National Assembly delegates propose reducing working hours for private sector workers to 44 hours/week

On the afternoon of October 31, the National Assembly discussed the results of the implementation of the 2023 socio-economic development plan; the expected 2024 socio-economic development plan and many other important contents.

Đại biểu Quốc hội đề xuất giảm giờ làm cho người lao động trong khu vực tư xuống 44 giờ/tuần

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Duc Hai chaired the discussion session on the socio-economic situation.

Chairing the session, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Duc Hai stated that according to the session's agenda, this afternoon and tomorrow, the National Assembly will spend 1.5 days discussing 5 contents.

Specifically: Assessment of the results of the implementation of the 2023 socio-economic development plan; projected socio-economic development plan for 2024; mid-term assessment of the implementation of the 2021-2025 socio-economic development plan; Economic restructuring plan for the 2021-2025 period; results of the implementation of Resolution No. 43/2022/QH15 on fiscal and monetary policies to support the Socio-economic Recovery and Development Program; Government report on piloting a number of specific mechanisms and policies for the development of Da Nang city; results of the review of the system of legal documents according to the provisions of Resolution No. 101/2023/QH15 on the 5th Session of the 15th National Assembly.

Need to improve and increase labor productivity

At the meeting, Delegate Pham Trong Nghia, National Assembly Delegation of Lang Son province, highly appreciated the results achieved in the first 9 months of 2023, but 5/15 targets assigned by the National Assembly have not yet met the plan, including the target of social labor productivity growth rate, which is the third consecutive year this target has not been met.

Delegates are concerned that the average growth rate of labor productivity is on a downward trend and is lower than the average of the previous period. Therefore, they suggest that the Government further assess the three causes mentioned in Government Report No. 577, identify responsibilities and have drastic solutions for this indicator.

Regarding economic openness, Vietnam is one of the countries with the fastest and largest economic openness in the world. The delegate emphasized that, besides the positive aspects, a highly open economy without good policy solutions will bring many consequences, such as the economy becoming vulnerable, sensitive to external fluctuations, importing and exporting a lot but mainly labor-intensive goods, low added value...

Delegate Pham Trong Nghia suggested that the Government specifically assess the impact of economic openness on our country; how much openness is appropriate for our country; what are the needs and mechanisms for controlling the openness of our economy. From there, there will be solutions to build a more self-reliant economy with better adaptability according to the viewpoint of promoting internal strength as the decisive factor associated with external strength and the power of the times.

In addition, delegate Pham Trong Nghia also proposed that the Government consider submitting to the National Assembly a proposal to reduce normal working hours for private sector employees from 48 hours/week to 44 hours/week, towards 40 hours/week as in the public sector (which has been implemented since 1999). This is also a progressive trend in most countries in the world. Delegate Pham Trong Nghia also hopes that National Assembly members will pay attention to and support this regulation.

Regarding the issue of increasing labor productivity, delegate Huynh Thanh Phuong also said that entering 2023, despite proactive forecasts, the negative impact of the world economy has had a significant impact on our country. Overcoming difficulties, we have achieved many positive results.

Some outstanding achievements include: Continued macroeconomic stability, controlled inflation; budget revenue is likely to exceed the set target... Foreign affairs continue to have good results, contributing to enhancing Vietnam's position in the international arena.

At the same time, delegate Huynh Thanh Phuong, National Assembly delegation of Tay Ninh province also pointed out some difficulties and challenges such as the three growth drivers of investment, consumption, and export are still in a state of slow development; pressure on slow disbursement of public investment capital... Pollution is still serious, affecting people's health and lives.

Expressing agreement with the tasks and solutions for socio-economic development in 2024, Mr. Phuong suggested focusing on improving and increasing labor productivity, which is the shortest way to bring the economy back to recovery and sustainable development. In addition, he suggested that the Government needs to have fundamental solutions to build the culture and image of Vietnamese people in the current period.

Design credit packages for production and business

Speaking about the socio-economic situation at the meeting, delegate Duong Van Phuoc, National Assembly delegation of Quang Nam province, raised the reality of Quang Nam province, enterprises in the province are currently facing many difficulties, although the State has had policies to support and accompany, however, pressure on taxes, price fluctuations, access to capital... have created great challenges for enterprises, especially small and medium enterprises...

In the coming time, delegate Duong Van Phuoc hopes that the State will continue to pay attention to the current difficulties of enterprises and have more timely and practical policies for enterprises. Currently, enterprises are seriously lacking capital.

In addition, the Government needs to design a credit package to serve production and business, focusing on unblocking capital sources from banks by continuing to lower interest rates and loosen lending conditions; continuing to accompany and share risks with businesses.

At the same time, continue to promote tax reform, listen to and share solutions to resolve business recommendations related to tax issues; research tax policies suitable for small and medium enterprises. In the current difficult conditions, delegates noted that it is necessary to focus on nurturing revenue sources, considering the conditions of each business to have appropriate tax reduction policies.

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