The 22nd session of the National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee opened in Hanoi on October 10 with a wide range of issues on its agenda.

At the beginning of the session, all members of the committee spent one minute in silence to honour the great contributions to the nation by General Vo Nguyen Giap, who passed away in Hanoi on October 4.

In opening the event, NA Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung emphasised the importance of the 22nd session, which will deal with preparations for the sixth session of the 13th National Assembly slated for later this month.

The committee will give opinions on the Government’s reports on the implementation of socio-economic development plans and State budget estimates for 2013, the 2011-2015 socio-economic development plan, and the socio-economic development plan and State budget estimates and allocations for 2014.

Other reports related to the State Audit of Vietnam will be also put on table during the session.

The committee will discuss the draft amendments to the Law on Bidding and the Law on People’s Public Security Forces, as well as the draft law on the amendments and supplements to a number of articles of the Law on Vietnam People’s Army Officers.

The Government’s proposals on Vietnam’s participation in the Cape Town Convention and Aircraft Protocol and the country’s signing of the UN Convention against Torture will also be considered.

In particular, the committee’s members will continue to voice their opinions on the draft amendments to the 1992 Constitution. They will also review preparations for the sixth session of the 13th NA, the last sitting in this year.

In the morning, under the chair of NA Vice Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, the Standing Committee discussed a report on the implementation of national target programmes in the 2011-2013 period and the issuance of Government bonds to fund the upgrading of National Highways No1 and No14.

In the afternoon, the committee will exchange views on the outcomes of the implementation of the master plan on economic restructuring./