VNA
Parts of revised Draft Law on NA's Organisation passed The National Assembly deputies held a plenary meeting to continue their discussion for the approval of the revised Draft Law on the NA Organisation on December 17, the 22nd working day of the on-going session. At the opening of the session, member of the Law's Drafting Board and the session's Secretariat Vu Mao read a report to explain and receive deputies' opinions raised during the last plenary meeting on the necessity to formulate the regulations for functions and duties of the Council for Nationalities and the NA committees, the title of president and vice president of the Council for Nationalities and director and deputy director of the NA committees. The Drafting Board has formulated two new regulations, including articles 22A on the Council for Nationalities and article 22b on the NA committees with their specific functions and duties stipulated by the current law. The deputies approved these articles with overwhelming votes in favour. Discussing the functions and duties regulated by the law on NA committee and Council for Nationalities, many deputies debated which committee was suitable for verifying the government's reports. The draft Law (revised) still keeps the content of the current law, stipulating that the NA Economic and Budget Commission has a right and obligation to verify the government's reports on the implementation of socio-economic development plan. Some deputies held that investigation report should be done by such a committee representing a legislative body as the NA's Standing Committee. They said that such a NA committee as the NA Economic and Budget Commission should not be entitled to conduct the verification of the government's reports. The session's chairman affirmed that as stipulated by law, the NA Standing Committee has a right to assign the Council of Nationalities and other NA committee with the task of verifying the government's reports. In the end, deputies agreed to supplement the function of chairmanship of the NA Economic and Budget Commission, together with Council for Nationalities and other NA committees in the work of verification of government's reports. During the day, the NA passed the whole Chapter III and articles 43 and 45-49 of Chapter IV of the draft Law. A total of 64 deputies from 34 cities and provinces contributed their opinions on the issue. **** Five-year anti-epidemics plan ready The Ministry of Health will implement a national five-year programme to fight epidemics that aims at continuing the good work done so far in fighting the spread of major diseases like malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS. The 2001-2005 programme, which has received prime minister's approval, aims, inter alia, to minimise HIV/AIDS related death and infection rates and raise public health care standards. It includes 10 projects that will fight malaria, tuberculosis, dengue fever, leprosy, goitre, infantile malautrition, mental health, and HIV/AIDS, expand vaccination campaigns, and enhance food security and hygiene. Funds for the programme will be raised from the State budget, official development assistance (ODA) and other international sources. (VNA) **** Southern youth fight social evils Millions of young people in southern provinces have actively taken part in the fight against drug abuse, prostitution and the spread of HIV/AIDS over the past five years. The young people have organised 140,000 drives to raise awareness on social evils, reports a conference reviewing the work held in Ho Chi Minh City last weekend. More than 9,100 training courses were held for over 835,000 young people in the 1997-2001 period, it was reported at the conference. Additionally, 50,000 voluntary groups were established, helping thousands of drug addicts to quit their habits and prostitutes to return to normal life. Representatives of young people from central Thua Thien-Hue province southwards attended the conference. They assessed drug addiction, prostitution, and HIV/AIDS control among the youth in their localities, highlighting efforts made by Youth Unions in the fight against social evils. Their discussions focused on creating a breakthrough for the work by raising the quality of information and education and building and expanding community-based models in the field. They stressed the need to develop the movement: 'Each Youth Union Unit Helps a Drug Addict, a Prostitute or a HIV Carrier.' Vietnam had more than 100,000 recorded drug addicts by the end of October this year. Of the country's 39,845 HIV infected people, 5,955 developed full-blown AIDS and 3,247 died. (VNA) **** Five measures to boost exports issued Five export-stimulus measures issued by the prime minister on December 13 target large markets like the EU and the Overseas Vietnamese community, and give priority of investment to major hard currency earners like rice. With these measures, the government hopes to reach the target of at least 10% export revenue growth in 2002. The move calls for improving aquatic product quality as well as strict control of the fish-raising environment. Aquatic export turnover was almost US $1.7 billion in the past 11 months, US $0.1 billion more than planned for 2001. Exporters of rice, coffee, tea, ground-nuts, beef and chicken, processed and fresh vegetables and fruit, pepper, cashew-nuts, porcelain, wooden art articles, and wickerwork are entitled to bonus policy and preferential credit loans, according to the decision. Marketing efforts are of high importance in the decision, which encourages exploiting large potential markets such as the European Union, Japan, China, Russia and the United States, while not reglecting markets in Africa and Latin America, and encouraging cross-border trade and bartering. The Overseas Vietnamese community is a major target of the move . The prime minister asks relevant authorities, including the Trade Ministry and the Ministry of Planning and Investment, to consider more incentives for overseas Vietnamese businesses and investors with projects in their native land. Along with efforts to boost exports, the decision plans to curb hard currency spending by issuing high import tariff rates on raw materials already available in Vietnam such as cotton, tobacco, soya beans, and hides. Importation of consumer goods, automobiles and motorcycle parts will also be put under strict control to minimise import volume. Importation will be encouraged only with regard to production materials, equipment and advanced technology that help speed up national modernisation. The use of raw materials locally available will be increased, says the decision. Vietnam recorded an export revenue of US $13.8 billion in the past 11 months while its import value was estimated at US $14.520 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of US $720 million. (VNA) **** Party delegation attends Brazilian Party Congress A delegation of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), led by Mai Van Nam, member of the CPV Central Committee and chairman of the CPV CC Commission for Inspection, attended the tenth Congress of the Communist Party of Brazil (CPB), held in Rio de Janeiro from December 9-11. The Vietnamese head delegate delivered a greeting message from the CPV CC to the Congress. On December 13, the Vietnamese delegation was received by newly-elected CPB President Renato Rabello who spoke highly of the successes recorded by the Communist Party and people of Vietnam in their past struggle for national liberation and the current process of renovation, national construction and defence. The Vietnamese guests also held talks with other international delegations attending the Congress and visited a number of cultural and historical sites in Brazil. (VNA) _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
