Members of National Assembly Committee of Legal Affairs in session on Tuesday.

The plan will see all citizens allocated a 12-digit personal number which will be recorded on a national database.

It was deemed necessary to modernise the current residency book system and bring it in line with the implementation of e-Government, national public service portal and digital economy.

Some NA deputies said the new method of residency management can only show good results if all Vietnamese citizens have identification numbers.

The number incorporates all basic personal information, some of which was recorded in household registration books and paper identity cards.

More than 18 million Vietnamese citizens now have personal identification numbers. Viet Nam plans to issue the numbers to the rest of the population by the end of this year.

Most of the deputies agreed that conditions for permanent residence status in centrally-run cities should be removed. The current law stipulates that citizens wanting to register for permanent residency status in centrally-run cities need to show they have found legal accommodation.

Conditions aim to control the increase of population but fail to prove its efficiency in reality, they said.

However, Nguyen Thanh Hong, permanent member of the NA’s Security and Defence Committee, said the removal of the conditions would not limit migration to big cities and pose risks to social order and increase traffic congestion.

Deputy Dao Tu Hoa from Hanoi said this was a big issue affecting not only personal life but the capital city’s security and careful consideration was needed to ensure freedom of residency, social security and quality of life.

The NA Legal Affairs Committee also agreed on the need to approve a draft resolution on piloting urban administrative models and specific mechanisms and policies to develop central Da Nang City.

Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Quoc Phuong said the issuance of the draft resolution was necessary to move towards rapid and sustainable development of Da Nang and make the city the driving force of the national economic development.

Due to its importance, the draft resolution needs to be studied carefully and submitted to the Politburo for feedback before official approval of the NA. VNS