The National Assembly Standing Committee continues its 50th session on Tuesday. — VNA/VNS Photo Doãn Tấn

HÀ NỘI — The National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee has stressed the need for a comprehensive legal system for planning during the discussion on the draft amendment to the Law on Planning and the National Master Plan for 2021-30, with a vision to 2050 on Tuesday.

The meeting was part of the NA Standing Committee’s ongoing 50th session.

According to Deputy Finance Minister Trần Quốc Phương, the adjustment is to ensure that planning becomes an effective tool for the State in formulating development strategies and creating development spaces.

The update also aims to build a unified, streamlined and effective national planning system, and finalise plans with a long-term vision following the nationwide administrative restructuring.

It aims to reduce administrative procedures by at least 30 per cent and ensure reasonable decentralisation and delegation, alongside enhanced inspection and supervision.

Specifically, the draft stipulates that the NA decides on the national master plan, while the Prime Minister is authorised to approve plans for national marine spatial planning, national land use planning and regional planning.

Ministers are given the authority to approve sectoral plans and detailed sectoral plans, and provincial chairpersons can approve provincial planning.

The approval for urban and rural planning is carried out in accordance with the laws on urban and rural development.

In addition to simplifying procedures and improving regulations on planning activities, the document also seeks to resolve difficulties related to compatibility assessments of investment projects with existing plans.

A preliminary assessment by the NA’s Committee on Economy and Finance agrees on the necessity and political, legal and practical basis to apply the fast-track review and approval procedure for the draft amended Planning Law.

An assessment committee underscored that addressing bottlenecks in planning requires a comprehensive review of related investment regulations to improve enforcement. It also suggested refining all provisions of the draft to better define the role and direction of planning in socio-economic activities and investment attraction.

NA vice chairman Vũ Hồng Thanh highlighted the need to focus on key tasks. He urged the Government to narrow the scope of adjustments to the current Planning Law, concentrating on urgent, important issues that require immediate changes while avoiding new conflicts arising elsewhere. The amendment must also align with the Party’s directions and policies.

Furthermore, consistency must be ensured between the amended Planning Law and other laws proposed for consideration at the upcoming 10th session of the NA, such as the Law on Investment, the Law on Urban and Rural Planning, the Land Law, and the Construction Law.

Clear directions on which laws provide principles for other laws to follow are necessary to prevent conflicts and overlaps in practice, he noted.

Comprehensive approach

During the feedback session on the adjustments to the 2021-2030 National Master Plan with a vision to 2050, the NA Standing Committee urged the Government to focus on the alignments with the Politburo’s official directions, notably Regulation No 178-QĐ/TW on controlling power and preventing corruption and misconduct in legislative work.

The Government is requested to actively report and seek opinions from competent authorities to ensure consistency and alignment with other draft laws, such as those concerning planning and urban and rural development.

Additionally, the Government should continue the planning reviews and adjustments in alignment with the new context and the administrative restructuring, particularly with the new two-tier local government model. The overall target is to achieve double-digit growth in the 2026-2030 period and subsequent years.

Development indicators should be reviewed comprehensively and align with modernisation and sustainability strategies, linking economic development with environmental protection while adhering to the Politburo’s resolutions on socio-economic development across sectors, regions and localities.

Stability, long-term vision, high predictability and a solid scientific and practical foundation should be considered the principles to adjust the national master plan. Urban areas should become growth hubs associated with technical and social infrastructure development, while special policies should be developed for rural, mountainous and ethnic minority areas.

On the same day, the NA Standing Committee also reviewed the draft amendment to the Law on National Defence Industry, Security and Industrial Mobilisation. — VNS