Vietnam Parliament opens new session

Hanoi, July 20 (IANS) The 15th National Assembly (NA) of Vietnam, the country's top legislature, opened its inaugural session on Tuesday amid concerns about the Covid-19 pandemic.

At this sitting, which is scheduled to last until July 31, newly-elected lawmakers will vote and approve personnel for high-ranking positions of the state apparatus, NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue said at the opening ceremony.

Legislators will also hear important reports on the country's five-year socio-economic development plan, the five-year financial plan, and the medium-term public investment plan for the 2021-2025 period, and discuss law-making programs for 2022, reports Xinhua news agency.

The session will establish important conditions and create driving forces for the successful operation of the NA's 15th tenure, said Hue.

In his remarks, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong said the whole nation is striving to overcome difficulties brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.

He called on the NA deputies to uphold the sense of responsibility, continuously improve their capabilities to serve the country and the people, and fulfil the tasks entrusted to them.

Vietnam has been fighting its worst wave of the coronavirus pandemic, with over 56,500 locally transmitted cases registered in less than three months since late April.

The southern Ho Chi Minh City is the current epicentre.

On May 23, Vietnam held a general election where 499 deputies to the 15th NA were elected.

At the last session of the 14th NA that started in late March, legislators elected Vuong Dinh Hue as NA chairman, Nguyen Xuan Phuc as state president, and Pham Minh Chinh as prime minister, among other personnel decisions.