PM Pham Minh Chinh chairs the conference on social housing development on March 16.

Chairing a national hybrid conference on the issue, he emphasised that housing is one of the three pillars of social security, and that Vietnam does not pursue pure economic growth at the expense of social equality, security or the environment.

He said implementing the Party and State’s guidelines and policies on social security, the Government approved the plan on building at least 1 million social housing units for low-income earners and workers of industrial parks in the 2021 - 2030 period. It also ordered a credit package worth 120 trillion VND (over 5 billion USD) for social housing development to be carried out.

PM Chinh cited statistics as showing that there are 1,316 land plots with a total area of 8,611 hectares having been planned for social housing, more than double the 2020 figure of 3,359 hectares. From 2021 to 2023, 499 projects with over 411,000 social housing units were implemented.

Under the credit package of 120 trillion VND, banks have pledged to provide about 7 trillion VND in loans for 15 projects. About 640 billion VND has been disbursed for eight projects in seven localities.

Building social housing for low-income earners and housing for workers forms an important part of socio-economic development policies. Developing housing, including social housing, is a responsibility of the State, society, and people, he noted.

The Government leader affirmed that all economic sectors are encouraged to engage in the development of social housing and housing for workers under the market mechanism. The State has issued housing support policies for low-income earners in urban areas and workers of industrial parks to help ensure political stability and social security.

The event is connected with all the 63 provincial-level localities nationwide via videoconference.

He added that social housing development must be connected with the real estate market development, match the housing development plan for each period, comply with legal regulations and approved master plans, and ensure comprehensive technical and social infrastructure.

To quickly and effectively carry out the plan on building at least 1 million social housing units for 2021 - 2030, all stakeholders, basing on their functions, tasks and power, must exert all-out efforts, show the highest sense of responsibility, take creative and timely action, and uphold social ethics to fulfill their duties to develop true social housing, he demanded.

PM Chinh asked the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and the State Bank of Vietnam to soon devise and release the documents guiding the enforcement of related laws, including the revised Law on Housing, the revised Law on Real Estate Business, the revised Land Law, and the revised Law on Credit Institutions.

In particular, they need to tackle obstacles by streamlining administrative procedures and enhancing decentralisation to minimise the time and cost needed for social housing development, he went on.

At the conference, the PM also assigned concrete tasks to other ministries, sectors, localities, and businesses./.