Challenges lie ahead of 14th National Assembly

The NA will be entrusted to decide on important national issues. Let’s take a look at the challenges that lie ahead.

Top challenges for the 14^th NA tenure include national sovereignty, border issues, and water and air space security.  Experts believe that the regional situation will continue to be complicated and unpredictable. The Asia – Pacific region, including Southeast Asia and Vietnam, continues to hold many potential risks, and the East Sea dispute especially is predicted to see complex developments.

"In the context of increasing integration, the challenges posed by sea and island sovereignty are increasingly diverse, such as plans for expansion, militarisation at sea, and violations of laws and international standards like the Convention on the Law of the Sea." - Tran Viet Thai, Deputy director, Institute for Foreign Policy & Strategic Studies, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"Currently, regional security issues are getting very complex. Heightened tensions in the East Sea and increasing military activities concern both Vietnam and the rest of the world. Therefore, national security issues pose tremendous challenges and we entrust the National Assembly to make decisions to resolve these issues." - Dr. Vu Minh Giang, Former Vice President of Vietnam National University.

The 13th National Assembly tenure concluded with the lowest inflation in 15 years, the highest growth in 8 years, a trade surplus recorded for 3 years and a consolidated exchange rate. However, problems like high public debt, budget constraints, macroeconomic stability and corruption still await the NA in the upcoming tenure.

"We still face problems in the national budget, large public spending, foreign debt and finance. The NA has made decisions, but we still need more effective measures. The new NA tenure should go further to overcome challenges like equitisation. The NA should pay more attention to the equitisation process to prevent losses and delays." - Vu Mao, Former chairman of the National Assembly Office.

In addition, responding to climate change is also becoming more urgent. Vietnam is predicted to be 1 of the 5 countries most affected by climate change. This requires the National Assembly to find solutions to turn these challenges into opportunities for sustainable development.

"We are aiming for sustainable development, and climate change and environmental pollution are directly related to the quality of that development. We must not exchange growth for environmental protection. So in addition to new policy, the NA is also responsible for the supervision and inspection of such policies to ensure that we are heading in the right direction." - Dr. Vu Minh Giang, Former Vice President of Vietnam National University

As the highest legislative body in the country, the NA is facing many challenges. Voters expect the new NA to issue transparent legal framework based on the interests of the people,.