The National Assembly discussed in the hall the draft Law on Cultural Heritage (amended)

Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Thanh chaired the meeting. The National Assembly delegation of Nghe An was led by Comrade Thai Thanh Quy - Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council.

Presenting the Report on explanation, acceptance and revision of the draft Law on Cultural Heritage (amended), Chairman of the Committee on Culture and Education Nguyen Dac Vinh said that the draft Law after being accepted, revised and completed to be submitted to the National Assembly for consideration at this Session includes 9 chapters and 100 articles, 2 articles less than the draft submitted at the 7th Session.

Regarding the scope of regulation, the National Assembly Standing Committee has accepted and directed the review and removal of the phrase “documentary heritage” from the scope of regulation of the draft Law. However, the draft Law still specifically stipulates mechanisms and measures to protect and promote the value of this type of heritage.

In addition, the draft Law has revised the State's policy regulations in the protection and promotion of cultural heritage values ​​in a focused and key direction, consistent with practical requirements and the specific characteristics of each type of cultural heritage.

Accordingly, the draft Law stipulates priority allocation of the State budget for a number of specific activities; measures to protect and develop the spoken and written languages ​​of Vietnamese ethnic groups; human resources for managing, protecting and promoting the value of cultural heritage; training, coaching, and fostering knowledge on protecting and promoting the value of cultural heritage; conditions to ensure activities to protect and promote the value of cultural heritage, including State resources, socialization and other conditions...

Along with that, this draft Law has revised and completed prohibited acts to ensure more accuracy and completeness, serving as a basis for guiding implementation, inspection, and handling of violations in protecting and promoting the value of cultural heritage.

Regarding the regulations on the Cultural Heritage Conservation Fund, the National Assembly Standing Committee has directed a thorough study of the necessity, legal basis and practice; reviewed, revised and perfected in the direction that the Fund only supports funding for a number of key and central activities. At the same time, it is necessary to supplement the regulation that the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee shall base on the actual situation of requirements, the ability to mobilize resources, efficiency and feasibility to establish the Cultural Heritage Conservation Fund in the locality...

At the discussion session, 17 delegates spoke, 1 delegate debated, and a representative of the inspection agency clarified some of the contents raised by the delegates. Basically, the National Assembly deputies highly appreciated and agreed with the report of the National Assembly Standing Committee and many contents of the draft law.

At the same time, delegates also contributed many opinions, both mentioning the overall issue and directly contributing to the provisions, specific points and drafting techniques to ensure consistency, synchronization, feasibility, promoting effectiveness and efficiency when the law is passed, with the aim of protecting, preserving and promoting the value of cultural heritage, such as: It is necessary to specify the time for inventorying intangible cultural heritage; supplementing regulations prohibiting acts of encroachment and destruction of mixed relic land; considering regulations on the Cultural Heritage Conservation Fund at the local level; needing to clearly stipulate measures for management and use of relics with areas distributed from 2 or more provinces or centrally-run cities; reviewing and ensuring the feasibility of the content on rights, obligations and responsibilities with cultural heritage; needing to pay attention to preserving and maintaining the languages ​​and writings of ethnic minorities...

In her concluding remarks, Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Thanh stated that this is a draft law with a very wide scope related to other laws and currently the Government is submitting to the National Assembly a law amending four laws related to the investment sector and a law amending seven laws related to the finance and budget sectors.

In the draft Law on Cultural Heritage (amended), there are many contents related to the responsibility of mobilizing and managing financial resources to serve the protection, preservation and promotion of heritage; as well as the use and exploitation of relics and cultural heritage that the delegates have spoken about.

Therefore, the Vice Chairman of the National Assembly requested the drafting agency and the reviewing agency to research and promptly update relevant contents of draft laws that are in the process of proposing amendments, in order to promptly synchronize and unify feasibility in this draft law.

Also during the working session, the National Assembly listened to the Report and the verification report on the policy of investing additional state capital at the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (VCB).