In 2021, a part from advantages, the entire Military was confronted with difficulties and challenges caused by hostile forces’ sabotage activities. The Homeland protection imposed more demanding requirements on the Military. Natural disasters and epidemics, particularly the 4th wave of COVID-19 seriously impacted on socio-economic development, the people’s life and health, and budget for military-defence work. Against such a backdrop, under the motto of “staying one step ahead,” the Military Financial Branch proactively gave advice to all-level party committees and commands on creating and mobilising resources as well as balancing and allocating budget in a timely, focalised manner for both regular and irregular missions, especially for programmes and goals under orientations set by the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defence (MND). Units across the Military well implemented the new financial management mechanism, proactively allocated and used their budget for central missions. Budget was operated and allocated closely in accordance with reality. Finance, assets, and land were managed seriously and legally. Investigations, inspections, and audits were conducted under regulations, thus making contributions to raising the effectiveness of State budget.
However, in addition to those good results, the quality of budget estimates and allocation in some units were still limited; they had to adjust their budget estimates for many times in a year; their disbursement of funds for construction and materiel procurement was slow. Besides, inspection of budget estimates and use between financial and professional offices in several places was not regular or timely.
In 2022, it is predicted that the situation on a global and regional scale will continue to be complex. Strategic and commercial competitions between major powers, military conflicts, and epidemics will lead to a global supply chain disruption, and prices of several essential commodities will skyrocket. Natural disasters, epidemics, and environmental pollution will be on the rise and pose considerable challenges to financial support for forces across the Military. To meet the requirements set by financial support for military-defence tasks, the Military Financial Branch should actively give advice to the Central Military Commission and the MND on comprehensively leading and directing financial work, with a focus on the following.
First, intensify measures to create financial resources for military-defence tasks. Currently, economic downturn caused by wars, conflicts, and COVID-19 pandemic have been directly negatively impacting on countries’ stability and development. Against that backdrop, flexibly, properly combining and creating financial resources represent a matter of utmost importance. Thus, in addition to actively, proactively making and submitting defence budget estimate of 2022 to the State’s competent offices and the National Assembly for approval, the Military Financial Department (MFD) should cooperate with competent offices in well implementing the MND’s financial management regulations in the use of defence land associated with production and economic development and handling difficulties in exploiting and creating financial resources from revenue generating units. Military regions and provincial-level military and border guard commands should actively mobilise local funds for military-defence tasks. Sectors and units should exploit stocks, recover assets, and step up animal and crop husbandry to produce revenues. Production facilities should enhance joint venture and take advantage of their existing human and material resources to manufacture goods for society and make contributions to increasing revenues and balancing budget. Due attention should be paid to directing units to make their defence budget estimates of 2023 in accordance with State budget and their assigned missions.
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| A training course on how to use new software of financial management for financial staff members of units across the Military (photo: qdnd.vn) |
Second, enhance measures to manage budget estimates in a close, flexible, and timely manner. In order to step up the administrative reform and raise the quality of financial settlement and supervision, the MFD should direct all-level financial offices to well perform the work of financial settlement and supervision, while evaluating the efficiency of military businesses in 2021. Besides, the MFD should focus on assisting the MND in financial management and drastically implement measures to operate budget estimate of 2022. Emphasis should be placed on directing units to proactively minimise expenses that are not really necessary. Units should concentrate their budget on ensuring policies and entitlements for troops, satisfying the requirements set by adjustments in their organisational structure, maintaining combat readiness, organising training courses and exercises, protecting seas, islands, and borders, opportunely providing logistics and technical support, acquiring weapons and equipment, implementing key programmes and projects between 2021 and 2025 approved by Minister of National Defence, and continuing to perform the work of COVID-19 and natural disaster prevention and control.
