Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc clarified concerns over the draft Law on Special Administrative – Economic Units and the draft Law on Cyber Security during a meeting with voters in Tien Lang district, the northern city of Hai Phong on June 18. 

The PM affirmed that the National Assembly and government have listened to public feedback and decided to postpone the approval of the draft Law on Special Administrative – Economic Units. 

Explaining the draft law, he said special administrative – economic units have been mentioned in the 2014 Constitution, adding that the model is not new as it has been implemented successfully in many countries. 

The target of the draft law is to create an institution to allow the units to attract more investment and create a growth pole for development, PM Phuc said, noting that the building process of the draft law had been open for opinions and the draft had been discussed at the NA’s 4th session. 

The Government leader emphasized that the Land Law already contains a regulation on leasing land for a maximum of 70 years in economic zones, but some bad elements used the stipulation in the draft law on Special Administrative – Economic Units that the PM could consider a lease of up to 99 years in special cases to serve ill purposes. 

According to him, special cases must be large-scale and outstanding projects with large investment and long capital recovery period which are deemed to be needed by the country. Before being approved by the PM, such projects also need to be considered by many other agencies. 

PM Phuc added that on June 6 and 7, he had voiced the opinion that the stipulation on 99-year  land lease duration. His opinion was published by the media and welcomed by the public. Later on June 8, the NA decided to delay the voting on the bill in order to acquire more feedback and refine the document. 

This demonstrates that the NA and the Government seriously listened to the opinions of voters and the people, he said. 

However, gatherings, demonstrations, riots still occurred in several cities and provinces on June 10-11. Some evil-doers and opportunists, and even a number of reactionaries took advantage of democracy to incite the mass in different ways to sabotage national solidarity and unity, misleading the public about several legal regulations, especially the draft Law on Special Administrative – Economic Units and the draft Law on Cyber Security. 

About the Law on Cyber Security, the PM said many countries have promulgated laws on cyber security. After acquiring public feedback, the law compiling board has adjusted the bill, allowing the placement of servers abroad but Vietnam-related data must be stored to serve management work. Accordingly, the law was approved by the legislature with nearly 87 percent of votes. 

The PM stressed that such activities as damaging properties, opposing on-duty officers or blocking traffics affect the normal life of people and the investment environment of the country. He urged local authorities, agencies, officials and Party members to actively disseminate contents of the law so that the people could fully understand it. 

The mass media should work to counter wrongful allegations and incitement of the public, especially on the social media, thus ensuring public security and safety. 

He took the occasion to urge the public to stay calm and vigilant, trust in the leadership of the Party and State. 

The PM also answered questions regarding the construction of coastal roads in localities to effectively tap local socio-economic works such as Cat Bi airport and Hai Phong international seaport, site clearance funding in hi-tech agricultural projects, improvement of the efficiency of land management, and shortcomings in public investment law.-VNA