National Assembly to consider personnel changes

National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan told the legislature’s members at the opening ceremony that the session would take place within nine days, with six earmarked for considering and determining key state personnel, such as state president, prime minister, and chairman of the National Assembly, as well as government members under the regulations of the Constitution and related laws.

This will be the second time in 2016 that the National Assembly elects new key cabinet personnel. After the 12th National Party Congress in January this year, Vietnam saw some key leadership positions vacant and thus in April, the legislature ratified changes in top personnel, with Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc being selected as the country’s new Prime Minister, Ngan as National Assembly Chairwoman, and Minister of Public Security Tran Dai Quang as State President.

Considering the prime minister’s proposal, the National Assembly will also discuss and adopt the positions of new members of government at this session.

The session will also report on the results of the election of the 14th National Assembly and the people’s councils at all levels for the 2016-2020 tenure.

In its first session, the 14th legislature will also review, debate, and give opinion on socio-economic issues, such as the implementation of 2016 socio-economic development goals, and the annual state budget. The National Assembly’s resolutions on laws and ordinances will also be voted on.

“The first session of the 14th National Assembly will be very important for Vietnam to begin the implementation of the Socio-economic Development Plan during 2016-2020,” Ngan said. “The 14th National Assembly will also commensurate and evaluate the experiences and achievements of the previous 13th National Assembly.”

Addressing the ceremony, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong said that the new National Assembly should focus on building a synchronous and feasible legislature, so that all state and Party policies could be implemented effectively.

The government reported to the National Assembly that the economy grew by 5.55 per cent during this year’s second quarter, higher than the 5.48 per cent in the first quarter, and leading to a 5.52 per cent growth rate in first half of this year.

“The economy is recovering,” the report stated.

In this year’s first half, the industrial and construction sector grew by 7.12 per cent, and the services sector by 6.35 per cent, year-on-year. Also, the index for industrial production (IIP) climbed 7.5 per cent year-on-year.

During the year’s first six months, Vietnam had over 54,500 newly-established enterprises, registered at VND427.8 trillion ($19.44 billion), up 20 per cent in the number of enterprises and 51.5 per cent in capital, year-on-year.

In the same period last year, about 45,400 new enterprises were established, registering the chartered capital of VND282.4 trillion ($12.84 billion), up 21.7 per cent in the number of enterprises and 22.3 per cent in the chartered capital.