National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan opened the Standing Committee's 25th session (Photo: VNA)

National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan said the coast guard should be part of the armed forces to conduct civilian missions and be entitled to open fire if required in national defense:“The Bill on Coast Guard if approved should empower coast guard in their law enforcement at sea. They are the armed force but in international practices, they perform civilian missions. In case of national defense, they should be entitled to open fire.”

The 25th session of the National Assembly Standing Committee will discuss several controversial draft laws, including the Law on Vietnam’s Coast Guard, the Law on Protection of State Secrets, and the amended Law on Anti-Corruption.

The legislators will debate the accounting of money that the General Department of Taxation received in advance to implement its personnel reduction policy prior to 2012.

Also high on the agenda will be the allocation of money from the State budget during the 2016-2020 period, and the use of 640 million USD from the standby capital of the mid-term investment plan for the 2016-2020 period for major railway and road projects.

The Committee will scrutinize the implementation of the Investment Law, the Law on Public Investment, and the Law on Environmental Protection regarding the environmental impacts of investment projects. Discussions will also focus on the Government’s draft decree on a number of special investment, finance, budget, and management allocation mechanisms in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho.