To realize the Resolution 915-NQ/QUTW by the Central Military Commission (CMC), military offices and units, particularly the Military Financial Branch should adopt the measures synchronously to renew and enhance the quality and effectiveness of the financial work, meeting the requirements for military-defence missions.

In 2018, the military financial work continued to reap the encouraging results, opportunely supported regular and contingency tasks, and contributed to the Military’s successful fulfilment of assigned tasks. The Military Financial Branch, particularly the Department of Finance (DoF) proactively directed and instructed the implementation of the finance and defence budget work effectively. The quality of budgeting made a lot of progress. The work of operating and following budgeting was carried out closely, flexibly in accord with the real situation. The work of finance and property management, practice of thrift, and wastefulness prevention and combat was enhanced. The efficiency and effectiveness of spending and price investigation, inspection, audit and control were raised. Notably, the DoF promoted its core role and cooperated with relevant offices in advising the CMC on issuing the Resolution 915-NQ/QUTW, dated August 25^th 2018 on renewing the mechanism for military finance management in the 2018-2025 period and beyond” and the Ministry of National Defence (MND) on releasing the Decision 3500/QĐ-BQP, dated August 26^th 2018, on approving the Project entitled “renewing the mechanism for military finance management under the Law on State Budget in the 2018-2025 period and beyond” (hereafter the Project). Those documents have provided an important basis for the fundamental reform in the budgeting work, better meeting the task requirements in the new situation.

The year 2019 will play a decisive role in realizing the targets and tasks of the Resolutions of the 12^th National Party Congress and the 10^th Military Party Congress. The tasks of Military build-up and Homeland protection will have new developments with very high requirements. The demand for defence finance support will be great while the budget will be limited. It should be noted that it is the first year we put the reform in the mechanism for military finance management under the Law on State Budget into practice with many regulations being implemented. Against that backdrop, the entire Military, particularly the Military Finance Branch should adhere to the military-defence guidelines and missions and cooperate with other sectors and units in renewing and improving the quality and effectiveness of the financial work, with a focus on the following.

1. Grasping and implementing the CMC’s Resolution 915 and the MND’s Project. This is the centrepiece of the military finance work in 2019. Sectors and units should widely and deeply introduce and disseminate the Resolution 915 and the Project to all cadres, soldiers, and particularly all staff members of financial offices at all levels, rendering them fully aware of the significance, targets, requirements and contents of the reformed mechanism for military finance management, achieving a sense of unity, building up the solidarity, resolve and responsibility for the process of leadership, direction and implementation. Financial offices at all levels should proactively counsel party committees and commands to quickly develop and issue the special resolutions and action plans/programs to realize the Resolution 915 and the Project. At the same time, they should actively hold training courses to give instructions to relevant objects. As this is a new policy, there will be difficulties in the early process of implementation. Therefore, all-level party committees and commands should strictly follow the CMC’s Decision 205-KL/QUTW, dated March 8^th 2018, enhancing their leadership and direction over the finance work, promoting their role in operating, managing and using the budget. Moreover, they should combine the performance of the financial work in 2019 with the implementation of the Resolutions 513-NQ/QUTW and 915 and the Project, while adopting the measures to prevent and fight against conservatism, avoidance, and fearfulness for the reform.

2. Drastically taking measures to operate and abide by the budgeting strictly, closely, flexibly, democratically, transparently. Under the Project, in early 2019, the MND has allocated 75% of its budget to its units at the Vietnam State Treasury, which is much higher than previous years (about 40%-45%). This has created a favourable condition for units to proactively use their funds to perform the mission, but imposed new higher requirements. Accordingly, all-level party committees and commands should strengthen their leadership and direction over the financial work and heighten a sense of responsibility and self-reliance for budget operation, management and use. Also, they should further promote the role of financial offices in counselling and controlling the budget spending and use. As units’ budgets are allocated once in the commencement of a year, the commanders should adopt measures to manage, spend, and use units’ budgets and property closely, flexibly, democratically, transparently, and effectively, and strictly abide by the budgeting.

