NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan speaks at the closing ceremony of the year-end National Assembly session on November 17, 2020. (Photo: quochoi.vn)

Deputies spent a large amount of time in the 19-day sitting discussing socio-economic development, the State budget and mid-term investment plans, said NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis, 2020, which is the last year in the 14th NA’s five-year term, was “still a successful year and records bright spots in COVID-19 prevention, control and economic recovery”, she said.

“The Vietnamese NA has completed the chairmanship of the 2020 ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) and successfully organised AIPA’s 41st General Assembly in the form of a teleconference, which was highly appreciated by other ASEAN member states and partners,” Ms. Ngan said.

Vietnam’s good performance as AIPA Chair, ASEAN Chair and as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council have elevated the country's status and prestige, she said.

Before the closing session, the NA deputies adopted the long-debated amended Law on Environment Protection.

The newly-approved revised law includes charging garbage collection and treatment fees based on the amount of waste people dump, with waste measured by weight or size. It means the more waste dumped, the more polluters have to pay. The law also aims to encourage sorting garbage at source and promote the circular economy.