National Assembly Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn (left) had a working session with the Committee for National Defence, Security and External Relations on May 14. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — National Assembly Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn has urged the NA’s Committee for National Defence, Security and External Relations to accelerate reforms in legislative thinking, improve law-making quality, and strengthen oversight of international commitments and parliamentary diplomacy in the remaining months of 2026.

Addressing a working session with the committee’s standing board in Hà Nội on Thursday, Mẫn stressed the need for a concrete plan to institutionalise the Resolution of the 14th National Party Congress and Politburo Resolution No. 59-NQ/TW on international integration, while implementing the Politburo’s Conclusion No. 17-KL/TW on legislative orientation for the 16th-tenure legislature.

He also requested the committee to participate in a comprehensive review of legal documents and ensure that national defence, security and foreign affairs considerations are fully incorporated into draft laws.

Law-making and international treaty affairs will remain key tasks of the committee in 2026 alongside supervision and external relations activities, he said.

The committee is expected to examine the amended Law on Overseas Representative Missions of the Socialist Republic of Việt Nam and coordinate with the Ministries of Public Security, National Defence and Foreign Affairs to study draft laws within its areas of responsibility.

These include the Law on Data Security, the Law on Prevention of the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, the Ordinance on Post-war Bomb and Mine Clearance, and the revised Law on International Agreements.

The NA Chairman appreciated the committee’s achievements during the 15th NA tenure and the first months of 2026, noting that many complex and urgent laws and resolutions had been adopted with high approval rates, including several receiving unanimous support.

He also acknowledged parliamentary diplomacy efforts, saying they had contributed significantly to implementing Vietnam’s foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, friendship, cooperation and development, while helping raise the country’s international standing and supporting socio-economic development and national sovereignty protection.

However, he pointed out shortcomings, including some external relations activities remaining formalistic and lacking substantive effectiveness, as well as insufficiently close coordination and information-sharing mechanisms.

Regarding tasks for the remaining months of 2026, he urged the committee to accelerate preparations for adding key draft laws and ordinances to the 2026–27 legislative agenda and strengthen oversight of the implementation of Việt Nam's international commitments and cooperation agreements signed between the Vietnamese NA and foreign parliaments.

In terms of foreign affairs, he requested the committee to closely follow the Party’s foreign policy orientations and prioritise strategic and comprehensive partners, neighbouring countries and major multilateral parliamentary forums in the NA’s external relations plan for the second half of 2026.

The top legislator also stressed the need to promote information technology, digital transformation and artificial intelligence in the committee’s operations to reduce administrative workloads and improve the quality of policy advice, verification and law-making.

He expressed confidence that with solidarity, responsibility and determination for reform, the committee would continue improving the quality and effectiveness of its activities in the new tenure. — VNA/VNS