NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue addresses the first plenary session of the 44th AIPA General Assembly in Jakarta, Indonesia, in August 2023. (Photo: VNA) Reporter: The year 2023 marks the mid-term point of the 15th National Assembly.What are the outstanding results of the NA's activities last year?
NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue: It can be seen that the NAcompleted a heavy workload in 2023, the heaviest since the beginning of the tenure.
Theworkload included the successful organisation of five NA meetings, includingtwo regular and three extraordinary sittings, together with 16 regular sessionsof the NA Standing Committee, not mentioning full-time NA deputies’ conferencesand NA Standing Committee sessions held between the fifth and the sixthmeetings of the 15th NA to study and explain the contents submitted to the NAfor approval at two regular NA sittings. Thus, the number of meetings in 2023alone is equal to the total held in a half of the NA tenure.
From the fifth meeting, with the initiative of arranging two phases in each session,the NA shows its flexibility, adaptation and response to reality’s requirementsin the current period.
The year 2023 also saw many “first things”, for examples, the successfulorganisation of the first Dien Hong Awards – the national press award on theNational Assembly (NA) and People’s Councils; preparation for the awardceremony of the second Dien Hong Awards slated to take place in January 2024;the first national-scale conference on the implementation of laws and resolutionsissued by the 15th NA to thoroughly grasp the viewpoint and direction of PartyCentral Committee on "closely linking law making with lawenforcement"; the first Labourers’ Forum; and the first "Children's National Assembly"hypothetical session. Some of those events have been selected as outstandingevents of the NA in 2023.
So,it can be seen that the workload is very heavy, with many difficult and complexproblems which required the NA, the NA Standing Committee and every NA deputiesto work hard. Despite the hard work and high pressure, I think that the mostvaluable thing is that every NA deputy is happy to contribute to the commonwork. The Government, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People'sProcuracy, the Fatherland Front, ministries, central agencies and local administrationswere all engaged in the work and made great efforts.
Iwant to emphasise that NA deputies who represent the will and aspirations ofthe people are the centre of legislative activities. Through the terms, the NAdeputies’ performance has seen positive changes associated with reforms in theorganisation and operations of the NA.
Atmeetings, NA deputies have shown a sense of responsibility, enthusiasm, and deliveredprofound and multi-dimensional opinions in many fields. In particular, thenumber of deputies registering to speak in discussions and question-and-answersessions was very large, especially at the 6th sittings. The spirit ofinnovation in the parliament has contributed to improving the effectiveness andefficiency of the NA's work; and showing their efforts to derliver oncommitments that they made to voters.
Regardinglaw building work, the NA continues to uphold the spirit of proactiveness anddevelopment facilitation in lawbuilding with a long-term vision. The goal ofthe law-making work in the 15th NA term is to complete synchronous developmentinstitutions and create a legal framework to successfully implementsocio-economic development tasks in the 2021-2025 period.
Rightfrom the beginning of the term, the Politburo issued Conclusion No. 19-KL/TW (in2021) on the orientation of the law-building programme in the 15th NA term.This is the first time in the NA’s legislative history there has been aconclusion issued by the Politburo to guide legislative tasks for the entireterm.
Asof the 6th meeting, the NA and relevant agencies had completed 114 out of 137legislative research tasks of the entire term, reaching 83.21% of the plan.
Thisis clear evidence of drastic changes in law-making thinking from management to facilitatingnational sustainable development, demonstrating the high sense ofresponsibility, proactiveness and activeness of the Party delegation of the NAin urgently institutionalising the policies and guidelines set by the 13th NationalParty Congress, and soon translate the Resolution of the 13th PartyCongress into reality.
The above-mentioned results prove that we have, andare tackling the problems of passiveness and reliance on others, like when youcook rice, you boil the water and wait for someone else to bring you rice. Instead, we must prepare carefully for anything that we want to do. This isvaluable experience withdrawn from the 78-year history of the NA.
Looking back at 2023, thematic supervision activitiescontinued to be a "bright spot". We not only conduct supervision in a"post-inspection" style but also focus on monitoring the issues thatare being implemented, so that the NA can join the Government in removing obstaclesand difficulties in the implementation process. In 2023, for the first time,the NA conducted mid-term supervision and passed a resolution on thematicsupervision of "the implementation of NA resolutions on the nationaltarget programmes on building new rural areas for 2021-2025, sustainable povertyreduction for 2021-2025, and socio-economic development in ethnic minority andmountainous areas for 2021-2030.”
TheNA assigned the Government to urgently draft a resolution on a number ofspecific mechanisms and policies to remove difficulties and obstacles and speedup the implementation of national target programmes to submit to the NA forconsideration and approval at the nearest meeting following shortenedprocedures; with one of the mechanisms being the pilot decentralisation to allowdistrict-level authorities to decide the list, structure, and allocation ofstate budget capital.
