The 3rd working week of the National Assembly: Many 'hot' issues on the agenda

Entering the third working week, the National Assembly has put on the agenda issues that are both long-term strategic and urgent.

Bad debt affects the "main artery" of the economy

Socio-economic issues and the State budget are important issues that always attract the attention and follow-up of voters and people nationwide.

The discussion on this issue was frank, responsible and constructive, and lasted until 6:30 p.m. 56 delegates expressed their opinions.

Notably, National Assembly delegates warned that resource-based growth is only a temporary solution, unsustainable and can cause consequences for the future.

National Assembly delegates give opinions at the parliament

Referring to the delay in equitization, delegates requested clarification on whether there was a delay or intentional delay in the equitization progress of state-owned enterprises.

A major bottleneck in growth was also pointed out by delegates that administrative procedures are still the bottleneck holding back the country's economic growth.

According to delegates, in the context of economic restructuring, growth model innovation, rapid fluctuations in the world market and policies, to achieve the set task of GDP growth reaching 6.7% and inflation below 4%, there must be conditions, resources and high determination.

Many opinions agreed on specific tasks as reported by the Government, and at the same time suggested continuing to review and clarify growth factors, focusing on ensuring macroeconomic stability; allocating investment resources reasonably; removing difficulties, promoting production and business for enterprises, farmers and fishermen.

Delegates also suggested that the Government promote administrative reform, strengthen financial discipline; increase inspection and examination, focus on handling cases that cause social outrage, especially handling corruption cases that cause waste and loss of state and people's assets.

Given the socio-economic situation, last week, National Assembly delegates highly agreed on the necessity of issuing a Resolution to handle the "blood clot" of bad debt and unblock the flow of credit.

As of December 31, 2016, the ratio of bad debt on the balance sheet and potential debt to become bad debt accounted for 10.08% of total outstanding loans. Compared to GDP, it is about 13%.

Bad debt has affected the “main artery” of the economy. Therefore, it is necessary to have the participation of the entire political system. Therefore, when the Resolution is issued, there must be a strong and specific mechanism to completely handle bad debt. In particular, not to let the situation of bad debt linger and delay harm the financial and banking system and the development of the economy.

Explaining at this discussion session, Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Le Minh Hung affirmed that banking violations will be handled according to the law. Regarding the responsibility for handling bad debts, in the draft Resolution, the Government discussed very carefully: "There is no provision in the draft that creates conditions for credit institutions or related organizations and individuals to take advantage."

Not allowed to eat delicious food, but have the right to eat clean food

As head of the supreme supervision delegation for the implementation of policies and laws on food safety in the 2011-2016 period, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Phung Quoc Hien said that 60%-70% of current illnesses are caused by dirty food.

Never before have the issues of dirty food and food safety been mentioned so much in the media to warn people as they are today.

However, the control in this field has not met the practical requirements. Many places have reached the red alert line in food safety. Among them, the biggest reason assessed by many delegates is that the implementation of the State management task on food safety still has the phenomenon of fragmentation and segmentation in the chain from farm to table, creating many gaps that have not been handled, leading to unsafe food, and people have to suffer the consequences.

This draft Resolution on supreme supervision of food hygiene and safety of the National Assembly recommends adding many strong solutions and sanctions.

First is to clarify the responsibilities of the heads of ministries, branches, especially local authorities when food poisoning incidents occur.

The resolution also recommends amending the legal system, especially some provisions in the Penal Code, in the direction of criminalizing violations, with the aim of hitting the psychology of intentional violators as a deterrent.

Vietnam still has a poor population, even if they cannot eat delicious food, they have the right to eat clean food. This monitoring has contributed to sounding a timely alarm about the problem of dirty food and food safety.

Golf courses only serve the rich

Regarding legislative work, during the week, the National Assembly listened to submissions, examination reports and discussed the draft Law on Fisheries (amended), Law on Forest Protection and Development (amended), Law on Amendments and Supplements to a Number of Articles of the Law on Credit Institutions, Law on Irrigation and voted to pass the Resolution on the Law and Ordinance Building Program in 2018.

Along with bringing to the agenda the separation of compensation, support, and resettlement into component projects to implement the Long Thanh International Airport Project, many delegates also shared the sentiment of a large number of voters who want to transfer the golf course land area to Tan Son Nhat Airport.

Delegate Pham Khanh Phong Lan, Ho Chi Minh City delegation, said that in reality, golf courses only serve a group of wealthy people abroad to collect money, while Ho Chi Minh City has to deal with traffic jams around the airport, many delayed flights...

Many delegates suggested that it is necessary to ensure the true nature of an airport for both national security and defense, and not to allow encroachment, damage, or illegal conversion of land use purposes. At the same time, they suggested that the Government take the lead, together with the Ministry of National Defense and the aviation industry, to research and discuss with investors to hand over this area to Tan Son Nhat airport.

Although it has not been able to meet all the expectations of voters nationwide, what happened at the National Assembly this week has shown that the issues of concern to voters have been put on the agenda and have been expressed by National Assembly deputies with the highest determination and responsibility. Any difficulty can be resolved if the National Assembly knows how to listen, and the Government participates to deeply share the difficulties of voters and people./.

According to VOV