ParliamentDiary: the East Sea issues

During the meeting, the discussions were televised live and received special attention from voters. It is quite difficult to spot any empty seat.  

On the date 30/5 was no exception. At 7.30 am, deputies Cao Sy Kiem, Do Van Duong, Bui Duc Thu, Tran Van Thu were in the hallway. After that, the State Bank Governor Nguyen Van Binh, Minister of Construction Trinh Dinh Dung also appeared as guests.

The Prime Minister was also present, along with members of the Government and the National Assembly delegation, listened intently on the opinions of 40 deputies.

The screen name showed 35 deputies were registered but did not have opportunity to  speak in front of the National Assembly including Vice Chairman of the Economic Committee Nguyen Duc Kien, businessman Phan Van Quy, lawyer Truong Trong Nghia ...  Even though they did not have chance to speak in the conference, they are always full of ‘fire’. Journalism has always been a bridge between deputies and voters.

Back to the differences between the Government and the National Assembly on the economic situation - one of the main points in the discussion – exchanging with VnEconomy, Vice Chairman Nguyen Duc Kien noted that we could see an increase in GDP growth rate over the same period. However, if we look at the double debt index, high inflation rate and economic growth rate decreased by 1.6 time, it clearly illustrated that the macroeconomic development from 2007 to present is deteriorating. Meanwhile, a notable problem in the process of restructuring the economy, he said, is the slow restructuring of enterprises causing loss of state assets.

For a specific example  that Mr. Kien stated is Vietnam - Ha Noi Tourism JSC (51% owned by the state management SCIC) in both 2009 and 2011 had negative reward, when shareholders discovered they moved that amount to debt. And 2012, at the difficult economic situation, they paid  extra 16 months salary to employees and management team. This of course lead to damages of the owner.

From this evidence, Mr Kien said that divestment in state-owned enterprises is necessary to implement as soon as possible, however, it was not done during the last 5 months.

In the morning session, deputy Tran Du Lich, Deputy head of HCM City National Assembly delegation, also suggested very strongly that the State must review the entire state capital of up to hundreds of billion at enterprises in the light industry which are not necessary to hold on.

The idea of ​​building a medium-term program of three-year restoration of economic growth by deputy Lich was not supported by deputy Kien. Therefore, according to Mr. Kien, the focus of the discussion today was not only about issues of 2013, the National Assembly also needs to discuss the issue on medium-term macroeconomic measures as a basis for implementation within the next 3 years, Mr Kien emphasized.

There might be differences in the spoken issues, however, deputies have the same heart for the country’s situation. Taking a special care for the marine economy, businessman as well as deputy Phan Van Quy, Chairman and CEO of Pacific Corporation, suggested of sharing task in the field from weak firms to capable defense firms. Combining defense with marine economic development, offshore fishing also needs the protection of the military units.

This deputy - entrepreneur also used the word ‘severe’ to show the current situation of having some of the fishermen boats fishing on the area of Vietnam were knocked down leading to major damages by Chinese vessels.

"Foreign policy should be flexible but firm, as once noted by Lt. Gen. Nguyen Quoc Thuoc, we can be soft but not weak," Mr. Quy wrote in the statement that has been prepared carefully.

Photo: Deputy Phan Van Quy and other Deputies proposed to the Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung opinions on Defense Security issues.

Lawyer Truong Trong Nghia shared with the media his concerns that many areas of Vietnam's economy has been dependent on the Chinese economy with alarming speed and scale.

Inferior can be at various levels, but economic dependence is the most serious problem, especially when it comes to the threat of territorial sovereignty, Mr. Nghia said. The issues on the East Sea raised many concerns from deputies. Deputy Duong Trung Quoc, before millions of voters through television, noted that "we are next to the mountain, river line, ocean with China. However, we always recall the past lessons that our ancestors faced. In other words we have to be strong enough to endure the challenges of the times that we have deeper integration ".

About the national defense, Mr. Quoc said that we cannot rely solely on the will of the State. Recalling history lesson "we always remain an united country”, he said the Government's report seems to have little interest on this issue." What has the government done to contribute to the consolidation of the nation? That could be the question I will raise to the Prime Minister in the next session if possible "he said.

The Government should not only look at the macro issues or the problem took place at the conference table, the statement or even signed documents; the Government should be more interested in the smaller things, Mr. Quoc noted that “the earliest lesson in the history of Vietnam, everyone knows that is the lesson of vigilance".

                                                                                          Nguyen Thao (http://vneconomy.vn)