Such timely actions are attributable to early preparation. Right from thebeginning of the term, supervision was identified as a central and key task.Performing the supervision function well will bring positive impacts on theNA’s functions of building law and making decision on important issues of thecountry.
The opening ceremony of the 15th NA's sixth session on October 23, 2023 (Photo: VNA) NAChairman Vuong Dinh Hue: At the sixth session, the NA decided to postponethe approval of two bills, namely the Land Law (revised) and the Law on CreditInstitutions (revised).
After studying12 million opinions from people about the draft revised Land Law, due to thespecial importance and complexity of this bill and the large number ofdifferent viewpoints on the draft revised Law on Credit Institutions, the NA debated,made prudent consideration regarding many aspects, and decided to vote on thedrafts at the nearest possible session.
The NAadopted a resolution on the application of top-upcorporate income tax under the Global Anti-Base Erosion rules andpermitted the establishment of an investment support fund financed by thecollection of the global minimum tax and other legal sources to aid businesses.
The resolution took effect on January1, 2024. It is an urgent need to enforce the regulations on the global minimumtax starting 2024 in accordance with the guidance of the Organisation forEconomic Cooperation and Development (OECD) so as to concurrently acquire theright to impose top-up corporate income tax and create a favourable investmentenvironment for continuing to strongly attract foreign investment.
Asidefrom meeting urgent demand of reality, it also demonstrated the NA’s consistentprinciple of resolutely implementing the issues that are already clear, provedto be true in reality, and on which there is high consensus while continuing toconsider and sum up real practices when it comes to the issues that remainunclear or on which there are many different opinions, and carrying out thoseissues on a trial basis when authorities give permission; making timelyadjustments and amendments to policies that have already been implemented but laterproved to be inappropriate.
As2024 is a crucial year holding special importance, the NA required continuingto prioritise promoting economic growth, maintain macro-economic stability,control inflation, and ensure major balances of the economy. The resolution onthe socio-economic development plan for 2024, adopted at the sixth session,also targets a gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 6 - 6.5%.
As I have mentioned, the NA isupholding the consistent spirit of of proactiveness and developmentfacilitation in lawbuilding with a long-term vision. Regarding urgen issuesrequiring timely settlement, within its jurisdiction, the NA will issueresolutions. In 2022, it issued resolutions approving investment policies onsix nationally important transport projects with very large sums of investment capital.These six projects are all key and urgent ones critical to national defence andsecurity, having strong influence on enhancing regional connectivity, andboosting socio-economic development of the country, regions, and localitieshousing the projects.
The resolution on piloting somespecific policies on road investment and construction, approved at the NA’s sixthsession, continues to follow that spirit. This mechanism is expected to help 21other key transport projects of the country to considerably shorten theirimplementation time and accelerate progress.
Recently, theGovernment and the NA Standing Committee carried out a general review of legaldocuments in all fields and across the country. Basing on that, the NA issued aresolution requesting the Government to quickly examine and report the outcomesto the NA at the seventh session, take measures to immediately deal withcontradictory and overlapping contents and effectively address the avoidance ofand lack of sense of responsibility among part of civl servants and publicemployees; quickly research and propose amendments to the Law on Promulgationof Legal Documents.
The results of the general review and systematisation ofthe legal system are important to administrative reform. Basing on this, wewill continue implementing a general review of administrative procedures in2024.
In addition, we are accelerating the construction and development ofsocio-economic infrastructure, especially nationally important projects andfacilities; promoting comprehensive cultural-social and social securitydevelopment, and early building a national target programme on therevitalisation and development of culture and the development of Vietnamesepeople to submit to the NA for consideration; and comprehensively implementingwage policy reforms from July 1, 2024.
TheNA, together with the political system, will continue to perfect and build alean, efficient, and effective state apparatus; effectively addressing the attitudeof passing the buck and avoiding responsibility for fear for committing faults ofa part of civil servants while tightening administrative discipline anddiscipline among civil servants and in public work; and further stepping up theprevention and control of corruption, negative phenomena, wastefulness, andgroup interests.
All those tasks are aimed at unlockingevery potential and resource and creating new momentum for the country’s fastand sustainable development.
NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue (front, centre) and Vietnamese and foreign officials pose for a group photo at the opening ceremony of the ninth Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians in Hanoi on September 15, 2023. (Photo: VNA) NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue: Among the country’s common achievements inexternal affairs, the NA’s external activities have not only taken placevibrantly but also been promoted in terms of quality. We have strongly broughtinto play the characteristic of external affairs of both the State and people.It could be stated that 2023 was an outstandingly successful year ofparliamentary diplomacy.
