President: Every time I ask, it takes 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, then I get the answer "doing it according to the law"

On the morning of October 24, speaking at the discussion group, President Vo Van Thuong gave some opinions on the socio-economic situation in 2023.

The results are impressive, but the challenges remain.

President Vo Van Thuong affirmed that we have achieved many important socio-economic achievements, in which we have basically achieved the set goals and continued to become a bright spot in the global economy.

"Saying this is not to praise our country, but the results achieved are very impressive. Recently, I participated in a number of multilateral activities and met with a number of leaders of other countries, and basically highly appreciated our efforts and results," said the President.

Besides, the President pointed out that the country still has many, very large limitations and difficulties. There are many tasks that need to be solved but the ability of state agencies to solve them is not yet sufficient.

Along with that, there are many problems that need to be solved but the ability to solve them is limited. The President raised the issue of the real estate market in the past 2 years, have we solved any big projects?

Or dealing with weak credit institutions, the zero-dong banks have not been resolved in the past 10 years.

Going into specifics, the President pointed out that the socio-economic recovery and development program after COVID-19 has great expectations and high determination, but implementation is very slow.

Besides, public investment seems to be the most difficult without money, but even with money, spending is still slow.

"Yesterday, the report at the National Assembly also clearly stated how many ministries, branches, and localities disbursed less than 50%. Those are the real difficulties. But of course, it must also be said fairly that the world and regional situation has greatly affected our difficulties," the President added.

Officials issuing decrees, circulars, and laws encounter many difficulties when implementing them, "no one has been affected yet"

The President emphasized three issues that still have many limitations and shortcomings. The first of which is that decentralization and delegation of power have not achieved high results, are not clear, and have not encouraged the responsibility of agencies, organizations and individuals in the system.

"There are many matters where the authority is unclear and each time we ask, it takes at least 3 months, on average 6 months, and even 9 months in some cases to receive a written response in accordance with the law," the President said.

Along with that is the mindset of wanting to monopolize power in policy making, so many things do not accept decentralization.

The second issue is the responsibility in law-making, including laws, decrees, and circulars, that is, legal documents, which the President believes is not high.

The President said that in the system, officials who make mistakes are severely punished, and officials who speak out against policies, guidelines, and resolutions are also being gradually considered for disciplinary action.

But officials issue a decree, circular, or even a law that when implemented encounters many problems and troubles, "no one has been affected yet".

Third problem, according to the President, people often say that officials avoid and fear responsibility, and this is a shortcoming.

The President said that as a cadre, one cannot avoid or be afraid of responsibility. But it is right to be afraid of making mistakes, because doing things without fear of making mistakes is dangerous.

Being afraid of making mistakes so that you can do things more carefully, researching the law more thoroughly, and considering the benefits and harms to the country and people before making a decision is a necessary quality of a cadre.

But the President feels that officials seem to have a poor grasp of the laws and regulations of legal documents.

The President reiterated that when meeting with some officials who do professional and management work at departments, districts, and counties, they speak generally and say nice things, but do not thoroughly handle specific tasks. This is an issue that needs to be resolved.

The President emphasized that to solve this problem, first of all, each locality must actually do, research, and remove obstacles and difficulties.

"Now, wherever we go, we talk about problems, whoever we meet, we talk about problems. Or when we come to this forum, we still complain about difficulties, problems, slow solutions... then who can the people complain to?", the President said.

The President suggested that people should eliminate the mindset that when they encounter problems, they think about whether they know anyone and ask someone to help them speak up, because that mindset reflects negatively on society.

The President made it clear that we must make people think of the government, the committee, and the law immediately. That is the healthy way of thinking that we should strive for.