General Secretary Tô Lâm sounded the alarm on preventing and combating waste

DNHN - General Secretary Tô Lâm has addressed visible waste and identified invisible forms of waste, delivering a powerful message with profound awakening implications...

1. Identifying forms of waste

Recently, General Secretary Tô Lâm published an article titled "Combating Waste," which was widely covered by the media as a strong and thought-provoking message encouraging everyone to reconsider the use and management of resources across society. From this, he called upon the entire political system and each citizen to be conscious of avoiding waste, not just for national benefit but also for personal, familial, and social interests, as well as for the responsibility toward future generations.

In the article, the General Secretary perceived that waste remains quite prevalent in various forms, causing severe consequences for development. It is diminishing human resources, financial resources, reducing production efficiency, increasing cost burdens, depleting resources, and widening the wealth gap. Waste also erodes public trust in the Party, State, and creates invisible barriers in socio-economic development, missing the country's development opportunities.

The General Secretary identifies the prominent forms of waste today: The quality of law-making and completion has not met the practical needs of innovation, leading to difficulties and hindrances in enforcement, causing loss and waste of resources. It includes wasting time and efforts of businesses and individuals due to cumbersome administrative procedures. It's the waste of development opportunities for localities and the country due to inefficient state machinery operations at times, some officials being corrupt, incompetent, avoiding and shirking responsibilities, or fearing responsibility; due to low labor productivity and efficiency. There is waste of natural resources; waste of public assets due to inefficient management and use, including public investment disbursement; equitization and divestment handling of state-owned enterprises; rearranging, handling state-owned houses and land transactions... Waste in production, business, consumption activities among citizens also happens in various forms.

From there, the General Secretary demanded: There must be a unified perception that the struggle against waste is a challenging and complex "internal enemy" battle.

Focus on completing and effectively implementing a waste prevention and control framework; strictly handle individuals and collectives causing loss and waste of public assets.

Focus on thoroughly addressing the causes leading to waste of public assets, natural resources, resources caring for the populace, and national development.

Build a culture of waste prevention; turn practicing thrift and waste prevention into a "voluntary" and "willing" practice, like "daily bread and water, daily clothing."

2. "I am also very concerned, many are concerned"

During the parliamentary session, on October 26, in the group discussion on the socio-economic situation of 2024, General Secretary Tô Lâm mentioned waste prevention work with a worried expression: "I am also very concerned, many are concerned."

"When the public inquires and we can't answer. Everyone says that piece of land is gold, very valuable, costs a lot but remains idle, over decades letting weeds grow, so who takes responsibility?

How can the state allocate in a way that leads to waste? If businesses don't utilize it, repossess it according to regulations, why leave it so? Where it gets stuck, remove the obstacles, someone must take responsibility. This is national property, people's money," the General Secretary pondered.

The General Secretary cited the anti-flooding project in HCM City valued at 10 trillion VND, spanning two terms, yet citizens still face flooding, even though public funds have been allocated. If left without embezzlement or corruption, it's still wasteful.

Or the two hospitals in Hà Nam, invested by the State a decade ago, still unused and pending. If they belong to private businesses, they would've already recouped investments, but the State leaves them idle? Is no one accountable? What's that about? That's a waste, the General Secretary pointed out.

Another issue of concern for the General Secretary is public investment disbursement. He worried, having money but unable to spend, since public investment disbursement over 9 months hasn't reached 50%.

"Only a few months left in the year, will spending be completed? Target programs are defined, decisions made, but when action is taken, issues arise, what's the issue?

Why is it like this? Who set these regulations? Is it not us? Regulations are such that even we can't implement them, how can enterprises manage?”

General Secretary Tô Lâm stated that the country's resources are not small, but domestic production has been underwhelming and not capitalized upon, a cause for deeper reflection.

"Potential must mobilize wealth. I'm very eager, can't delay any longer, waiting risks losing opportunities. It’s apparent to everyone, goals are clear, targets united, collectively agreed upon and passed.

Now, how to achieve the targets, each milestone met to lay groundwork and foundation for good development."

Reflecting on his recent visit to the Republic of Ireland, the General Secretary remarked: "Looking out into the world, witnessing their development" brings urgency. Ireland once faced hardship but now advances rapidly by delving into core technology, digital technology, biotechnology, with major tech corporations present.

From that, the General Secretary affirmed learning from exemplary models and that if "not standing tall but just inching forward, progress faces hardship."

"Seeing the rapid global development stirs impatience. Their astounding progress, delving into research in space, into biotechnology to prolong life expectancy; we cannot lag any more", the General Secretary requested.

3. How have we allowed waste to occur?

The General Secretary cited the anti-flood project in HCM City worth 10 trillion VND, spanning two terms, yet citizens still endure flooding, despite state funds being allocated. Without addressing embezzlement or corruption, it’s still wasteful.

