VietNamNet Bridge – The National Assembly's Standing Committee yesterday, Oct 11, called for more efforts to ensure people are at the centre of the country's plan to restore and protect forests.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the national project to plant 5 million hectares of forests between 1998 and 2010 had yielded significant results.

The work increased Viet Nam's forest cover to 46.4 per cent in 2010, while the wood processing and timber industries' export turn-over jumped to US$3.55 billion in 2010. The developments have also created employment for about 4.6 million workers, most of whom come from poor households or ethnic minority people from highland areas.

Between 1998-2010, the State budget allocated an estimated VND7,281 billion ($346.7 million) for the project and would expect to spend another VND14,600 billion ($695 million) between 2011-20 for forest protection and further extension of forest cover.

However, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Dang Khoa said that even after 13 years of implementation, the project had not been able to cover another 2 million hectares of denuded hills with forests, while efforts to stop illegal logging and rampant conversion of woodlands into agricultural fields were largely unsuccessful.

NA Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung said it was critical to carry out forestry work in line with socio-economic policies aimed at residents, particular ethnic residents, living at border areas, where the Government wanted to increase forestation.

"We are talking about having 16 million hectares of forest by 2020 and that means half of the nation's total area," Hung said. "The troubling sign is that we still have to import 80 per cent of raw wood materials used in wood processing for producing export items."

A report by the NA Committee for Science, Technology and Environment pointed out that the Government had not been effectively carrying out zoning policies for land designated specifically for forestation. The committee also stated that forest land had been rented to foreign investors at low prices even when local residents had high demand for using the land – an issue that had already caused public distress in the past.

Nguyen Van Hien, chairman of the NA Judicial Committee, said more priorities should be given to expand economic forests, as this model gave incentives to residents to protect these forests. "Only when residents realise they can benefit directly from the forest will they protect it. Otherwise, without the residents, our efforts would fail," he said.

Several members of the committee requested that clear statistics be made available on the percentage of forests lost during the 13-year period from illegal logging and from forest land being converted into farmland.

Kso Phuoc, chairman of the NA Council of Ethnic Affairs, said his personal experiences had reflected that native forest cover had been decreasing rapidly over the past years. "I am having doubts about the statistics released in the Government report," Phuoc said. "If you travel from central Dak Lac Province to HCM City, after several hundred kilometres, it's very clear that there is little sign of native forests."

Phuoc said the Government should provide additional social and economic policies to assist residents at areas where forestation work was required, while placing forestation as one of the country's national strategic goals.

Nguyen Kim Khoa, chairman of the NA Committee for National Defence and Security, noted that many residents in border areas could not live off the forest. "Forest rangers are there to identify and catch illegal logging but the residents have to be at the centre of forest protection," he said.

Money laundering

At yesterday's session, the NA Standing Committee also agreed to submit the draft bill on preventing money laundering, but said more efforts should be made to clearly identify and standardise the definition of money laundering in all legal documents.

According to State Bank Governor Nguyen Van Binh, only Decree 74, which was established six years ago, deals with preventing money laundering.

In 2007, Viet Nam became a member of the Asia-Pacific Group on Money Laundering and observer of the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units. Accordingly, Viet Nam has to carry out 40 recommendations on preventing money laundering as member of APG and nine other recommendations against financing of terrorist groups as suggested by the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering, according to a report prepared by the State Bank.

In addition, Binh said the country's admission to the WTO and deeper economic integration had demanded an expansion of the legal framework to deal with money laundering activities. "Money laundering is considered a sensitive issue but without strict enforcement, Viet Nam could become a destination for money launders worldwide," he said.

Most members of the NA Standing Committee said it was not necessary to include terrorism financing in the title of the bill, considering criminals could use money laundering for other illegal activities as well.

They also expressed concerns over how to strike a balance between creating a legal framework to prevent money laundering and protecting the public's privacy in financial activities.

The plan to protect and develop forests for the 2011-20 period and the draft bill on preventing money laundering will be submitted for comments at a National Assembly meeting later this month.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News