CONNECTIVITY: A section of Vân Đồn-Móng Cái Expressway in the Northeast province of Quảng Ninh, a key project linking localities in the northern region. VNA/VNS Photo Huy Hùng

The Vietnam News Agency presents an overview of the National Assembly's operation in 2022 and its priorities for this year, ahead of the Lunar New Year 2023.

In 2022, the National Assembly (NA) and its agencies made great efforts and united to constantly renew work styles, significantly contributing to the fight against the pandemic and to socio-economic recovery.

Each programme and plan of the NA was thoroughly prepared beforehand by the NA Standing Committee and agencies based on utilising the wisdom of the deputies, and leading experts at home and abroad, which is demonstrated through the following activities.

These include the successful organisation of the first extraordinary session, the approval of the revised NA Session Regulations at the 4th session; and the promulgation of the Resolution of the NA Standing Committee guiding the supervision of legal documents and the supervision work of the People's Councils at all levels.

All these achievements have contributed to strengthening the legal corridor, facilitating the promotion of the roles and responsibilities of the NA, its agencies and the People's Councils at all levels, and at the same time, meeting the requirements of strengthening state management and promoting the development of society and the aspirations of the people.

2022 also marked the NA’s strong renewal in ways of thinking and working.

The review of reports by the NA agencies emphasised their work's essence, responsibility and efficiency. Questioning and answering activities at the NA sessions and the NA Standing Committee meetings have included much renewal.

Supervising is not necessarily intended to post-check the questionable issues but also includes ongoing issues such as monitoring content at the 3rd and 4th meetings; or the implementation of difficult and complex issues such as supervision of the planning law.

ETHNIC BEAUTY: Women from the Dao ethnic minority in the northern mountainous province of Lạng Sơn. The province is set to preserve the cultural identities of all ethnic groups. VNA/VNS Photo Anh Tuấn

Thematic supervising activities are focused, and there are many innovations in the organisation, implementation and supervising methods, mobilising many participants to ensure supervising issues meet both voters and the people's expectations.

Over the past two years, the NA and its Standing Committee have issued many important resolutions to improve the effectiveness of supervision activities. The renewal of the method of implementing the NA's supervising programmes has involved the participation of the Party committees, the People's Councils, the Việt Nam Motherland Front at all levels, and experts for the first time.

In addition, the NA Standing Committee has established a mechanism to coordinate with the Internal Affairs Commission of the Party Central Committee in providing strategic advice on preventing and combating corruption, negativity and wastefulness.

In 2022, the NA also issued Conclusion 843 on continuing to renew and improve the quality and effectiveness of its supervision to direct the Standing Committee, the Ethnic Council and other agencies to make a methodical supervision plan going forward.

Each agency of the NA must properly perform self-monitoring and each deputy must control their own activities in performing tasks, powers and responsibilities for voters to truly "open a new phase full of good prospects in the operation of the NA", as directed by Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng at the opening of the first session of the 15th National Assembly.

National Master Plan

In 2022, the Politburo issued six resolutions on socio-economic development and national security.

After the third session of the 15th National Assembly ended, NA Chairman Vương Đình Huệ signed and promulgated five resolutions on investment policy in five important national projects: an investment project to build Ring Road 4 for Hà Nội capital city; a project to build Ring Road 3 for HCM City; the Khánh Hòa - Buôn Ma Thuột Expressway, phase 1; Biên Hòa - Vũng Tàu Expressway, phase 1; and Châu Đốc - Cần Thơ - Sóc Trăng Expressway, phase 1.

In 2022, the NA passed resolutions approving the investment in six important national transport projects with a total investment of nearly VNĐ360 trillion, including the above five resolutions and the Resolution on Investment in the East North-South expressway construction project in 2021-2025.

These six projects are all key and urgent transport projects, ensuring national defence and security, having spillover effects, strengthening regional linkages, and promoting the socio-economic development of the nation, regions and localities.

At the second extraordinary session that has just ended, the NA passed the National Master Plan for 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050.

FLOATING LIFE: Cái Răng Floating Market in the Mekong Delta province of Cần Thơ. The Mekong Delta region is a major rice granary of the country. VNA/VNS Photo An Hiếu

The NA promptly institutionalised the Party's policies with major resolutions in 2022 and early 2023 so they could be quickly deployed, creating new development spaces and growth engines for the country.

These are also steps to create momentum, contributing to the long-term goals approved by the 13th Party Congress.

The goals include making Việt Nam a developing country with modern industry, surpassing the low-middle income level by 2025, becoming a developing country with modern industry and high middle income by 2030 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Party and to be a developed, high-income country by 2045 - the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Democratic Republic of Việt Nam, now the Socialist Republic of Việt Nam.

Tasks and priorities

The NA , with achievements and experience in the past 77 years since its establishment, has determined to continue renewing and improving the working quality and efficiency to best meet the requirements and political tasks of the country in the new period by focusing on the following:

It will continue promoting its role and position in creating a timely, quality and compatible legal framework, serving socio-economic development, ensuring national defence, security and foreign affairs; building new and supplementing laws in key fields with the ability to create breakthroughs in socio-economic development.

It will continue renewing and improving the effectiveness and efficiency of supervision activities, especially thematic supervision; promoting democracy, argument and in-depth analysis; clarifying achievements as well as shortcomings; and finding causes and proposing solutions.

At the 6th session in October 2023, the NA is expected to conduct a vote of confidence in titles elected or approved by the NA. This is the basis for deputies to consider and evaluate objectively the performance of duties and powers of those holding positions approved by the NA.

It is expected to improve the quality of decisions on important national issues in an increasingly accurate and substantive direction, especially the state budget, socio-economic issues, the state apparatus and important national construction projects.

It will also play a key role in promoting foreign affairs, integrating and cooperating internationally; contributing to the Party and State's foreign policy of openness, multilateralism and diversification of relations; giving priority to strengthening in-depth external relations with the parliaments of neighbouring countries and other partners; and strengthening multilateral parliamentary forums, especially focusing on successfully organising the 9th IPU Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians.

It will enhance the quality and effectiveness of the NA's ombudsman work, researching and developing regulations on coordination between the Ombudsman Committee and government agencies, Party committees, and Standing Committee of the Central Committee of the Việt Nam Motherland Front to improve the efficiency of work in the field.

Other priorities include focusing on renewing organisational methods and working of the NA, the NA Standing Committee, the Ethnic Council, and all related agencies; improving the way the NA session is conducted to reduce the time of the plenary session; dividing the meeting into sessions with appropriate meeting form according to the content; accelerating the e-National Assembly; building a shared database among state agencies, building the e-National Assembly with e-Government to meet increasing large workloads; enhancing the quality of NA deputies; developing a direction for deputies at the 16th National Assembly and the People's Councils at all levels for 2026-2031. VNS