Representatives questioned the Prime Minister about the Chinese contractor.

According to the session's secretariat, as of the afternoon of June 2, 2014, 95 written questions containing 110 questions had been submitted to the Prime Minister and other members of the Government.

The Prime Minister answered questions directly at the sixth session, at the end of 2013.

Of those, only two have submitted written questions to the Prime Minister. Thus, compared to the end-of-year session in 2013, the number of written questions directed at the Prime Minister has decreased by more than half.

In the first item on the agenda, a head of a National Assembly delegation from a major city cited figures from the Finance and Budget Committee, stating that as of 2010, up to 90% of Vietnam's EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) projects were undertaken by Chinese contractors.

In many cases, delays and extended construction periods have led to requests for price adjustments from investors, resulting in increased investment costs. For example, the Tan Rai and Nhan Co power plants, constructed by the Chinese contractor Chalieco, saw total investment costs exceed initial estimates by over 15,400 billion VND and 16,800 billion VND respectively; an increase of 3,800 billion VND and 4,300 billion VND compared to the initial projections.

Notably, among those delays are 30 key national projects, many of which are "billion-dollar" projects in the power sector…

"In our country, many large infrastructure projects are awarded to Chinese companies, which raises serious concerns about energy security, national security, and investment efficiency, especially in the current situation in the South China Sea," the document stated.

This representative's proposal is: "The government needs to clarify its responsibilities, as well as those of the relevant ministries and agencies, in advising and making proposals to the Chinese contractor in the recent past. What solutions does the government have to quickly rectify this situation in the current circumstances?"

In the same document, the second question from the head of the delegation concerned the Asset Management Company of Credit Institutions (VAMC).

According to the questioner, VAMC's purchase of bad debts from commercial banks and payment with bonds, while contributing to "cleaning up" bad debts and increasing the credit capital of commercial banks, essentially only consolidates bad debts from commercial banks into VAMC. In other words, it is merely an accounting entry transferring bad debts from the accounts of commercial banks to VAMC's account.

Accordingly, the total amount of bad debt collected by VAMC is growing steadily (currently over 50 trillion VND), leading to a larger total amount of bad debt transferred to the State Bank of Vietnam and the Government.

The government needs to clarify the aforementioned issue and propose solutions to address the growing bad debts at VAMC, the document states, citing a representative's request.

The second person to submit a question to the Prime Minister was a representative from Dong Thap province.

Recently, there has been a situation where toxic chemicals are used in food, and growth hormones of unknown origin and quality are openly sold everywhere, from urban to rural areas. The public and society only know that these substances are harmful to health in a general sense, but no responsible agency has yet promptly and officially announced the composition, properties, and harmful effects of their use so that people can be aware and protect themselves, the representative wrote.

According to the delegates, the above situation shows that the assignment and coordination of tasks among ministries and agencies sometimes overlap and duplicate each other, and at other times, responsibility is not clearly defined when public concerns arise.

What are the Prime Minister's thoughts on the current situation, and what are the solutions to rectify these shortcomings? the delegate asked.

If he takes the podium in person, the head of government will directly answer questions before the National Assembly on the afternoon of June 12th.

According to Vneconomy