The report was prepared by the Economics Committee and presented by its director Ha Van Hien.

"Generally speaking, most of these economic entities have reaped profits. Their gains have increased year-on-year," Hien said.

Phung Quoc Hien, director of the NA Committee for Finance and Budget, agreed with the report’s claim that State economic groups and corporations were the backbone of the nation’s economy.

In 2008, these economic entities made up nearly 40 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product, generated 39.5 per cent of the value of industrial products, over 50 per cent of the export turnover and 28.8 per cent of the gross national product. Also last year, they created nearly 1.2 million jobs.

"In addition to making profits, State economic groups and corporations have the duty to invest in projects that are located in mountainous and remote regions or in areas that are not attractive to private investors," Hien said.

Yet, Hien said the report had failed to state whether the performance of these economic entities had been in line with Government policies and had addressed the needs of society.

Tran The Vuong, director of the Ombudsman, agreed with Hien on the need to ensure businesses were complying with the law.

Meanwhile, Hien asked members of the supervision team to analyse the nature of the profits reported to determine whether they came from business performance or from the sale of State assets.

Truong Thi Mai, director of the Committee for Social Affairs, said to determine whether corporations had used State funds efficiently, it was important to look at three factors: the capital, the technology and human resources.

"That’s why it is important to break down the ratio of each factor in a product," Mai said.

"If we want to have a high quality product, technology is a major factor," she said.

Both Mai and Hien said the report should come up with specific recommendations on how to revise laws to boost business performance, while encouraging innovation and creativity.

Vice State President Nguyen Thi Doan said it was a high quality report because it painted a true picture of the performance of State economic groups and corporations - both their strengths and weaknesses.

"But the report only reflects the issuance of legal documents, not difficulties or challenges faced by State entities during their implementation," Doan said.

In conclusion, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong asked the supervision team to take notes of the participants’ comments and suggestions in order to make the report more comprehensive and convincing.

"What’s more important is that through the supervision of State economic groups and corporations, their performance will improve," Trong said.

According to Hien, the supervision team received reports from 12 ministries and sectors, the State Securities Commission, six Provincial People’s Committees and 105 State economic groups and corporations.

Arbitration matter

On the same day, the NA Standing Committee also discussed the draft law on arbitration.

The committee focused mainly on discussing the law’s name and identifying which courts will have jurisdiction over arbitrators. The committee also discussed forms of organisation arbitration, criteria for arbitrators, conditions for establishing arbitration centres, arbitration fees and State management.

One significant difference with the Ordinance on Arbitration issued in 2003 was the expansion of arbitration law’s competence to settle disputes relating to the rights and interests of relevant parties, according to a statement by the Viet Nam Lawyers’ Association.

That is the reason the drafting committee proposed changing the name from the Law on Trade Arbitration to Law on Arbitration, the association said.

The draft law also set out the relationship between courts and arbitrators in a clearer more rigid way to avoid confusion.

However, chairwoman of the NA’s Justice Committee Le Thi Thu Ba suggested that the law should limit the arbitration law’s competence to settle trade disputes, not disputes relating to the rights and interests of the parties involved that have arisen from contractual obligations or non-contractual obligations involving civil subjects.

Chairman of the Judiciary Committee Nguyen Van Thuan, however, said that in certain circumstances the arbitration law’s competence should be extended to disputes that do not just involve trade.

Regarding the competence of the Arbitration Council to apply interim measures, most members of the Justice Committee suggested that disputing parties have the right to decide whether to let the court of arbitration handle the case.

Source: VietNamNet/Viet Nam News