Observers will be paying particular attention to the Assembly debates on a number of issues.

· Last week, at a meeting of the NA Standing Committee, the NA’s Committee for Finance and Budget agreed with a proposal to waive personal income tax liability for all individuals whose liability was deferred in the first half of 2009. However, the committee rejected a proposal to continue to exempt these individuals from personal income tax in the second half of the year.

· The NA’s Committee for Culture, Education, Youth and Children has proposed to delay implementation of a change in the financing mechanism for education and training in 2008-2012. At a meeting discussing this important and sensitive scheme, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Thien Nhan suggested that there be no increase in school fees for general education but university fees will rise by 20% compared to the level in 2000 to compensate for inflation.

· Many experts and NA deputies said that the government’s plan to reduce the targeted growth rate for 2009 to 5% and to raise the budget deficit to 8% of GDP is a positive move. The government will have to restructure its budget revenues, spending and fiscal policy. This will be the second consecutive year that the NA will consider revision of established economic-social goals.

Commenting on the budget, Committee for Economics Vice Chairman Le Quoc Dung admitted that this is a “lesson” because in the last NA session, deputies were optimistic in considering the situation and didn’t thoroughly judge the impacts of the world economy on Vietnam. In short, the NA didn’t anticipate long-term difficulties.

“The most important thing,” Dung added, “is that deputies must be provided with sufficient information and data. The government should recommend various plans and circumstances for NA deputies to choose. Second, NA deputies have to analyze circumstances carefully. Third, we need to encourage deputies who have opposing opinions to speak out.”

An outspoken but responsible atmosphere of discussion, based on the interest of the masses, is the expectation of voters in this hot summer month.

Bauxite, school fees, and electricity prices: voter worries

As of May 19, nearly 2,500 voter opinions have been sent to the 5^th NA session, said the Fatherland Front. It summarized key concerns as follows:

Bauxite mining in the Central Highlands. Voters asked the government to instruct related bodies and localities to implement the Politburo’s conclusion to serve the country’s economic development and the development of the Central Highlands while ensuring the country’s short-term, long-term and sustainable interests, the country’s security and defence, ecological and cultural environment. The people proposed the NA keep the bauxite mining projects on its annual and plenary agendas.

Electric Power Charges. Many businesses said the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s application of new electricity charge policy based on peak hour consumption is inappropriate, resulting in increased production costs. They asked the NA to review this regulation towards reducing the number of peak hours in the daytime and increasing the peak hours at night.

Voters also said that regular power shortages in many localities handicap production, business and daily life. They proposed the NA reconsider the recent increase of electricity charges and the reduction of the amount of power subject to the lowest tariff so as to not hurt low-income earners.

School Fees. The plan to increase school fees as part of a revised financing mechanism for education, which has been much-discussed recently, also worried the people, especially in the current difficult economic situation.

Voters expected the government to carefully time the increase in school fees and expand the range of students who enjoy exemption and reduction of school fees.

They also asked the government to improve the quality of state-owned schools and provide education and training as a public service.

Voters petitioned the government to instruct the Ministry of Education and Training to study and find solutions based on expert opinion that improve the quality and quantity of education.

Macroeconomic Policies. Regarding the government’s demand stimulus and interest rate subsidy policies, the people said that administrative formalities were still complicated and troublesome in many places. Without good supervision, this source of capital will be misused by organizations and individuals.

According to the Vietnam Farmers’ Association and the Alliance of Vietnamese Cooperatives, the demand for preferential capital to purchase machines, equipment and construction materials of rural people and cooperatives is huge. However, many of them have been unable to access this source of capital.

They asked the government to expand the range of ways this kind of credit may be used and to extend the duration of the interest rate subsidy so help them develop production and business.

Many voters suggested the NA and Government to conduct surveys of the actual life of the people under the impacts of economic slowdown and compile accurate statistics on unemployment.

Source: Vietnamnet