National Assembly deputies proposed the Government focus financial sources on agriculture and rural areas at the ongoing session of the 13th NA in Hanoi on Oct. 27.

Many deputies affirmed that rural infrastructure and welfare services upgrade have strategic significance in terms of socio-economics in the immediate and long-term as the region ensures food security and sustainable development.

NA Deputy Nguyen Quoc Cuong from northern Bac Giang province said that investment in agriculture and rural areas now stands at just over 6 percent, lower than the rate of 13.85 percent 10 years ago, while agriculture contributes up to 20 percent of the country’s GDP.

Cuong proposed the National Assembly adjust investment law and policy, renovate the management of investment into rural agriculture and widely implement BOT (build-operate-transfer) projects for rural modernisation.

Programmes on building rural infrastructure, poverty reduction, vocational training and job generation, together with rural and agricultural development programmes, should be combined with economic restructure to reorganise production for each region and improve people’s living conditions, he said.

NA deputies said the reduction of public investment is an important inflation control solution but needs a focus to ensure macro-economic stability and reach the target of economic growth of 6.5-7 percent in the 2011-2015 period alongside a consumer price index of 5-7 percent by 2015.

Additionally, economic restructure needs to focus on investment restructure, State-owned enterprise restructure and financial market restructure with priority given to restructuring the commercial bank system.

On social welfare policy, NA deputies suggested the five-year socio-economic development plan needs to focus on vocational training and job generation and employment demand, the implementation of the medical insurance policy for all people and a review of support policies for poor people and districts.

NA deputies also debated other issues such as healthcare, education and traffic safety./.