16th National Assembly to convene first extraordinary session on August 3

The first extraordinary session of the 16th National Assembly (NA) kicked off in Hanoi on August 3, with lawmakers set to consider and decide on a series of items, including 15 draft laws, four draft normative resolutions and a range of major issues concerning national development.

NA Chairman Tran Thanh Man delivered a speech at the opening ceremony, which is broadcast live by the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) and Vietnam Television.

Earlier, legislators convened a preparatory meeting, during which NA General Secretary and Chairman of the NA Office Le Quang Manh presented a report on the review, explanation, and revision of the proposed agenda for the first extraordinary session. The legislature then discussed and adopted the session's agenda by vote.

Scheduled to run until August 24, the sitting is held in person at the National Assembly House in Hanoi and divided into two phases: August 3-13 and August 19 24.

The bills to be discussed and adopted include the revised law on petroleum; the revised law on grassroots mediation; the law on urban development; the revised law on the dissemination of legal documents and legal education; the law on the prevention of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; the law amending and supplementing a number of articles of 10 laws relating to administrative procedures and business conditions in the agriculture and environment sectors; and the law amending and supplementing a number of articles of nine laws on military and national defence.

Others are the law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the law on the State Bank of Vietnam, the law on anti-money laundering and the law on credit institutions; the law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the law on radio frequencies, the law on telecommunications, the law on electronic transactions and the law on technology transfer; the law amending and supplementing Article 6 and Appendix IV on the list of conditional business investment sectors and trades under the law on investment; the law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the customs law; the law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the law on architecture; the law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the law on Vietnamese guest workers under contract; the law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the law on state compensation liability; and the law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the law on publishing.

The legislature will also consider and adopt the draft resolutions on special mechanisms and policies to remove obstacles to projects serving APEC Economic Leaders' Week 2027 in An Giang province’s Phu Quoc special zone; the resolution on special policies and mechanisms to address legal violations related to the state economic sector, the private economic sector, and the applications of science and technology, innovation and digital transformation; the resolution on special mechanisms for resolving issues affecting wind and solar power projects; and a resolution replacing Resolution No. 96/2019/QH14 on crime prevention and control, the handling of legal violations, the work of the People's Procuracy, the People's Courts, and the enforcement of judgments.

The seven draft laws to receive first readings include revised versions of the Criminal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code, the Law on Real Estate Business, the Land Law, the Housing Law, the Law on Organisation of Criminal Investigation Agencies, and a consolidated Law on the State Budget.

The NA will also discuss and decide on several key issues, including the investment policy for the Ring Road 5 project in the Hanoi capital region, adjustments to the investment policy for the Lao Cai Hanoi Hai Phong railway project, the establishment of Quang Ninh and Bac Ninh cities, matters related to the Ninh Thuan nuclear power plant project, the integration of four national target programmes into a single one, and personnel affairs falling under its authority./.