Will use AI to control buying and selling activities on e-commerce platforms

During the discussion session at the National Assembly hall this morning (November 5), Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc received and explained the opinions of National Assembly deputies concerned about the management of the state budget, a key area in maintaining financial stability and national economic development. The main contents included the allocation and disbursement of public investment, spending savings policies, difficulties in national target projects, financial autonomy of public units, the situation of financial funds and measures to increase budget revenue.

Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc

Challenges from budget allocation and public investment disbursement

Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc said that the allocation and disbursement of public investment budget is currently one of the top challenges due to overly strict procedural regulations. This process is delayed due to the need to complete regulations on norms and unit prices as well as comply with strict legal procedures.

“The allocation of budget and regular expenditures has not yet been fully implemented, and slow disbursement is a practical problem today. This requires innovation in the method of allocating budget estimates as well as development investment expenditure plans,” the Deputy Prime Minister said, pointing out specific legal problems such as: according to current regulations, before a project is approved and has a full estimate, the Ministry of Planning and Investment cannot advise the Government or the National Assembly on capital allocation. He cited that in some construction investment projects, ministries and branches do not have approved unit prices and norms, so they cannot accurately allocate the estimate.

A typical case is the allocation of capital for science and technology activities. The Deputy Prime Minister explained that although the National Assembly has stipulated a 2% spending rate for these activities, in reality only over 1% has been spent because it is necessary to wait for approval of regulations and norms from relevant sectors. He said that without reform of this procedure, the slow disbursement will continue and hinder the development of key projects.

To overcome the above situation, the Deputy Prime Minister proposed a solution to reform budget allocation, specifically: after the National Assembly approves the overall budget, the capital will be allocated directly to ministries, branches and localities for self-implementation in accordance with regulations. The Ministry of Finance will only check the implementation, ensuring transparency and efficiency in spending. He emphasized, "If we have such a consensus in thinking, the process will be smoother and more effective."

Improve the effectiveness of budget savings policies

In the context of limited financial resources, the Deputy Prime Minister said that saving on spending is a necessary measure to optimize the budget. The Government has taken strong measures to save on regular spending by cutting unnecessary expenses.

“We save mainly on economic, urban, shopping, business travel, conference, reception, and other expenses. However, most of the budget for salaries and allowances is fixed, so it is difficult to cut further,” the Deputy Prime Minister shared.

To date, this policy has helped save about 7,000 billion VND for the state budget, an encouraging figure. In particular, some ministries and sectors have implemented the maximum savings policy, such as the Ministry of Culture, which has only been allocated a very low budget, about a few hundred billion VND, so there is almost nothing left to save. In addition, the Government also requires localities and ministries and sectors to try to save more in other expenses such as overseas travel expenses, business trips, and conferences to create resources for necessary activities.

The Deputy Prime Minister also gave directions to continue saving in public investment, by reducing norms and costs at every stage. “We will save in the process of estimating norms, construction, transportation, and maintenance of public works. These savings will be used effectively for infrastructure development goals,” the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized.

Sharing about the difficulties in implementing national target projects, the Deputy Prime Minister said that one of the biggest challenges is the lack of land for construction site clearance due to the regulation that land is also considered a mineral, leading to legal barriers. This regulation is a barrier for projects requiring land clearance and the Government will propose to adjust it to be more suitable.

In addition, he emphasized the difficulties in land recovery and valuation procedures. Specifically, the land valuation regulations prevent tax authorities from issuing invoices to businesses, delaying the collection of land use fees. When the land price has not been determined, the next process cannot be carried out.

Referring to the issue of land use fee arrears, the Deputy Prime Minister said that currently, land use fee arrears account for 45% of the country's total tax debt, most of which is late payment fines. According to him, this situation stems from the fact that enterprises are allocated land before fulfilling their financial obligations. Failure to pay taxes on time causes enterprises to incur additional large fines, causing difficulties for both enterprises and the state budget.

Challenges of financial autonomy in public units

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, in the context of increasing demands for autonomy, a number of public service units, especially large hospitals such as Bach Mai Hospital and K Hospital, have petitioned to return to partial autonomy in their regular spending activities. This has been approved by the Government to ensure the best service for the people.

The Deputy Prime Minister explained: “These units will be autonomous in their regular expenditures, but the investment in infrastructure will still be guaranteed by the budget. This will help hospitals focus on their medical services while maintaining financial security.”

In addition, he affirmed that the Government supports public service units to be autonomous in spending such as leasing assets, joint ventures, and partnerships. However, it must ensure that state assets are preserved and not lost. “Autonomy is necessary, but it must not lead to the loss of state assets,” the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized.

Improve the efficiency of financial fund management and expand revenue sources

Explaining the situation of financial funds, especially the social insurance fund and the state budget, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc said that currently, the social insurance fund has a large balance, but this balance is mainly invested in government bonds or deposited in state-owned commercial banks. This investment not only ensures the safety of the fund but also creates benefits for the Government.

Regarding the budget funds deposited in banks, he said that the balance in the budget is only temporary and cannot be disbursed yet. When there is enough volume and procedures, these funds will be withdrawn for immediate use. The Government has focused on depositing these funds at the State Bank to ensure financial safety and stability.

Regarding expansionary fiscal policies and measures to increase budget revenue, over the past four years, the Government has applied an expansionary fiscal policy to reduce the tax burden on businesses and people, while increasing budget spending to stimulate the economy. The Deputy Prime Minister said: “We have reduced nearly VND800,000 billion in taxes, while budget revenue still exceeded nearly one quadrillion. This policy helps the Government have more resources to invest in infrastructure such as highways, airports, and social security projects.”

This success was achieved thanks to measures to reform the budget collection method, especially the implementation of electronic tax collection and data connection. He emphasized that these changes have helped increase revenue from the fields of e-commerce, real estate, and many other industries.

Referring to the achievements in tax collection from cross-border and domestic e-commerce platforms, the Deputy Prime Minister said that currently, the tax authority has collected more than VND18,600 billion from foreign e-commerce enterprises, and domestic e-commerce platforms have also begun to contribute to the budget. The Ministry of Finance plans to use artificial intelligence (AI) to control trading activities on e-commerce platforms, ensuring transparency and effective revenue management. “Next week, we will launch an AI tool to control revenue and transactions on e-commerce platforms,” the Deputy Prime Minister shared.

Source: https://thoibaonganhang.vn/se-su-dung-ai-de-kiem-soat-cac-hoat-dong-mua-ban-tren-san-thuong-mai-dien-tu-157461.html