National Assembly convenes to decide major issues

At the opening ceremony of the session, National Assembly (NA) Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan stated that during the session, which will last from October 22 to November 21, will pass nine laws (see box for details), while debating six drafts.

The National Assembly will vote on nine laws and discuss six drafts

“These laws and resolutions are very important and they have drawn great attention from the public and society. They have been carefully prepared,” Ngan said. “They are also important for implementing regulations on the market economy, boosting the economic restructuring, and improving the national business environment,” Ngan said.

Notably, in the afternoon of Tuesday (October 23), the NA will elect by ballot Vietnam’s new state president. After being elected, the new state president will be sworn in before the NA. It is expected that Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong will be elected the new State President.

Since the sudden passing of State President Tran Dai Quang on September 21, 2018, Vice State President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh has been assigned as the acting state president under the country’s Constitution and Law on the Organisation of the National Assembly until a new state president is officially elected by the NA.

The Vietnamese NA elects and approves the positions of 50 officials, including the state president and vice president, the National Assembly chairman and his four deputies, the chairman of the Ethnic Minority Affairs Committee, the chairmen of the National Assembly’s specialist committees, members of the National Assembly Standing Committee, the prime minister and his five deputies, 21 ministers and other government members, the judges of the People’s Supreme Court, the head of the People's Supreme Procuracy, and the head of the State Audit of Vietnam.

Also during this NA session, a vote of confidence will take place for officials whose positions were either elected or approved by the National Assembly. Since 2013, the NA has been holding confidence votes annually from the second year of an official’s term of office.

However, at this session, the new state president and the newly-appointed Minister of Information and Communications (MIC) will not face such a voting. The minister, expected to be Nguyen Manh Hung, who is now acting minister, will be officially elected in the morning of Wednesday (October 24).

Particularly, the NA will also discuss and adopt a resolution on approving the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and related documents.

“This is an important agreement which will have significant impacts on almost all sectors of politics, economy, society, and diplomacy, especially the sectors of agriculture and employees’ rights,” said a NA document on the programme of the sixth session.

Besides, one of the biggest highlights of the NA session is that the legislature will spend three days organising question and answer (Q&A) activities, focusing on issues drawing the special attention of the public, such as the appointment of officials, their asset declaration, public investment, and also cases involving officials who committed violations and received Party-related disciplinary measures.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc reported to the NA that that the local economy has been witnessing quite positive and comprehensive developments, with the investment and business climate significantly improved, and people’s lives continuing to improve, and the country’s global position and prestige continuously being enhanced.

It is expected that GDP growth will be higher in 2018 than the initial target of 6.7 per cent. The economy grew by 5.98 per cent in 2014, 6.68 per cent in 2015, 6.21 per cent in 2016, and 6.81 per cent last year.

One of the most eminent points that the government has affirmed was that the quality of economic growth has significantly improved, with the contribution of the total-factor productivity (TFP) being on the rise.

Specifically, the TFP ratio in the economy sat at 33.58 per cent in 2011-2015 and 45.47 per cent last year. TFP is a measure of the efficiency of all inputs to a production process. Increases in TFP result usually from technological innovations or improvements.

Meanwhile, the economy’s labour productivity has increased by 6 per cent last year against the average annual 4.3 per cent in 2011-2015.

The economy grew by 7.06 per cent in this year’s first nine months, following a rise of 7.45 per cent in the first quarter and 7.08 per cent in the year’s first half, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

Notably, according to the government, the processing and manufacturing sector, which contributes 80 per cent of the economy’s industrial growth, continues its strong uptrend, at 11.9 per cent in 2016, 14.5 per cent last year, and 12.9 per cent in this year’s first nine months. The rate is expected to grow to 13.6 per cent this year.