Vietnam is finding it hard to allocate resources for socioeconomic development and infrastructure development. It has a lot of pending and disparate plans. Hence, the country needs a complete law on planning now, according to experts at a conference on the compilation of Law on Planning drafted by the Ministry of Planning and Investment held recently in Hanoi.
Vu Quang Cac, Director of the Planning Management Department under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, said the law-drafting committee has closely coordinated with research institutes, scientists, specialists and officials with rich experience to work out baseline studies and methodologies on planning, reviewed planning work at ministries, branches and localities, and surveyed and compared experience with developed countries like France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Canada, and researched planning documents in the EU, the US, Russia, Japan, China and South Korea.
Remarking on the new important law, representatives from many central agencies openly raised their opinions to the draft Law on Planning. An official from the Ministry of Education and Training commented that the draft law currently states four types of planning (national planning, sectoral planning, regional planning and provincial planning) but it does not clearly define limits for each type of planning. The Ministry of Health suggested flexible application of the law for ongoing plans, while fully imposing the ruling on the ones started after the effective date of the law.
While collecting opinions from relevant authorities and agencies, Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh plausibly answered and explained questions raised by delegates. He added that the ministry reported on the necessity for the introduction of the law as requested by the Prime Minister, on strategy - planning - planning interrelations, scope of enforcement of the law, and interrelation with other laws.
In answer the question from the Ministry of Education and Training, Minister Vinh admitted the current lack of ‘boundaries’ for specific levels of planning, which results in overlapping and contradiction in law enforcement.
He stressed that this is a big law as it interrelates other laws and legal documents issued by various ministries. Thus, he requested the Law Drafting Committee and Editorial Board to cooperate with relevant units and individuals in the process of drafting the law.
Anh Phuong
Vietnamese
