for those who had made achievements for the nation policies should attain the following basic goals:

"Overcoming the subsidisation; better implementing the principle of distribution in accordance with contributions and results of production and business operations of each agency, unit, enterprise.

"Step by step separating the salary policy for those who work for administrative units from the policy for those who work for non-productive areas on the basis of speeding up the socialisation of non-productive operations, implementing the self-determination rights regarding finance, using permanent employment, and wage payment in non-productive units in order to step up the healthy development of non-productive activities

"Attaching importance to the increase of average salary and low salary, and at the same time encouraging officials, public servants and employees to improve their professional proficiency, labour productivity and working quality.

"Implementing the policy on transparent income, supervising and institutionalising legal incomes besides salaries, making clear and removing all illegal and irrational incomes to make salary the main source of income, thus ensuring the lives of officials, public employees and wage earners

"Implementing the policy of social insurance in accordance with the principle of payment level based on the premium paid to the social insurer, thus ensuring safe development for the social insurance fund; giving priorities to settling a number of irrationalities in pensions for those who retired prior to September 1985 and April 1993; developing social insurance by expanding its scope of activities, adding more groups of people who could be the insurant and social insurance forms (implementing compulsory social insurance, voluntary social insurance and unemployment insurance)

"Building up a Law on Social Insurance as soon as possible

"Adjusting the allowance level to ensure that those who had made service to the nation can enjoy the average living standard in the society.

The communique adds that the aforesaid conclusions of the Party Central Committee will serve as a foundation for the government to improve its scheme to be submitted to the fourth working session of the National Assembly for consideration and approval. (VNA)