At the 14th National Assembly’s 11th session in Hanoi on March 24 (Photo: VNA)

The opening session was broadcast live by Radio The Voice of Vietnam, Vietnam Television and the NA’s television channel.

Prior to the opening ceremony, leaders of the Party, State and Vietnam Fatherland Front, and NA deputies paid floral tribute to President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum in Hanoi.

A preparatory session began later, during which NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan delivered her remarks and NA Secretary General and head of the NA Office Nguyen Hanh Phuc presented a report on the revision of the meeting’s working programme. NA deputies then discussed and voted to approve the working programme of the session.

Addressing at the opening session, NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan stressed that over the past nearly five years, the legislature has worked together with the President, the Government, and relevant agencies and organisations to complete the entrusted missions.

Thanks to the join efforts, significant achievements have been attained, thus enhancing the country’s prestige and consolidating public confidence in the Party and State, she added.

During the meeting, the deputies reviewed the operation of the 14th NA, and looked at working reports of the President, the Prime Minister and the NA.

In the afternoon, Chairman of the National Assembly’s Committee for Legal Affairs Hoang Thanh Tung presented a verification report on the Government’s working report during its 2016-2021 tenure.

The Legal Committee agreed with many contents of the Government’s working report, saying thanks to the leadership of the Party and strict supervision of the NA, the Government and the Prime Minister made strong reforms and had drastic actions to realise the targets set in the Party and NA’s resolutions, contributing to national socio-economic development.

Meanwhile, Chairwoman of the NA’s Committee for Social Affairs Nguyen Thuy Anh delivered a report on the explanation, acquisition and revision of the draft amended Law on Drug Prevention and Control, which highlighted the voluntary drug detoxification at home and in the community.

The NA Standing Committee said that this kind of drug detoxification creates favourable conditions for first-time drug addicts to detoxify voluntarily, particularly those who lack of accessibility to drug detoxification establishments. Besides, it also shows families' and the community’s responsibility for the drug addicts.

Discussing the draft law, the legislators gave comments on the management of people who illegally use drugs, drug detoxification at home and in the community, the State’s policies on drug prevention and control, and responsibility of the State management agencies in drug prevention and control, among others.

Minister of Public Security To Lam clarified several issues that the NA deputies were interested in.

NA, State President, Government present working reports to 14th legislature

Reports on the performance of the 14th National Assembly (NA), the State President, and the Government in the 2016-2021 tenure were respectively delivered by NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, Party General Secretary and State President Nguyen Phu Trong, and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the legislature’s 11th session that opened on March 24.

Presenting the draft report on the performance of the 14th NA, which was elected on May 22, 2016, in the past tenure, Chairwoman Ngan said during the tenure, the NA has stepped up and improved the quality of law making activities, creating a uniform legal foundation for the country’s fast and sustainable development, the safeguarding of national independence, sovereignty, and security, and integration into the world.

The parliament has intensified supervision while continually reforming the method of supervision and focusing n pressing issues, she said, noting that the NA has considered and made many important decisions that had great impacts on the country’s socio-economic life, the development of mountainous and ethnic minority areas, national defence – security, and foreign relations.

External activities of the NA have also been carried out effectively, which has considerably contributed to the Party and State’s diplomatic achievements and helped maintain a peaceful and stable environment for national construction, defence, and development and raise Vietnam’s stature in the international arena.

In the report on the State President’s performance in the 2016-2021 tenure, Party General Secretary and State President Trong highlighted that the President has paid special attention to leading and steering Party building work and the building of a pure and strong political system.

He stressed the determination and persistence in the fight against corruption, wastefulness and negative phenomena, which has been carried out in a drastic and effective manner since the tenure’s beginning.

The State President’s work throughout the tenure, together with the entire Party, people, and army, has greatly helped bring into play the patriotic tradition and the great national unity; build a clean and strong Party and political system; comprehensively and uniformly push ahead with the Doi moi (Renewal) process; strengthen the defence - security capacity to firmly safeguard the country’s independence, sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity, and sea and island sovereignty; and foster external relations and international integration in an increasingly extensive and intensive manner, thus promoting Vietnam’s standing in the region and the world, according to the leader.

Proposing orientations and tasks for the time ahead, he emphasised that the State President will keep exerting efforts to better perform the tasks regulated by the Constitution and laws, as well as the duties assigned by the Politburo and the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat.

Delivering a report on the Government’s performance in the 2016-2021, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said that one of the outstanding features of the leadership and management work of the Government during the tenure is that the Government and the Prime Minister have focused on directing sectors and all-level authorities to actively conduct reforms and take drastic actions, strictly follow the Party’s leadership and the National Assembly’s supervision, and fully perform tasks and exercise authority in line with the Constitution and laws.

The Government has carried out strategic breakthroughs, especially those in completing the socialist-oriented market economic institutions, while making efforts to deal with difficulties through a lot of measures, including investing in increasing the quality of human resources, generating jobs for nearly 8 million labourers and putting people at the centre of innovation.

Prime Minister Phuc also summed up the tenure’s achievements in five main harmonious points.

Firstly, it is the harmony between opening the door to the world, reforming and boosting socio-economic development with consolidating and improving the leadership and prestige of the Party, the supervision of the National Assembly, and the cooperation of the Fatherland Front and social organisations. In other words, it is the harmony between stability and renewal, between following market rules and ensuring the socialist orientations, and in the relations among the State, the market and society.

Secondly, this is the harmony between rapid economic development and ensuring social progress and protecting the environment.

Third is the harmony between internal and external strengths, between the domestic and the foreign-invested sectors, between domestic and foreign trade, and between building an independent and self-reliant economy with opening the door and integrating into the world economy. The PM noted that the domestic economic sector holds a decisive role, and the FDI sector is an important part of the Vietnamese economy.

Fourth is the harmony between short-term priorities and long-term goals. Along with short-term priorities such as growth, employment and inflation, long-term targets such as completing institutions, developing human resources and stepping up sustainable poverty reduction and socio-cultural development have received due attention.

Fifthly, Phuc said, this is the harmony in balancing national financial resources, budget balance, public debt, current account balance, international payment balance and foreign exchange reserves, in ensuring human resources and in other macro balances. VNA

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