Fiscal year 2016-17, which will be the last year of distinction between plan and non-plan budget, coincides - not by accident but by design - with the last year of the 12th
Five-Year Plan (2012-17)," he said in a live interaction with public on the intricacies of the Union Budget 2016-17.
China has learned a lot since these early attempts at reform, however, and the objectives of its more recent five-year plans are not unlike those of any other modern nation that is grappling with pollution, the depletion of scarce resources and increasing wealth disparity.
The priorities of the current five-year plan are higher quality growth, increased domestic consumption, and the development of modern industries (which includes new energy sources, biotechnology, automobiles, and IT infrastructure).
And while wind and solar power will continue to receive special treatment under China's "green" development efforts, the biggest beneficiaries under the latest five-year plan are likely those companies that are most sensitive to changes in domestic consumption like food, consumer goods and services, pharmaceuticals, and travel.
At the same time, the most recent five-year plan seeks to boost household income by about 7 percent.
China's economic landscape is evolving quickly, especially as the current plan comes to a close and the commencement of the new plan draws near (the 13th Five-Year Plan is set to begin in March 2016).
A strategic five-year plan might then be drafted but if managers know that, in practice, the priority is to achieve the budget, then the real plan is the budget.
Clearly, a five-year plan, or a forecast or budget for that matter, would be pointless unless there were a congruent plan to take action, deploy resources and motivate staff to deliver it.
Also, in volatile trading conditions, when companies need to keep their cost base flexible so as to be able to react with agility to opportunities or threats, a detailed five-year plan might be too rigid and a barrier to innovation.
Having an agreed five-year plan with clear objectives and milestones along the way would make it a lot easier to have those otherwise difficult conversations that can be necessary to ensure the sustainability of the business's success.
The 11th
Five-Year Plan is being taken more as an expression of the kinds of policy commitments China's leadership is expected to pursue over the next few years.
The meeting discussed the mechanisms for preparing for the ninth
five-year plan and the role of the municipal councils in the various governorates, in addition to briefing the attendees on the pivots and priorities of the plan which is the latest plan within the framework of the Oman Vision 2020.
