Lawmakers scrutinise socio-economic matters

A number of socio-economic issues were spotlighted by National Assembly (NA) deputies at their group discussions on October 22 as part of the ongoing 13th parliament’s 10th sitting.

Agreeing with the Government’s report on the implementation of the 2015 socio-economic development plan, the lawmakers said Vietnam had seen numerous socio-economic achievements despite a complex global economy.

The socio-economic recovery continued in the first nine months of this year, resulting in encouraging outcomes, they added, noting an array of difficulties and challenges.

Nguyen Thien Nhan, a deputy from the northern province of Bac Giang, stressed that Vietnam’s international economic integration process began to accelerate when it signed a bilateral trade agreement with the US in 2000 and joined the World Trade Organisation in 2007. The country will also approve the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement in the near future.

While international economic integration is an opportunity and an inevitable trend, it also required Vietnam to complete its market economy mechanism, he said, adding that it was necessary to refer to other countries’ market mechanism models and equip domestic lawyers with first-rate skills so they could solve international commercial disputes.

The deputy also emphasised helping farmers develop, because they made up a majority of Vietnam’s workforce, and narrowing the income gap between urban and rural areas.

Nhan, who is also President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, noted that although the country has done well to eliminate poverty, it must also reduce the income gap between farmers and workers in the industry and services sectors. Farmers’ incomes remained almost unchanged over the last five years despite an increase in labour productivity.

Also at group discussions, the legislators appraised a socio-economic development plan for 2016, the realisation of the 2015 State budget plan, and State budget estimates and allocation plans for next year.

They also reviewed the outcomes of national programmes carried out since 2011, and how to use money left over from investments in renovations of National Road 1A and Ho Chi Minh Road in the Central Highlands.-VNA