10 outstanding domestic events in 2016

(Baonghean.vn) - The year 2016 has gradually come to an end, but has also left behind many important events of the country. Let's review with Nghe An Newspaper the outstanding events of the past year.

1. The 12th National Party Congress

Panorama of the opening ceremony of the 12th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam on the morning of January 21, 2016 at the National Convention Center in Hanoi.

The National Party Congress took place from January 20-28, 2016. This congress is considered the 2nd Congress of Innovation. The Congress lasted 9 days with 4 tasks: Assessing the results of 30 years of innovation; Reviewing the implementation of the Resolution of the 11th Party Congress; Deciding on the direction, goals and tasks for the next 5 years; Electing the 12th Central Executive Committee.

Accordingly, the Congress elected 200 people, including 180 official members and 20 alternate members. General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong was re-elected for a second term. The Politburo: had 3 more members than the previous term; 19 official members; 7 re-elected members and 12 new members.

Half a year later, the 14th National Assembly elected and approved 27 members of the Government with 23 new faces, led by Mr. Nguyen Xuan Phuc (62 years old) as Prime Minister. The youngest member is Governor of the State Bank Le Minh Hung (46 years old). Only Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien (57 years old) is female and not a member of the Central Committee.

2. Election of deputies to the 14th National Assembly and People's Councils at all levels for the 2016-2021 term

National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan during the oath-taking ceremony for her second re-election on the morning of July 22.

On May 22, voters nationwide went to the polls to elect deputies to the 14th National Assembly and People's Councils at all levels for the 2016-2021 term. According to the announcement of the National Election Council, out of 870 official candidates, 496 were elected. According to the announcement of the National Election Council on June 9, the person with the highest percentage of votes was Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc with 99.48%, followed by General and Minister of National Defense Ngo Xuan Lich with 95.87%.

At the first session of the 14th National Assembly in July 2016, with nearly 98% of votes in favor, Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan was elected as Chairwoman of the National Assembly for the second time. 4 Vice Chairwomen including Ms. Tong Thi Phong, Mr. Do Ba Ty, Mr. Phung Quoc Hien, and Mr. Uong Chu Luu were also re-elected with high votes.

The composition is as follows: Delegates from ethnic minorities: 86 people (17.30%); Women: 133 people (26.80%); Delegates from non-Party: 21 people (4.20%); Young delegates (under 40 years old): 71 people (14.30%); 160 National Assembly delegates of the 13th tenure re-elected for the 14th tenure (32.30%); Delegates participating in the National Assembly for the first time: 317 people (63.90%); Self-nominated delegates: 2 people (0.4%). Regarding qualifications: 310 people (62.50%) (graduate degree); 180 people (36.30%) (graduate degree); 6 people (1.20%).

3. Disciplining senior officials related to the Trinh Xuan Thanh case

Illustration photo.

Accordingly, former Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang was dismissed from his position as Secretary of the Party Committee of the Ministry of Industry and Trade for the period 2011-2016. Three incumbent Deputy Ministers of Home Affairs, two leaders of Hau Giang Provincial Party Committee and a former Deputy of the Central Organization Committee received disciplinary measures for "having shortcomings in the transfer and reward of Mr. Trinh Xuan Thanh".

Previously, regarding the information that Mr. Trinh Xuan Thanh - Vice Chairman of Hau Giang used a personal Lexus car worth 5 billion VND, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong requested 9 agencies to investigate. During the investigation, a series of violations were discovered in his appointment. Specifically, when he was still a leader at the Vietnam Oil and Gas Construction Corporation (PVC), despite the company's heavy losses, Mr. Thanh was still promoted to a high position. The Central Inspection Committee stated that "the violations and shortcomings of the above officials have affected the prestige of the Party and the State, creating bad public opinion in society".

Afterwards, Mr. Thanh was said to have fled abroad after leaving the position of Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Hau Giang province; had his National Assembly delegate status revoked; and was expelled from the Party. The Ministry of Public Security prosecuted Mr. Thanh for intentionally violating State regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences. The authorities issued an international arrest warrant for Trinh Xuan Thanh.

4. US President Barack Obama visits Vietnam

US President Barack Obama’s visit to Vietnam this time marked a new turning point in the relationship between the two countries. The US President met and held talks with Vietnamese leaders, delivered an important speech on Vietnam-US relations, and met with members of the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI), entrepreneurs and the business community.

During the visit, Mr. Obama also announced the complete lifting of the arms embargo on Vietnam, a decision considered a turning point in the Vietnam-US relationship, contributing to enhancing and deepening strategic trust between the two sides, bringing the comprehensive partnership into reality.

The highlight of the visit was that the US proactively created connections between President Barack Obama and the Vietnamese people in the places he visited such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

President Barack Obama also quoted the famous "Nam quoc son ha" by Ly Thuong Kiet in his speech at the National Convention Center; He also made a surprise appearance at a bun cha restaurant on Le Van Huu Street in Hanoi, winning the hearts of many people in the capital.

5. Marine environmental disaster in the Central region

Dead fish in the seas of 4 central provinces in early April 2016.

In early April, the phenomenon of mass fish deaths originated from the Vung Ang economic zone (Ky Anh town, Ha Tinh) and then spread throughout a 200 km strip of the central coast of the provinces of Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and Thua Thien Hue.

This marine pollution has affected the lives of millions of people. 39,000 fishermen in the four provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and Thua Thien Hue lost their jobs, and their boats were grounded for eight months.

