National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man presides over the questioning session on issues related to the Industry and Trade sector. Photo: Pham Kien/TTXVN.
Make the questioning session a key highlight of the Session.
In his opening remarks at the interpellation session, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man emphasized that the interpellation activities at this session continue to be conducted in accordance with the regulations of the Law on Supervisory Activities of the National Assembly and People's Councils. The National Assembly will conduct interpellation and answer questions concerning the responsibilities of four Ministers and Heads of Departments: the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, the Minister of Industry and Trade , the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and the State Auditor General.
The Chairman of the National Assembly stated that the Government has assigned Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha to represent the Government in clarifying issues related to the Government's administration and directly answer questions from National Assembly deputies at the end of the questioning session. The National Assembly will vote to approve the Resolution on the questioning session at the end of the session. This will serve as the basis for agencies to implement; it will also serve as the basis for the National Assembly, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, National Assembly agencies, National Assembly delegations, and National Assembly deputies to monitor the process. The questioning session will continue to be conducted in a "quick question, concise answer" format.
National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man expressed confidence that, with their intellect, high sense of responsibility, practical experience, in-depth expertise, and understanding of the actual situation in localities and grassroots levels, along with the fulfillment of their functions and duties as National Assembly deputies, the question-and-answer session will be lively, constructive, and highly responsible, providing valuable information reflecting the current situation, and offering numerous proposals, recommendations, and suggestions to the Government, Ministers, and heads of agencies in directing and managing affairs, overcoming limitations, difficulties, and obstacles in practice; further enhancing the question-and-answer session as an important highlight of the Session, meeting the expectations of voters and the people nationwide, and fulfilling the requirements of National Assembly deputies.
Solutions in the field of environmental resources are now clear.
On the morning and early afternoon of June 4th, under the chairmanship and direction of National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man, the National Assembly conducted question-and-answer sessions regarding the field of natural resources and environment.
The interpellation session received 49 questions and debates from delegates (including 39 questions and 10 debates by National Assembly delegates). The session was lively, frank, highly responsible, and closely related to the practical situation and the content of the questions raised.
During the questioning session, National Assembly deputies noted that in recent years, state management in the field of natural resources and environment has achieved positive results. The exploitation and use of marine resources have effectively contributed to socio-economic development, national defense, security, and sustainable development of the country. Policies and laws on water security have been largely perfected; proactive and planned measures have been taken to address and respond to drought, saltwater intrusion, and water shortages for daily life and production. The management and operation of the mineral and mining industries have achieved many positive results, creating numerous job opportunities and increasing revenue for the state budget.
Furthermore, National Assembly delegates noted that there are still shortcomings and limitations such as the inefficient exploitation and use of marine resources. Marine ecosystems, marine biodiversity, and fisheries resources are declining. Water pollution, drought, saltwater intrusion, and shortages of water for domestic use and production are increasing. Policies and laws on minerals are incomplete and inadequate. Planning, investigation, exploration, exploitation, processing, and utilization of minerals lack coordination and cohesion.
Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Dang Quoc Khanh provided comprehensive answers to the remaining shortcomings and limitations, and outlined solutions for implementation in the future.
One of the three major groups of issues that delegates were interested in questioning at this session was the solution for researching, exploring, exploiting, and utilizing mineral resources for construction materials and rare and valuable mineral resources.
Responding to questions about the mining, utilization, and management of rare earth minerals in the past period, Minister Dang Quoc Khanh stated that Vietnam currently possesses strategically important mineral resources with relatively large reserves: "For example, bauxite reserves are approximately 5.8 billion tons, and titanium reserves are over 600 million tons. Regarding rare earth minerals, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has also assessed reserves at 2.7 million tons, of which the estimated rare earth resource is approximately 18 million tons, or more than 20.7 million tons."
Minister Dang Quoc Khanh emphasized that, regarding the exploitation and processing of essential minerals, especially rare earth elements, it is necessary to consider deep processing and refined processing in Vietnam to serve Vietnam's industry.
The scene at the meeting. Photo: An Dang/TTXVN
Also at the questioning session, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha; the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the Minister of Construction participated in answering and clarifying some issues of concern to National Assembly deputies.
Concluding the questioning session, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man affirmed that resource management, environmental protection, disaster prevention and control, and climate change adaptation have always been issues that the Party and State have paid close attention to and continuously directed. The National Assembly's selection of questions on issues in the field of resources and environment has met the concerns of voters and the people nationwide.
Strengthening state management of e-commerce.
Following the question-and-answer session on issues related to natural resources and environment, on the afternoon of June 4th, the National Assembly moved on to the question-and-answer session on issues related to industry and trade.
Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien took the podium to answer questions from National Assembly deputies on the second group of issues in the field of industry and trade, including: the management, supervision, and protection of consumer rights in e-commerce activities; solutions to boost exports, promote the implementation of FTAs, and remove difficulties for businesses in the context of a continuously changing and unpredictable global situation. The Minister also answered questions about the implementation of policies and laws to develop supporting industries and mechanical engineering industries, especially in serving the processing of agricultural, forestry, and aquatic products, and the development of agriculture and rural areas.
Opening the questioning session, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien stated that industrial production has overcome the difficult period after the pandemic, gradually recovering and developing, showing breakthroughs from the third quarter of last year to the present, maintaining its role as a driving force for the country's economic growth. Domestic trade has grown quite strongly, exceeding the set target and serving as a pillar for the economy amidst many difficulties and challenges. Goods are abundant, prices are stable, and imports and exports have achieved new records in terms of turnover and trade surplus for eight consecutive years, especially in 2023 when the trade surplus reached 28 billion USD, three times higher than the previous year.
In the first five months of 2024, import and export turnover continued to increase by over 16% compared to the same period in 2023, with a trade surplus exceeding US$8.1 billion, contributing to increased foreign exchange reserves, exchange rate stability, and macroeconomic indicators. Particularly, in some areas such as e-commerce, the growth has been very strong with an average growth rate of 20-25%, placing Vietnam among the top 5 countries in the world in terms of growth rate. The e-commerce market size reached over US$20 billion per year, accounting for 8% of the total consumer goods revenue nationwide.
In his response to questions from National Assembly deputies, the Minister of Industry and Trade focused on clarifying several issues of concern to the deputies, including: e-commerce; solutions to overcome difficulties for businesses; promoting exports and investment in domestic goods; and preferential policies for industrial development.
Regarding the management of the booming e-commerce sector, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien stated that e-commerce in Vietnam is facing three major challenges: consumers face the risk of personal data insecurity; counterfeit and substandard goods with low safety standards are not strictly controlled and are flooding the country, affecting both manufacturing businesses and consumers; and the third challenge is tax revenue loss.
Participating in the explanation to further clarify the issue of combating tax evasion in electronic transactions, Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc stated that, based on the results of collecting taxes on e-commerce, 83,000 billion VND was collected in 2022 and 97,000 billion VND in 2023. In the first five months of 2024, 50,000 billion VND was collected, and 96 foreign suppliers and foreign technology corporations such as Facebook, Google, Microsoft, TikTok, etc., have registered and paid taxes on the Ministry of Finance's electronic portal for cross-border e-commerce platforms; currently, 15.6 trillion VND of e-commerce taxes have been paid...
Source
Comment (0)