The opening ceremony of NA's seventh session on Monday in Hà Nội. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI The seventh session of the 14th National Assembly (NA) opened at the NA Hall in Hà Nội yesterday in a ceremony broadcast live on national television and radio.

Addressing the opening ceremony, NA Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân said 2019 is significant in the push to complete the goals set in the socio-economic development plan for 2016-20.

The workload is heavy and requires the political system, Party, citizens and businesses to “turn words into action, turn challenges into opportunities,” she said.

Ngân asked NA deputies to uphold the spirit of innovation and creativity, spend time studying documents and give clear opinions during discussions and controversial debates. The process helps NA deputies build a consensus around difficult issues, which in turn leads them to make better decisions that will be supported by citizens.

The seventh session, which will last until June 14, will spend 60 per cent of the total meeting time (20 working days) making laws. The NA plans to adopt seven laws and two resolutions and give opinions on nine other bills.

The NA will consider a report on the implementation of policies and laws on land planning, management and use in urban areas between when the 2013 Land Law took effect and the end of 2018. It will also look at reports on the implementation of development plans and the State budget in 2018 and the first months of 2019. 

Based on the reports, NA deputies will debate the use of loans and management of public debt, as well as the handling of violations of rules on the use of State capital in enterprises and in equitising State-owned enterprises.

The lawmakers make decisions on the addition of new projects to the mid-term public investment plan for 2016-20 and pass resolutions on the establishment of specialised NA supervision teams in 2020.

The NA is scheduled to give two and a half days to question-and-answer sessions.

Development plan

Delivering a report on the development plan and State budget in 2018 and the first months of 2019, Deputy Prime Minister Trương Hòa Bình highlighted the Government’s target of ensuring the major balances of the economy.

According to his report, gross domestic product growth in the first three months of this year reached 6.79 per cent. Fishery production recorded growth of 5.1 per cent – the highest rate seen in the same period of the previous nine years.

Export turnover in the first four months of 2019 reached US$78.8 billion, an increase of 5.8 per cent, and trade surplus reached $711 million.

Bình pointed out mid- and long-term challenges including slow public investment disbursement, difficulty handling loss-making projects and public property, land and resource management.

The Government has upheld the spirit of “discipline, uprightness, action, creativity, breakthrough and effectiveness” and ordered ministries and sectors to review and complete mechanisms, policies and laws to remove obstacles to investment, trade, taxes, labour, land and resources, according to Bình.

The Government will pay attention to restructuring the national economy and reforming the growth model along with increasing labour productivity, quality, efficiency and competitiveness.

Vũ Hồng Thanh, chairman of the NA’s Economic Committee in charge of assessing the development report, said the Government needed to cut down on administrative procedures, accelerate disbursement of public investment, deal with “black credit” loans and take measures to control animal epidemics.

The Government needed to continue to review commitments in new-generation free trade agreements and international treaties; and soon adjust investment attraction policies to lure high-quality foreign direct investment inflows, Thanh said.

Voters’ opinions

In the morning session, Trần Thanh Mẫn, President of the Việt Nam Fatherland Front, presented a report on opinions and petitions submitted to NA deputies by voters nationwide.

According to the report, as many as 3,518 opinions and petitions were submitted by voters after the 14th NA's sixth session. 

The Government and Government agencies have settled 2,290 out of 2,293 petitions that voters submitted.

Voters and citizens expressed their confidence in the leadership of the Party and the State, particularly in fighting against corruption and wastefulness by imposing punishments on violating officials, both on duty and retired.

However, voters said the corruption asset recovery rate remained low and proposed the Party and Government take more drastic action in cases of corruption that cause huge losses.

Voters also expressed their concern over accidents caused by drink driving, punishments imposed on those who cheated on the national exam last year, large-scale trans-national drug trafficking, food poisoning in schools, child sexual harassment and people paying for sins committed in a past life at Ba Vàng Pagoda in northern Quảng Ninh Province.

After collecting voters’ opinions, the Việt Nam Fatherland Front proposed the NA and the Government order sectors and localities to accelerate progress on key national projects, develop transportation infrastructure and reduce traffic congestion in big cities and key economic zones.

Other solutions proposed included improving the investment environment and encouraging the development of private businesses and co-operatives to make them a driving force for the economy.

The Việt Nam Fatherland Front also proposed the Government and Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment deal with waste and call on private investment in waste treatment. VNS