After more than 2 months of the entire political system investigating the cause, the culprit was identified as the waste from Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corporation, which destroyed the ecosystem of a seabed area.

On June 29, Formosa Company admitted that it was the culprit causing this incident and the company's leaders bowed their heads to apologize to the Vietnamese people as well as compensate the people of 4 central provinces with 500 million USD to fix the marine environmental incident.

6. Drought in the Mekong Delta, floods ravage the Central region

Drought in the Mekong Delta ...

The drought in the Mekong River basin, especially the Mekong Delta in early 2016, is considered the most serious drought in the past 100 years. In the Central Highlands, the water level in lakes, ponds, and irrigation works has been depleted.

According to information from the Office of the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, from the beginning of the year to April 15, 377,362 households in the South Central, Central Highlands and Southern regions have been affected by prolonged drought and saltwater intrusion. 240,200 hectares of rice, 9,649 hectares of crops, 85,650 hectares of fruit trees, 3,056 hectares of aquaculture... were damaged, with an estimated total loss of up to VND5,600 billion.

During this drought, 13 provinces in the Mekong Delta region were affected by saltwater intrusion, 10 provinces declared natural disasters, and 20 million people were affected. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, about 160,000 hectares of rice were damaged and 800,000 tons of rice were lost.

...and floods in the central provinces.

With heavy rain and floods this year in the central provinces from Nghe An to Khanh Hoa, thousands of households lost their homes, and dozens of people died. Just the floods in the central and Central Highlands in October and November alone caused 59 deaths, 6 missing people, and material damage of more than 7,000 billion VND.

7. GDP growth did not meet the expected target

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It is forecasted that GDP growth for the whole year of 2016 will reach about 6.3% - 6.5%, not reaching the 6.7% plan set forth in the Resolution on the 2016 socio-economic development plan of the National Assembly.

Of the 13 socio-economic development targets set for the 2016 plan, it is estimated that 11 targets were achieved or exceeded. There were 2 targets that did not meet the plan: GDP growth rate was estimated at 6.3-6.5% compared to the plan of 6.7%, and total export turnover growth rate was 6-7% compared to the plan of 10%. Of which, exports to ASEAN countries decreased by 7%. For the first time in 30 years of innovation, export growth decreased continuously for 5 consecutive years from 2012 to 2016.

The Government has also recognized limitations and weaknesses such as: Restructuring of many industries and fields is still slow; people's lives are still difficult; food insecurity occurs in many places, causing social outrage... From there, the Government has quickly proposed many groups of drastic solutions to remove and overcome the above limitations in 2017.

8. 2016 - the year of the Startup Nation

2016 was chosen by the Government as the National Startup Year.

2016 is considered the year of the National Startup. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at his first regular Government meeting as head of the Government emphasized: “The Government honors businesses and promptly resolves difficulties for businesses to develop. Businesses belong to all classes of people, especially the young generation.”

The year 2016 saw an unprecedented wave of new businesses. By the end of 11 months, data from the Ministry of Planning and Investment showed that there were approximately 102,000 new businesses, compared to the figure for the whole of 2015 of more than 94,700. For the first time, Vietnam recorded more than 100,000 new businesses in a year. Along with that, the whole country had more than 24,500 businesses returning to operation, an increase of nearly 32% over the same period.

9. The arsenic fish sauce scandal

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On October 10, Thanh Nien newspaper published an article: "Fish sauce + chemicals = industrial fish sauce" reflecting that industrial fish sauce has many types of chemicals in its ingredients that are dominating the market. Immediately after that, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc requested relevant ministries and agencies to urgently clarify the content of the article.

On October 19, the Phu Quoc Fish Sauce Association objected to VINASTAS's information. Also on October 19, the Ministry of Health officially announced that 100% of fish sauce samples tested did not detect inorganic arsenic exceeding the ministry's allowable threshold.

On October 22, the Ministry of Public Security stepped in to clarify the case of fish sauce contaminated with arsenic, causing confusion among the public and consumers.

On October 24, the Minister of Industry and Trade directed the Competition Management Department to establish an interdisciplinary delegation to inspect the compliance with legal regulations of the Vietnam Standards and Consumer Protection Association (VINASTAS).

On November 21, the Ministry of Information and Communications announced the results of handling violations against press agencies that published false information about fish sauce containing arsenic exceeding the prescribed threshold.

10. The historic Gold Medal of Vietnamese sports at the 2016 Rio Olympics

On the night of July 6, Rio de Janneiro (Brazil) time, Hoang Xuan Vinh entered the final of the men's 10m air pistol event. With 202.5 points in the final of the men's 10m air pistol event, Hoang Xuan Vinh not only broke the Olympic record but also wrote his name in the history of Vietnamese sports with the first Gold Medal.

With an excellent fourth place result of 581 points in the qualifying round, athlete Hoang Xuan Vinh became the first Vietnamese shooter in history to reach the final round at an Olympic Games. Even more impressively, in the final round, Xuan Vinh continuously appeared in the top 3 and often stood in the leading position.

At the end of the final round, a wonderful thing happened to the Vietnamese Sports Delegation on the very first day of competition when Hoang Xuan Vinh excellently achieved the best result with a total score of 202.5 points - 0.4 points more than the second place shooter, Wu Filipe Almeida of Brazil.

Thus, Xuan Vinh has entered history as the first athlete of the Vietnamese sports delegation to win a medal at the Olympics.

Peace

(Synthetic)