Decentralization and delegation of power to the provincial level must be associated with power control.

On the morning of January 6, at the first extraordinary session, the 15th National Assembly held a group discussion session on the draft law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Public Investment, the Law on Investment under the public-private partnership model, the Investment Law, the Bidding Law, the Electricity Law, the Enterprise Law, the Law on Special Consumption Tax and the Law on Civil Judgment Enforcement.

Comrade Thai Thanh Quy - Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council chaired the discussion at the Nghe An delegation. Attending were invited delegates who were leaders of a number of relevant departments and branches.

Overview of the group discussion session at the National Assembly Delegation of Nghe An province. Photo: Thanh Duy

The development and promulgation of this Law aims to promptly remove difficulties and obstacles in institutions and laws, unblock and promote resources for socio-economic development in the context of Covid-19 prevention and control; reduce and simplify procedures in investment and business, creating favorable conditions for people and businesses.

The goal is to increase decentralization to localities in investment activities, public investment and investment under the public-private partnership model; remove some difficulties in implementing the selection of contractors and investors for projects using ODA capital and preferential loans; corporate governance activities, investment, production and business activities of enterprises; the process of organizing the execution of judgments in cases where the judgment debtor has assets in many places;...

At the group discussion session, delegates from Nghe An Delegation and invited guests basically agreed with the contents of the draft law; at the same time, raised a number of opinions related to amending and supplementing the contents of 8 laws.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Duc - Director of the Department of Planning and Investment spoke at the discussion session. Photo: Thanh Duy

It is proposed to consider and supplement transitional provisions regulating the authority to decide on investment policies for group B and group C investment projects using ODA capital and preferential loans from foreign sponsors whose project proposals have been approved by the Prime Minister and are undergoing procedures for approval of investment policies; the authority to adjust investment policies for group B and group C projects using ODA capital and preferential loans from foreign sponsors whose investment policies have previously been approved by the Prime Minister.

Along with that, it is recommended to consider and supplement the revised provisions on the implementation time and disbursement of public investment capital in cases of force majeure. Accordingly, People's Councils at all levels should be allowed to decide to extend the implementation time for budget capital sources managed by them instead of only assigning this authority to the Provincial People's Council.

Proposing to amend the content of the Law on Public Investment in the direction of assigning the Provincial People's Committee to adjust annual planning targets among agencies and units according to the medium-term plan approved by the People's Council to ensure proactiveness and timeliness in plan management, contributing to accelerating the disbursement progress of public investment capital.

Deputy Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Nghe An province Thai Thi An Chung spoke at the discussion session. Photo: Thanh Duy

Speaking at the discussion regarding regulations on land use forms for investment in construction of commercial housing projects, Mr. Tran Nhat Minh - Full-time delegate of the National Assembly Delegation of Nghe An suggested that the Government should continue to carefully and thoroughly assess the impact of this policy on the real estate market and budget revenue.

Deputy Head of the Nghe An National Assembly Delegation, Thai Thi An Chung, agreed with the policy of authorizing the provincial People's Council to decide on a number of contents after amending the Law on Public Investment, the Law on Investment in the form of public-private partnership, and the Investment Law. However, according to the female delegate, the Government needs to provide specific instructions on the order and procedures for the provincial People's Council to effectively implement them.

Delegate Vo Thi Minh Sinh - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Chairwoman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Nghe An province spoke at the discussion session. Photo: Thanh Duy

Regarding the amendment of the Electricity Law, Ms. Thai Thi An Chung assessed that only general provisions have been amended, while the provisions in the law have not been amended, leading to "inconsistencies", especially related to the right to connect to the national grid system. On that basis, the delegate suggested that if the issue of principles in the right to connect is raised, a number of provisions in the provisions of the Electricity Law must be amended accordingly to bind responsibilities, to balance the rights and interests between the parties, as well as to ensure the safety of the national grid.

Speaking at the discussion on amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Enterprise Law, delegate Vo Thi Minh Sinh - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Nghe An province suggested that it should only be stipulated that enterprises need to have reports and summaries of mid-year financial reports made by the company's supervisory board to both create favorable conditions for enterprises and be transparent with shareholders and investors.

National Assembly Delegate Thai Van Thanh - Director of Nghe An Department of Education and Training spoke at the discussion session. Photo: Thanh Duy

National Assembly delegate Thai Van Thanh assessed that amending 8 laws in one draft law is a creative and flexible decision of the National Assembly and the Government to meet practical requirements. However, regarding decentralization and delegation of power, the Director of the Department of Education and Training of Nghe An suggested that it is necessary to clearly define the responsibilities between competent authorities such as ministries, central branches, People's Committees, and People's Councils at the provincial level...

Comrade Thai Thanh Quy - Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation, Chairman of the People's Council of Nghe An province concluded the group discussion session. Photo: Thanh Duy

Concluding the discussion session, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Nghe An Province Thai Thanh Quy expressed his high agreement with the promulgation of this draft law to amend and supplement a number of contents of 8 laws, including those that are still complicated, overlapping, and have not been fully calculated when promulgated to suit the reality. This demonstrates the flexibility and understanding of the problems from the "echo" of reality of the National Assembly and the Government.

The Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Nghe An province also acknowledged and highly agreed with the discussion opinions of the delegates that it is necessary to further decentralize to local authorities, along with strengthening supervision, inspection, and assigning responsibilities to control power; at the same time, improving the quality of the staff to perform assigned tasks... Thereby, creating initiative for localities, meeting the requirements set forth by practical life.