Under the direction of the CMC and the MND, the whole Military will strive to minimize the unnecessary expenses to focus the resources on maintaining major balances and implementing new policies and key programs, targets and projects. Sectors and units should adhere to the allotted budget, and proactively receive, allocate and disburse it under the approved plan. Importance should be paid to directly decentralizing and devolving spending power to each level as well as minimizing centralized procurement and allocation of materials. All-level financial offices should proactively maintain the balance, adjust the spending structure on a comprehensive, focalized basis in order of precedence, and actively implement the new account mechanism from January 1^st 2019. At the same time, they should closely cooperate with relevant offices in grasping and forecasting the market situation and advising party committees and commands on implementing the plans for procurement and production order, accelerating the speed of spending and disbursement, avoiding the accrued spending at the end of the year or the cancelled budgeting. Moreover, sectors and units should actively establish and mobilize financial resources under the State’s law and the MND’s regulations in order to increase the budget balance. Great value should be attached to stepping up financial autonomy in hospitals and infirmaries under the Directive 85/CT-BQP by the Minister of National Defence and privatizing a number of services to reduce the budget spending.

3. Strengthening the work of management, inspection and investigation and stepping up the practice of thrift and the corruption and waste combat. Sectors and units should synchronously adopt measures to improve the quality of finance and public property management and use as well as strictly implement the Regulations on financial publicity. Notably, under the new mechanism for financial management, the commanders (the account holders), units receiving the budget, and financial offices should raise their responsibility and autonomy for the budget spending and use. The all-level financial offices should stringently maintain the regulations on the financial work, further encourage their role in controlling, maintaining and managing finance, and step up the control of spending, price, and finance during the bidding process as well as the management of public property and materials. They should continue to well appraise and approve the price of defence products and closely manage types of budgets (including the ones which are not allocated by the MND), funds, cash, and sources of revenues in units. Besides, they should actively help their units deal with difficulties to accelerate the rate of spending and resolutely avoid the wrong expenses and the exceeded budgeting. Sectors and units should continue to expand bidding for procurement and capital construction, allocate the budget and control the payment via the State Treasury, accelerate the rate of settlement of finished projects and constructions, and improve the effectiveness of spending.

In addition, sectors and units should maintain the order for financial supervision, investigation and inspection at all levels. Due regard should be paid to inspecting the implementation of new mechanism for financial management; combining inspection by financial offices with inspection and supervision by party committees and soldiers’ councils; strengthening the work of internal financial inspection and investigation. The DoF should cooperate with the State Audit in carrying out the audit work under the regulations, maintaining the financial disciplines, and taking the measures to well implement the Program to realize the Law on the thrift practice and waste combat, the Law on corruption prevention and combat, and resolutions and directives by the Government and the MND on this work.

4. Studying, amending, supplementing and perfecting the mechanism and policy for the military financial work, meeting the task requirements in the new situation. In 2019, the Military Financial Branch, particularly the DoF should continue to review, build and complete the mechanisms for the military financial work and the finance, public property, and defence land management and use; supplement and perfect the regulations on goods procurement, capital construction, and management of business finance and sources of revenues, formulate and supplement the policies to better improve troops’ life. In the medium term, it should cooperate with relevant state offices in advising the MND on supplementing and amending the decrees and guiding documents on implementing the State Budget Law of 2015 in accordance with the particularities of the Military, building and issuing the documents on executing the Project on renewing the mechanism for financial management. Focuses should be placed on the Regulations on planning, abiding by and settling the budget, the Ordinance on financial publicity within the MND, the (amended) Charter of the financial work of the Vietnam People’s Army, the Guidance on the commanders’ financial report to the party committees at all levels under the CMC Standing Board’s Regulations 707-QC/QUTW; on reviewing and establishing the system of procurement quota as the basis for the budgeting under the road map of the Project. Moreover, due attention should be paid to amending the Circular on price management within the MND and accelerating the rate of formulating 3 payrolls for members of the armed forces. There is a need for the continued cooperation with competent offices in completing the mechanisms and policies for the financial autonomy of the public administrative units, including military hospitals and infirmaries as well as perfecting the regulations on financial publicity, investigation, inspection and audit, thereby creating a legal basis for closely managing and enhancing the effectiveness of financial resources for the military-defence missions.

In addition to well implementing those above-mentioned measures, party committees and commands at all levels should continue to consolidate the structure of financial offices and make them politically strong and step up the emulation movement entitled “building good financial management units”, giving an impetus to well execute the Resolution 915 and the Project on renewing the mechanism for financial management as well as successfully fulfil the financial work in 2019 and beyond.

Maj. Gen., Dr Luu Sy Quy, Director of the DoF, the MND