Immediately after the General Secretary directly mentioned it, the HCM City Department of Planning and Investment (DPI) reported on the difficulty and entanglements related to this project. According to the HCM City DPI, the project involves various legal documents across different fields. If based on the principle of applying the law at the time of contract signing, such as the PPP Law and Decree No. 35/2021/ND-CP, several legal documents would be implemented that have expired legal validity.

The HCM City DPI further explained: The bottlenecks relate to statutory regulations, some content not outlined in legal regulations, thus surpassing the Government's authority. The city will analyze and report specifically during the process of adjusting this project's investment policy.

While methods to remove obstacles remain stuck, the investor (Trung Nam Company) bears daily debt burdens due to arising costs. Not to mention the damages in business, financial effectiveness, reputation, human resources, and equipment when the project lingers for nearly 10 years, the company endures loan interest accruing 1.73 billion VND daily.

Residents of HCM City practically remain uninformed about why this project remains incomplete after 10 years, leaving them to suffer deep flooding when tides peak. The project achieved 93% completion technically and may temporarily operate to address the city's pressing issues of flooding, and environmental concerns—is that feasible?

This stands as an exemplar of resource waste, is it the fault of policy or human error? The functional agencies of HCM City can't simply respond as such.

Or the Bình Quới - Thanh Đa Urban Area (HCM City) project, "suspended" since 1992. For over 30 years, it has "suspended" the rights of thousands of people in Ward 28, Bình Thạnh District. The 427-hectare land located centrally, harbors vast socio-economic potential, yet remains a poor rural expanse within bustling Sài Gòn, only kilometers from HCM City's center.

Who bears responsibility for this waste? Is it the system, human capacity, or other factors?

A similar situation exists with Rạch Chiếc Sports Complex (Thủ Đức City) initiated in 1994 with a projected cost nearing 15 trillion VND, but remains "immobile" for three decades. HCM City houses many such "immobile" projects, which are extensively wasteful...

4. Stories from the Minister of Planning and Investment

On November 6, the National Assembly discussed the revised public investment law project, particularly the transfer of investment policy decision authority for Group B and C projects from various People's Councils to People’s Committees, sparking numerous opinions. Several National Assembly delegates noted that public investment in recent years has been associated with slowness, prolonged slowness, and extreme slowness, described as "a chronic illness lacking a treatment protocol."

Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyễn Chí Dũng stated a necessity to alter legislative crafting ideologies to "treat this chronic illness."

The law must create motivation, new spaces, and clear blockage points, freeing resources for national development. Moreover, transition from pre-checks to post-checks and bolster decentralization and authority delegation.

Minister Nguyễn Chí Dũng referenced China’s experience, where a province constructed 2,000 kilometers of highway in 3 years.

"Inquiring about how they accomplished such scale in minimal time and cheaply, they cited powerful decentralization to localities, risk-taking borrowing and establishing state companies for infrastructure projects. After investments, projects were transferred to private entities for operations and recoupment", Minister Dũng explained.

He emphasized that clinging to old mindsets would drastically slow progress; thus, stronger decentralization is needed.

The issue resides in creating legislation potent enough to prevent investment waste while ensuring investment efficiency and unleashing resources.

Previously, during a session on revised planning and investment laws, concerning administrative simplification, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyễn Chí Dũng shared a procedure story from the United Arab Emirates. "Only 5 years were needed to build Dubai, costing 20 billion USD with 500 edifices," Minister Nguyễn Chí Dũng recounted, pondering how they achieved that

“In contrast, erecting a five-star hotel in Vietnam takes three years for procedures alone. If Dubai’s constructions faced the ‘jungle of regulations and procedures’ we have, completion would span... 1,500 years," Minister Nguyễn Chí Dũng said, illustrating Dubai’s current status as a global educational and observational destination.

Minister Dũng also reminisced about China, where building a 1+ billion USD automobile plant, from permit to completion, spanned only 11 months; a similar commercial center construction, procedures plus execution, took just 68 days.

From there, Minister Dũng stressed reforming certain investment law provisions and noted the law's design for "special investment procedure" privileges. The reason, he stated, is the relentless global innovation and reform. If Vietnam refrains from innovation and reform, investors may either stay away or eventually leave...

The "maze of administrative procedures" is a primary cause of corruption and bribery within government machinery. It also represents waste: waste of resources, investment, hindering productivity liberation.

Thus, the article by General Secretary Tô Lâm is timely and significantly valuable, not solely highlighting visible waste but also addressing "invisible" wastes like wasting opportunities, wasting potential, and particularly waste within state organizational and management systems.

The article serves as a potent message, with profound awakening implications, urging a revision in resource utilization and management across society, demanding resolute involvement from the entire political system and society in addressing waste prevention tied to corruption and negative practices.

Vinh Hy