NA Standing Committee wraps up 22nd session

Minister of Justice Le Thanh Long 

The 22nd session of the National Assembly Standing Committee closed in Hanoi on March 19 after seven days of sitting. 

Minister of Justice Le Thanh Long and Minister of Science and Technology Chu Ngoc Anh took the floor and answered questions. 

Minister Chu Ngoc Anh answered questions regarding the efficiency of adopting scientific research results in real life, control of technology export-import in production and services, and technological adoption in service of socio-economic development. 

He said the Party and State have paid due attention to the application of high technologies in agricultural production.

He said eight chain factories will be inaugurated this year to facilitate technological transfer in agriculture. 

Joining the question-and-answer session, Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh said the ministries of Industry and Trade, Agriculture and Rural Development, and Science and Technology will work closely together to launch chain models and rearrange market planning and production. 

About concern over the import of outdated technologies, Minister Anh said the ministry will issue decrees and directives guiding the enforcement of the amended Law on Technological Transfer. 

For his part, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong pointed to policy, work performance, and scientific and technological application as the three main causes affecting the development of agriculture, of which scientific and technological application is decisive and crucial to the competitiveness of the country’s farm products.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said Vietnam currently ranks 47th globally in innovation index and 38th in technological expertise. 

He called on the State to issue practical mechanisms to make firms really become a centre of creativity and innovation. 

Concluding the meeting, NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan said the Standing Committee piloted some changes in this question-and-answer session, which enabled more interactions between legislators and ministers in dealing with the issues raised.

She asked the government, the Council of Ethnic Affairs, the NA committees and agencies to promptly prepare quality bills to submit to the NA Standing Committee for consideration during the 23th and 24th session scheduled for April and May.

OVs in Japan urged to further contributions to homeland

Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan (L) speaks at the meeting 

Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan has urged Vietnamese expats in Japan to continue uphold their role as bridges, contributing to helping Vietnamese enterprises promote exports. 

During a meeting with the Vietnamese community in Japan as part of his working visit to Japan from March 18-25, Nhan updated participants on recent achievements of Ho Chi Minh City, and highlighted its dynamic development. 

Japan is one of the two biggest investors in Vietnam, he said, adding that Ho Chi Minh City is currently the most attractive destination for Japanese investors in all fields. 

The southern hub is calling for investments in 127 key projects, including those in building smart hospitals, developing high technologies and infrastructure, and flood prevention, he said.  

He affirmed his current visit to Japan aims to learn from Japan’s experience as well as collect opinions from Japanese experts and economists, and those from Vietnamese businesses in Japan, towards mapping out development strategies and orientations for Ho Chi Minh City in the coming time. 

Speaking in the event, Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Nguyen Quoc Cuong reported the development of the Vietnamese community in Japan, saying that the number of overseas Vietnamese (OVs) in Japan increased to nearly 250,000, 2.5 times higher than three years ago. 

Many Vietnamese people achieved prominent achievements in the field of invention and innovation, thus contributing to the homeland’s development as well as the relations between the two countries, he noted. 

At the meeting, OVs shared experience in simplifying investment procedures, thus facilitating Japanese firms’ operation in Vietnam. 

Representatives from young Vietnamese entrepreneurs in Japan said if Vietnamese firms want to succeed in the Japanese market, they need to consult, learn and apply Japan’s professional working style. 

Nhan is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and other officials of the Japanese Government; have working sessions with representatives from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Tokyo and Tsukuba universities, and organisations and enterprises working in the high-tech field.

HCM City vows to support private sector

The meeting between city leaders and the enterprise community was organised on Saturday. 

HCM City pledges to protect the legal rights and benefits of the business community, a city leader said.

Speaking at a meeting between city leaders and the enterprise community on Saturday, Nguyễn Thành Phong, chairman of the municipal People’s Committee said, “Enterprises will be checked only once a year and leaders will reduce 30 per cent of their meetings to be able to go into the field and help enterprises handle difficulties,”

“The city will try to cut half of the current time for investment procedures and this year, the administrative reform index of the city will rank in the top ten of the country,” he added.

To create more favourable conditions for the enterprise community, Phong also revealed that a task force to handle land and ground compensation will be set up to assist enterprises.

“Programmes of connecting banking and enterprises, investment stimulation; the establishment of a project development fund and a financial support fund for public-private-partnership will be promoted.”

The chairman also pledged that policies to implement special mechanisms for the city will make enterprises stronger and will “not hinder nor become a burden for the business community,” he added.

At the meeting, Lê Thị Thanh Lâm, deputy general director of Sài Gòn Food Company and representative of the Food Association, asked the relevant authorities to instruct the education sector to receive safe products from the association.

“Our association will provide technical supervision for parents to check the quality of food for children at the school, which can not be done now,” she said.

Lê Hoàng Châu, chairman of the city Real Estate Association, commented that HCM City should consider that the average area for each person to rent in the city be 15 sq.m as in Hà Nội, not 20 sq.m as the Construction Department has just suggested.

Trần Việt Anh, chairman of Nam Thái Sơn Corporation, said HCM City is now losing its competitive advantage in logistics because the city is facing terrible traffic jams and there is no huge storage for logistics.

“Neighbouring provinces such as Bình Dương, Đồng Nai, Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu and Long An are trying to improve their infrastructure and services in logistics by strongly investing in road systems, seaports and storage,” he said.

Trần Anh Tuấn, deputy chairman of the HCM City Computers Association mentioned how to promote startup enterprises.

“Big companies and professional associations should have more of a role and contribution by guiding and assisting startup enterprises,” he said.

At present, HCM City is facing many great challenges. Right now, only 1.49 per cent of the city’s enterprises are big, 5.68 per cent are medium, 4.58 per cent are small and 88.25 per cent are tiny.

The private sector is still the major driver of the development of the city with GDP growth at 8.15 per cent. Each year, the city contributes 27-28 per cent to the national State budget and the city improved the business environment to attract US$10 billion through FDI during 2016 – 2017.

This year, the city will deploy the project “Smart city 2017 – 2020 with vision to 2025” with four solutions: building a sharing database and developing an open data ecosystem; setting up the city’s socio-economic development prediction and stimulation centre; establishing a smart city operation centre; constructing an information safety and security centre.

The city plans to co-operate with the HCM City Business Association to organize the “HCM City Economic Forum” in October.