National Assembly Delegate of Nghe An: Need separate mechanism for mountainous, remote and isolated areas

Discussing in the Group on the Government's work report for the term, Major General Tran Duc Thuan - Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on National Defense, Security and Foreign Affairs, National Assembly Delegate from Nghe An highly appreciated the Government's spirit of decisive, urgent and effective management during the past term, especially in the context of many personnel changes and major challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Major General Tran Duc Thuan, this is a very successful term of the Government when it has directed decisively, urgently, seriously, put work efficiency first, been close to the people, and successfully completed many goals set out in the Party Congress Resolution.

“In such difficult and pandemic conditions, our economic growth rate is still among the highest in the world, with GDP increasing from 346 billion USD to 510 billion USD in just 5 years,” he emphasized.

In addition to the outstanding achievements, Major General Tran Duc Thuan also pointed out some limitations that need to be seriously considered in order to have solutions to overcome in the next term. First of all, the phenomenon of pushing, avoiding, fearing collision, and fear of responsibility still exists among a number of cadres and civil servants.

On the other hand, although the work of preventing and combating corruption and negativity has achieved many clear results, in some localities, grassroots Party committees have not yet fully promoted their roles and responsibilities in the work of fighting, self-criticism, detecting and preventing violations.

In particular, when mentioning the issue of developing ethnic minority, mountainous, remote and isolated areas, Major General Tran Duc Thuan expressed many concerns. As a representative of 6 (former) districts of Western Nghe An, he said: When traveling on asphalt roads, people seem to be better off, but the deeper you go, the more difficult it is, with some communes having 70-80% poor households.

From that reality, Major General Tran Duc Thuan emphasized that at previous meetings, he had suggested that the Government summarize the implementation of National Target Programs, thereby proposing more suitable solutions and policies for ethnic minority areas and particularly difficult areas; in particular, it should research and develop separate mechanisms and policies for mountainous areas, remote areas, especially in job creation and resource mobilization.

The Major General suggested a remarkable direction: In the past, labor export was a correct policy, helping many localities eliminate hunger and reduce poverty. Now, we can consider piloting a program to send ethnic minority workers to work abroad or in other localities in the country, under the leadership and direction of the Party and local authorities.

He expressed his hope that in the coming term, development among regions across the country will become increasingly even; the quality of life of people in mountainous, remote and isolated areas will be significantly improved, gradually narrowing the gap compared to the lowlands.

Commenting on the draft Report on the work of the 15th National Assembly, Major General Tran Duc Thuan acknowledged that this is a National Assembly term with many successes demonstrated through the direction and administration of the National Assembly leaders; promoting the role and responsibility of National Assembly deputies; and coordination between the National Assembly and the Government, law review agencies and law drafting agencies.

According to Major General Tran Duc Thuan, the coordination between the Central and local governments in policy making has been carried out more smoothly and systematically in recent times, contributing to improving the quality of policy decisions. In addition, the promotion of digital transformation and the application of information technology in the activities of the National Assembly has created a positive change.

“It must be said that the quality of the National Assembly’s activities during this term has contributed to strengthening the people’s trust, affirming that the National Assembly is truly the highest State power body, representing the will and aspirations of the people in deciding on major policies and strategies of the country. I believe that, from the successes of the XV term, the upcoming XVI National Assembly will continue to achieve even better results, especially effectively overcoming the limitations and difficulties that have been pointed out in the past,” the delegate from Nghe An emphasized.

Also in the working session on the afternoon of October 21, the National Assembly discussed the work reports for the 2021-2026 term of the President, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuracy; and the work reports for the 15th term of the National Assembly Standing Committee, the Ethnic Council, the National Assembly Committees, and the State Audit Office.