LookAtVietnam – National Assembly (NA) deputies passed three new bills and one resolution yesterday, June 17, in a session that also included a debate on the new draft Law on Telecommunications.

Photo: VNA

The law stipulates that the Ministry of Finance (MoF) will assist the Government in managing public debts. It will sign as the borrower of foreign loans in the name of the Government or the State, except for loans specifically taken out by the State Bank. Co-operation between the MoF and the State Bank for mobilisation of domestic capital for effective operation of monetary and credit policy is also stipulated in the law.

With 743 urban areas nationwide, 48 of which are cities, Viet Nam has been considered as the most rapidly urbanising country in Southeast Asia. Thus the Law on Urban Planning was approached with much anticipation. The law passed with 89.25 per cent of the vote. It will come into effect on January 1, 2010.

The law regulates all urban planning activities, from building, evaluation, approval and adjustment of urban plans all the way through to project implementation and development.

Finally, the Law on Judicial Records was approved with 76.47 per cent of the vote. It will be enforced beginning July 1, 2010.

This law outlines the procedure for providing, receiving and updating judicial records, managing judicial records databases and the governing of judicial records at the State level. Governance of the National Centre for Juridicial Records will fall under the Ministry of Justice.

NA deputies also voted on the Law-and-Ordinance-Making Programme 2010 Resolution with a pass rate of 88.44 per cent.

The resolution calls for the NA to approve 12 bills and debate 10 others by this time next year. Another 20 bills were voted for inclusion in the preparation programme.

A fund for public telecommunication services provoked robust debate when National Assembly deputies discussed the draft of the Law on Telecommunications yesterday.

Most deputies disagreed with the fund’s establishment based on its management, or lack of it, as outlined in the draft.

Deputy Tran Dinh Nha of Ba Ria-Vung Tau province said there was no mention of an agency to supervise the fund outside the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC), which in the draft was assigned the fund’s management board.

Another problem, he said, was when telecommunications enterprises would contribute financially to the fund. There were also no regulations on minimum and maximum contributions.

Some deputies said support for disadvantaged areas could come from the State budget and that another fund was unnecessary. Others thought a fund was needed to receive financial support from telecommunications enterprises and other sources to assist the Government’s plan to provide nationwide public telecommunications services.

While supporting the fund’s establishment, deputy Chu Son Ha of Ha Noi said it could be managed under the National Budget Law by the Ministry of Finance.

MIC should control the knowledge and professional side only, he said.

Supervising agency

All deputies agreed with the draft to establish a governmental professional supervising agency, as well as an inspector agency within MIC.

Deputies said the agencies’ activities, assignments and authority should be clearly specified in order to guarantee their main functions were supervising and inspecting.

Deputy Chu Son Ha said the agencies would be established within and under the management of MIC. It was necessary to have the participation of the Ministry of Public Security to guarantee the effectiveness of governmental management.

Others supported the agencies being directly under the Government and acting independently of the ministry so they could represent the country in the field of telecommunications. They suggested the draft be revised.

On national telecommunications planning and development, the deputies agreed it was necessary for the Government to release a document on conduct to enhance co-operation between ministries, agencies and local people’s committees for the development of information technology infrastructure nationwide.

Deputy Dinh Trinh Hai of Ninh Binh province thought many problems were surfacing, such as the planning of infrastructure, which was not rational, investment didn’t match planning and the telecommunications “spiderwebs” hanging on streets were dangerous and ruined the landscape.

Deputy Ngo Duc Manh of Binh Phuoc province said there were too many telecommunications service providers, which resulted in newly-built roads being dug up for cables. He wanted the drafting board to revise the regulations on the rights of telecommunications service providers.

Deputy Nguyen Viet Dung of HCM City province said planning of telecommunications infrastructure in the draft was hardly possible and suggested the board clarify the policies for service providers.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News