Encouraging Vietnamese couples to adopt local children was a main topic in the Draft Law on Adoption under discussion at Nov. 2 National Assembly meeting in Hanoi.

Ensuring the rights of adopted children, especially those from underprivileged backgrounds, was also discussed during the meeting.

The law is designed to build up a legal framework by common consent to raise public and private responsibility for protecting and raising children and defending their rights.

The law is expected to meet an increasing demand for Vietnamese couples who want to adopt children, as well as protecting the rights of new parents by putting their minds at ease so they can do their jobs well.

Minister of Justice Ha Hung Cuong said on Nov. 2 that some amendments had been introduced into the new bill to encourage and favour Vietnamese couples who wanted to become adopters.

Adoption by foreigners living overseas will be the last option to be considered.

Commune-level People’s Committees will be given responsibility for obtaining the opinions of children facing adoption.

Another amendment sets out to minimise corrupt practices involving consultant councils in introducing children to foreign adopters, said the minister.

Another regulation of the draft bill is the legal consequences of the adoption. Many other adoption-related issues, such as how to terminate an adoption, minimum conditions for children in their new homes and the duties of adopted children and their adopting families were also examined.

A second draft bill discussed on Nov. 2 was on postal services, which is expected to be approved during the present assembly meeting.

Most deputies said a draft law was necessary to help standardise and modernise postal services.

Minister of Information and Communications Le Doan Hop explained the Government’s role in providing a public-interest postal service and the enlargement of private services.

Deputies requested an amendment that the Vietnam Post and Telecommunication Corp should not be the sole provider of public postal services and said the Government should choose companies to share the service.

Many deputies said the postal sector is providing many services in the public interest from which it does not profit. They said it was time to separate the services and allow private enterprise to get more involved.

Meanwhile, amendments on laws controlling banking and credit funds were also discussed on Nov. 2.

Changes in banking regulations were said to clearly regulate the responsibilities and duties of the National Assembly, Government and the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) in carrying out national monetary policy – and checking the competence of bodies implementing the policy.

The NA’s Economic Committee, which reviewed the 12-year-old law, said that in spite of amendments in making monetary policy, and the role of the supervisory bodies in ensuring safe credit funds, the revised bill needed to be continually amended and improved.

Suggested revisions include clarifying the independence of the SBV in implementing monetary policy and regulating the competence of the NA to make the decisions./.