NA Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn speaking at the meeting. — VNA/VNS Photos Doãn Tấn

HÀ NỘI — The National Assembly Standing Committee yesterday reviewed explanations and revisions to a draft law on urban development, including provisions on staffing, housing management, special economic zones and the country’s planned international financial centre.

Presenting the revised draft, Minister of Justice Hoàng Thanh Tùng said the bill would add the phrase 'ensuring actual workload requirements' to the criteria used by city-level People’s Councils to determine staffing levels.

The draft would also allow individuals and organisations to choose whether to use outsourced professional services to help complete administrative procedures.

Under the revised bill, authority to approve the renovation and reconstruction of apartment buildings would be transferred from city-level People’s Committees to People’s Councils. The change is intended to ensure greater scrutiny of decisions affecting residents’ property and housing rights.

The bill would no longer allow cities to waive architectural design competitions for projects that are legally required to hold them. A similar provision concerning special economic zones has also been removed.

On the proposed international financial centre, the draft requires the city’s executive authority to consult the Ministry of Finance and the State Bank of Vietnam before exercising certain powers.

It would also allow members of the centre to provide financial and other support services under their establishment and operating licences, including services for domestic organisations seeking to conduct transactions and attract international capital.

Chairman of the NA Committee for Legal and Judicial Affairs Phan Chí Hiếu said the committee supported the Government’s approach and many of the proposed revisions.

But he said the committee’s standing body had called for further review of eight areas, including the Government’s authority to introduce pilot mechanisms and policies, staffing decisions, free-trade and logistics zones, the international financial centre, energy infrastructure, strategic investment projects, urban planning and public security in special economic zones.

The committee also recommended that the draft law should not be expanded to cover free-trade zones, integrated logistics zones and non-tariff zones in other provinces, saying those areas did not fall within the bill’s scope.

NA Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn said the bill had initially been designed for HCM City before its scope was extended to other cities.

He urged lawmakers and government agencies to clearly distinguish the draft law’s provisions on the international financial centre from those in Resolution No. 222/2025/QH15, which remains in force.

The resolution governs the centre’s organisation, operations and special policies, while the urban development law would cover related spatial planning, infrastructure and urban development conditions, he said.

“The design must preserve the stability of Resolution No. 222/2025/QH15 and avoid creating two mechanisms for the centre,” Mẫn said.

“At the same time, it must create room for cities with development potential and avoid allowing legal mechanisms to hinder the creation of new growth poles.”

He also asked relevant agencies to prepare a report on urban areas built on reclaimed land for submission to the competent authorities.

Nguyễn Thị Hồng, NA Vice Chairwoman, said the draft law and Resolution No. 222/2025/QH15 had complementary scopes.

She backed a single international financial centre operating from HCM City and Đà Nẵng under a unified management and regulatory framework, while urging uniform licensing standards across both locations.

NA Vice Chairman Nguyễn Khắc Định praised the agencies for their detailed work and urged them to ensure the law was broadly applicable.

The law should not create obstacles for one group while benefiting another, or address current needs in a way that creates problems in the future, he said.

The standing committee also reviewed a draft resolution replacing Resolution No. 96/2019/QH14 on crime prevention, legal violations, the work of the People’s Procuracy and courts, and enforcement of judgments. — VNS