More than 10 delegations of othercountries’ parliaments paid official visits to Vietnam while leaders of theVietnamese NA also visited other countries to attend multilateral forums. Manyinternational agreements were signed/renewed between the Vietnamese NA andother countries’ parliaments.
Inbilateral external activities, attention was paid to enhancing ties withneighbouring countries, intensifying relations with strategic partners,substantively promoting relations with cooperative partners and traditionalfriends, and strengthening trust with other partners.
The NA’sexternal activities have turned parliamentary diplomacy into an importantpolitical channel for foreign relations and a source of strength for promotingcooperation with other countries in a result-oriented manner, thereby raisingthe country’s international stature.
In terms ofmultilateral parliamentary diplomacy, the NA engaged in an active and proactivemanner with the readiness to contribute to the building and shaping of commonrules, and to initiate and lead new initiatives at international and regionalinter-parliamentary forums like the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and theASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA).
A recentexample was the success of the ninth Global Conference of YoungParliamentarians, themed “TheRole of Young People in Promoting the Realisation of Sustainable DevelopmentGoals via Digital Transformation and Innovations”. The event adopted a jointstatement, the first of its kind so far through the nine editions of the IPUconference.
The firstCambodia-Laos-Vietnam Parliamentary Summit took place in Laos in early December2023, during which the chairpersons of the three countries’ NAs adopted a jointstatement. The establishment of this mechanism was an important milestone inthe history of the three NAs’ cooperation, marking the elevation of cooperationamong the three legislative bodies to the highest level.
The summit marked the completion ofthe “three peaks of a triangle” of the Cambodia - Laos - Vietnam high-levelcooperation, namely the top leaders of the three Parties, the Prime Ministersof the three countries, and now the chairpersons of the three NAs, creating a“tripod” – policies and guidelines of the Parties, the institutionalisation andbuilding of legal framework along with supervision by the NAs, and enforcementby the Governments – so that Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam can further enhancecooperation.
Our top dutyis to continue maintaining and consolidating a peaceful and stable environmentfor national development towards the two centenary goals (by 2030 and 2045). Tofulfill that duty, it is necessary to unceasingly reform, stay creative, and beflexible in the external affairs mindset and implementation methodology, withnew ways of thinking and working. The new mindset should adopt a global,multilateral, and inter-sectoral approach on the basis of firmly maintainingindependence, self-reliance, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. We need tocontinue promoting the style of diplomacy that is deeply imbued with thecharacteristics of “Vietnamese bamboo” with “strong roots, sturdy stems, andflexible branches” as directed by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.
In thatspirit, the Vietnamese NA will continue nurturing ties with the legislativebodies of other countries as well as sound relations with parliamentary friendshipalliances and prestigious parliamentarians, considering this as our “politicalcapital” in the relations with other countries’ legislative bodies.
At the sametime, the NA will continue bringing into play the strength of legislativediplomacy as the representative of the people, step up “soft” connectivity andexchanges in terms of culture, society, education, youth, and tourism, andpopularise Vietnam’s images to the region and the world.
The NA’s external affairs will also continue to link with theimplementation of many recently established cooperation frameworks such as theJust Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) at COP26 and the Asia Zero EmissionCommunity (AZEC) initiative of the Japanese Government.
We willcontinue promoting economic diplomacy, which is a focal task and an important driverof development, in the spirit of “putting people, localities, and businesses atthe centre of service”.
Buildingprofessional, comprehensive, and modern diplomacy is an urgent and alsostrategic requirement for external affairs, and an inevitable trend in theworld’s diplomacy. The NA will continue giving high priority to the diplomaticsector when considering and stipulating issues within its jurisdiction.
In addition,the NA will continue proactively implementing the policy of elevatingmultilateral external relations, especially within the frameworks of ASEAN -AIPA and the United Nations - IPU and stay ready to play the initiating andleadership role in the issues Vietnam has strength and experience like povertyelimination, food security, water resource security, gender equality, andhealth.
In 2023,Vietnam’s population reached 100 million – an important and impressive milestoneduring its development process. The country has undergone nearly 40 years ofrefom. Per capita income in Vietnam has reached the middle level and is increasingfast. People’s right to mastery has been exercised via the law-governedsocialist state that is truly of the people, by the people, and for the people.
A new springis arriving, I wish compatriots, voters nationwide, and the overseas Vietnamesecommunity good health, happiness, and success in the New Year. By continuing tobring into play the strength of the great national solidarity, theproactiveness of the entire political system, along with support, efforts anddedication by people and the business community, we will definitely surmountdifficulties and challenges, seize opportunities, and soon achieve the nationaldevelopment targets set in the Resolution of the 13th National PartyCongress.
Reporter: Thank you very much!
VNA
