The 15th National Assembly’s first extraordinary session opened in Hanoi on Tuesday and was connected via videoconference to delegations of NA deputies in 62 cities and provinces. Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, and National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue were among attendants at the meeting.

In his opening speech, NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue said that the 4th outbreak of COVID-19 with the Delta variant has heavily impacted all aspects of society — production, business activities, living standards, and progress toward short-and-medium-term socio-economic goals. Economic growth last year was an estimated 2.58%, according to Mr. Hue.

Based on the urgency of the country and stipulations of the Constitution and Law, the NA Standing Committee decided to convene the first extraordinary session to consider and decide on some social, economic, and financial issues to support the fight against COVID-19 and the socio-economic recovery program, he said.

Mr. Hue said that the National Assembly will focus on four issues including the Resolution on fiscal and monetary policies that support the socio-economic recovery and development program

“This Resolution attaches great importance to responding to COVID-19, overcoming damage caused by the pandemic, recovering and sustainably developing the current socio-economic situation, restoring the labor market, and resolving social security and welfare issues”, said Mr. Hue.

He added that this is additional policy, apart from the financial and monetary policy framework decided by the National Assembly; the financial plan, the plan for borrowing and paying public debt, and the 5-year medium-term public investment plan until 2025.

NA deputies will also approve a resolution on investment for the eastern side of the North-South Expressway project in the 2021-2025 period with a total investment of 6.4 billion USD.

They also debated revisions to several laws, including the Law on Public Investment, the Law on Public-Private Partnership, the Investment Law, the Bidding Law, the Electricity Law, the Enterprise Law, the Law on Special Consumption Tax and the Law on Enforcement of Civil Judgments.

Source: VOV5