Speaking at the ministry’s 2016 review conference in Hanoi on January 11, he pointed out many shortcomings at the ministry, saying a couple of major plans had not been well implemented by the ministry and that the ministry had failed to complete some of the jobs assigned by the Government.

 

The ministry has not coordinated well with other ministries, provinces and cities to implement macro-economic policy efficiently. For instance, ministries remained split over the draft of the Planning Law at the January 10 session of the National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee. 

 

The Government will do a review over this matter, Phuc said, adding ministries had shown displeasure with the draft law as they felt their own interests affected. The MPI has not been able to convince other ministries to back it in the planning process.

 

A deputy minister of construction said if the law was passed, it would affect 13,000 zoning plans in the construction sector, most of them with a vision towards 2050.

 

A deputy minister of natural resources and environment said regulations on space and land use planning would clash if the law goes into force.

 

NA chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan was surprised that ministries and other government agencies were at odds over the draft law. Therefore, it should be considered, Ngan said. 

 

She asked if the relevant ministries had voted for the draft law before it went before the NA.

 

Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung said the Government had discussed the draft law many times before it was forwarded to the NA.

 

NA deputies and the public support the draft planning law, Dung said, and major changes in the draft might affect the interests of certain agencies or groups of people so they want them dropped.

 

NA vice chairman Phung Quoc Hien told the ministry to review the draft law and said Cabinet members should reach common ground when it goes before the NA in the coming time.