As for public investment projects, units should actively execute those projects as the basis for disbursement, while conducting reviews and opportunely making reports to adjust capital plans from unfeasible projects to feasible projects in order to guarantee the disbursement of the assigned funds in 2022. At the same time, it is necessary to step up the settlement of public investments and minimise delays in settlement verification. Regarding new projects, the MFD should cooperate with relevant sectors and offices in proactively proposing a portfolio of new constructions of 2023 in the medium-term investment plan for the period of 2021-2025 and submitting it to the MND for approval so that units could quickly complete investment procedures and disburse funds. The MFD should continue directing financial offices at all levels to actively apply information technology to managing data about budget spending in order to facilitate command and operation work and meet the requirements set by a digital transformation within the Military Financial Branch.
Third, closely manage state capital and assets within enterprises. In order to improve enterprises’ production and business and create resources for military-defence tasks, on the one hand, the MFD should enhance inspection and supervision of corporate finance and supervise the management and use of state capital within businesses so as to promote a fair competition between enterprises on the market, facilitate businesses’ sustainable development, and guarantee resources for manufacturing defence commodities and performing defence missions in strategic areas, with significance attached to detecting and opportunely handling financial insecurities. On the other hand, the MFD should continue advising the MND on restructuring enterprises’ financial resources, developing capital restructuring projects, drastically divesting from investments within businesses with ineffectiveness or low effectiveness, withdrawing state capital from joint stock companies, reviewing and settling losses and financial shortcomings. In addition, the MFD should collaborate with competent offices in helping the MND to submit the amended Project on renewing, restructuring, and improving enterprises in accordance with task requirements and other projects approved by the Politburo. With reference to enterprises directly serving defence-security tasks, the MFD should cooperate with competent offices in advising the MND to work with state agencies to keep implementing preferential treatment policies for defence-security businesses and other ones stationed in strategic areas. Due regard should be paid to adjusting and replenishing enterprises’ charter capital in order to improve the manufacture of defence products.
Fourth, continue researching and perfecting the financial management mechanism within the MND. In the short term, the MFD should focus on researching, amending, supplementing, and completing the financial management mechanism on the basis of the Project to renew the Military’s financial management mechanism. Emphasis should be placed on amending the MND’s Guidance 8568/HD-BQP, dated August 8th, 2019 on developing budget estimates and settling state budget within the MND in accordance with reality. Great value should be attached to designing a system of norms for making and allocating recurrent state budget as the basis for units’ annual budget estimates and allocation. At the same time, consideration should be given to advising the MND on intensifying mechanisms for decentralising financial management and evaluating the task performance of heads of units via their financial management and use in order to tighten financial discipline. Moreover, the MFD should accelerate the development of legal normative documents on a new payroll at the request of the Central Steering Board on the Reform of Salary Policy, while designing and submitting a Circular on policies and entitlements for troops performing their tasks on Truong Sa Islands and Platforms. The MFD should research into preferential treatment policies for troops performing their tasks in isolated, remote areas or areas in extreme difficulty.
Concerning the financial management mechanism within non-business units, grounded on military hospitals’ implementation of the financial autonomy mechanism, the MFD should continue recommending the MND to adopt the financial autonomy mechanism within sanatorium-resort units and science and technology organisations. Contents of financial autonomy will be developed on the basis of general statutory regulations for financial autonomy and in accordance with the Military’s particularities. In this regard, spending for military-defence work and for tasks assigned by the State will be guaranteed by state budget, while non-business units will design their financial autonomy projects.
In addition to those above-mentioned tasks, the Military Financial Branch should concentrate on advising all-level party committees and commands to review the 10-year implementation of the Central Military Commission Standing Board’s Resolution 513-NQ/QUTW, dated September 21st, 2012 on the Military’s financial work towards 2020 and beyond. To that end, emphasis should be placed on comprehensively assessing the outcome of the Resolution, pointing out weaknesses, and drawing lessons as the basis for proposing guidelines and measures to well perform the Military’s financial work in the new situation.
Maj. Gen. LUU SY QUY, PhD, Director of the MFD