HÀ NỘI — The 50th session of the 13th National Assembly Standing Committee opened in Hà Nội on July 11 to discuss preparations for the first session of the 14th legislature slated for July 20. 
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the two-day event, NA Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân said that barring unforeseen changes,  this was the last meeting of the NA Standing Committee in the 13th tenure. 
Deputies are expected to offer ideas regarding Government reporting on the implementation of socio-economic development and State budget tasks in the first six months of 2016 and measures for the remaining months. They will comment on a supervision programme of the NA and its Standing Committee for 2017 and on the legislature’s law and ordinance building programme for 2017 and law and ordinance adjustment programme in 2016. 
They will also discuss the Government’s structure and organisation, the members of the 14th National Assembly tenure, and its draft decree on several specific mechanisms of investment, finance, budget and management decentralisation for Đà Nẵng City. 
On the morning of July 11, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyễn Chí Dũng delivered a speech on the Government’s report on  implementation of socio-economic development tasks in the first six months of 2016 and measures for the remaining months, while Minister of Finance Đinh Tiến Dũng presented another report on the implementation of State budget tasks in the first half and measures for the rest of the year. 
The head of the National Assembly’s Economic Committee, Nguyễn Văn Giàu, presented a report on the verification of the Government report on the implementation of socio-economic development tasks, and the head of the NA’s Committee on Finance and Budget, Nguyễn Đức Hải, read a report on the verification of the Government report on the implementation of State budget tasks. 
Discussing the Government reports, lawmakers agreed that in the first half of this year, Việt Nam’s GDP growth rate was 5.52 per cent, compared to the rate of 6.32 per cent of the same period last year. The decrease was attributed to drops in the growth of the agricultural and mining sectors. 
NA Vice Chairman Phùng Quốc Hiển stated that if no drastic measures were taken, it would be difficult to achieve the GDP growth rate of 6.7 per cent set by the legislative body for this year. 
The delegates also focused discussions on measures to boost socio-economic development and maintain defence security, stressing the need to carry out preferential policies for families of people who rendered service to the nation, support people affected by disasters like drought and saline intrusion, and help locals affected by the recent environmental pollution in the four central provinces of Hà Tĩnh, Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị and Thừa Thiên-Huế. — VNS