The 7th conference of full-time National Assembly deputies of the 15th tenure opened this morning to discuss a number of contents to be submitted to the National Assembly at the 9th session.

In his opening speech, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man said that delegates will discuss and give opinions on eight bills that were first commented on by the National Assembly at the 8th session and one bill submitted to the National Assembly for consideration and approval according to the procedure at one session.

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National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man. Photo: National Assembly

The National Assembly Chairman stated that the conference took place in the context that the entire political system is urgently implementing tasks to continue restructuring the apparatus.

According to Mr. Man, in phase 1, ministries, branches, agencies of the National Assembly, Party agencies, the Fatherland Front, socio-political organizations, and localities were arranged.

To prepare for phase 2, the National Assembly Chairman stated that he would consider amending the Constitution, amending a number of laws and arranging administrative units at the provincial and communal levels, not organizing at the district level.

He said that currently, the country has 63 provinces and cities, and there is a plan to merge some provinces and cities. As announced, about 50% of provincial and municipal administrative units will be reorganized.

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A corner of Bac Ninh city. Photo: Hoang Ha

"With district-level administrative units, if the Constitution is passed, there will be no more district levels. Currently, the whole country has 696 district-level units. With commune-level units, there are about 10,035 commune-level units. The arrangement of commune-level administrative units will reduce by 60-70%, and the official number is not yet available," Mr. Man informed.

Organize to collect public opinions on amending the Constitution within 2-3 weeks

According to Mr. Man, the upcoming 9th session is expected to last nearly 2 months. There will be a 2-3 week break and during this time, public opinions will be collected on amending the Constitution.

During late April and May, the National Assembly Standing Committee will hold several meetings to arrange commune-level administrative units.

The draft laws discussed at this conference regulate many different areas, including very important laws that have a great impact on production and business activities and the business community.

These are the Law on Special Consumption Tax (amended); Law on Corporate Income Tax (amended; Law on amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Product and Goods Quality); Law on Digital Technology Industry (promoting the development of the domestic information technology and digital technology industries).

The National Assembly Chairman asked delegates to discuss and carefully analyze new issues in the spirit of updating new instructions and policies of the Central Committee, Politburo, and Secretariat.

In particular, he noted that the law only regulates matters under the authority of the National Assembly, promoting decentralization, delegation of power, and preventing corruption and negativity.

"It is necessary to continue to thoroughly grasp and effectively implement the policy of innovating thinking in law-making, to quickly put the Party's policy into practice. Laws need to be concise, effective, efficient, and promote decentralization and delegation of power," he said.

The National Assembly Chairman said that the 9th session of the 15th National Assembly is expected to consider and pass 11 laws and give opinions on 16 new laws, while also supplementing the amendment of the Constitution and amending many related laws.

The shape of local government after merging provinces and communes, eliminating district level

The shape of local government after merging provinces and communes, eliminating district level

When the district level no longer exists, most of the tasks and powers of the district are transferred to the commune; those of the district, provincial city, city under the central city, and town are transferred to the ward.
Ministry of Home Affairs: Still working on the project of merging provinces, eliminating district level, and rearranging communes according to the Conclusion of the Politburo

Ministry of Home Affairs: Still working on the project of merging provinces, eliminating district level, and rearranging communes according to the Conclusion of the Politburo

The Director of the Department of Local Government, Ministry of Home Affairs, said that the previous project of rearranging administrative units at district and commune levels was only temporarily suspended. The project of merging provinces, rearranging commune levels, and abolishing district levels according to Conclusion 127 of the Politburo is still being implemented.
Abolishing district level: Commune-level officials must have qualifications and be treated appropriately.

Abolishing district level: Commune-level officials must have qualifications and be treated appropriately.

The policy of abolishing the district level is receiving much attention, especially in terms of personnel work. Many opinions agree that this requires improving the qualifications and capacity of commune-level officials, and at the same time, there needs to be a suitable remuneration regime.