SEOUL, 26 Feb. (Yonhap) – North Korea has called an extended plenary session of its government to discuss ways to give companies greater independence in efforts to meet economic goals set at the rare Labor Party Congress last month, the North Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) said on Friday.
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The cabinet meeting was held on Thursday via a “teleconference system” to discuss a series of important tasks set out at the Party Congress and the following parliamentary session, KCNA reported.
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At Thursday’s meeting, Pak Jong-gun, deputy cabinet minister and chairman of the State Planning Commission, debriefed on the need to ensure the independence of North Korean businesses.
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“It sets out tasks to take more vigorous measures to make constant efforts to implement the planning method according to the changes, the level of development of productivity and the development of science and technology, and to guarantee the economic situation and the legal environment of companies to independently and proactively carry out production and management activities as well as to fully express their creativity and react quickly to the changing environment, ”said the KCNA .
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Officials also discussed ways to improve the “cabinet accountability system,” which gives companies more autonomy in their production and management.
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They also called for strengthening the role of the cabinet “as the economic seat of the country”.
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“The report analyzed and examined the reasons why the cabinet and the state economic management bodies revealed a new passive and self-protectionist tendency in the development of this year’s national economic plan for the implementation of the decisions taken. during the Party Congress, ”state media reported.
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North Korean Prime Minister Kim Tok-hun chaired the meeting.
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The North appears to be looking for ways to deliver on its recently unveiled five-year economic program, emphasizing the central role of the cabinet and improving the economic system to empower private companies amid the economic hardships brought on by global sanctions.
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At the ruling Labor Party’s 8th Congress last month, Kim acknowledged the failure to meet the country’s previous five-year development goals and proposed a new five-year plan focused on self-reliance.
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