VietNamNet Bridge - The 16th session of the National Assembly Standing Committee was inaugurated yesterday.

NA Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong said that during the session, the NA Standing Committee would focus on a resolution to implement a new pilot project to eliminate the People’s Councils at the district and ward levels in some provinces. People’s Councils are the legislative bodies, while People’s Committees are the administrative and executive arms of local government in Viet Nam.

According to the Government, 10 cities and provinces will be selected to implement the pilot project: Lao Cai, Vinh Phuc, Hai Phong, Nam Dinh, Quang Tri, Da Nang, Phu Yen, HCM City, Ba Ria–Vung Tau and Kien Giang, a total of 67 rural districts, 32 urban districts and 483 wards.

The Standing Committee is considering the draft amendments of the Law on Cinema and a draft of the law on representative offices of Viet Nam in foreign countries.

The committee will also discuss how to improve the NA’s Nguoi Dai Bieu Nhan Dan (People’s Representative) newspaper.

Law on Cinema

The NA Standing Committee yesterday debated the draft amendments of the Law on Cinema.

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoang Tuan Anh said the original law took effect as of January 1, 2007.

Viet Nam now has more than 40 film enterprises, mostly private.

Over the last two years, the law has created conditions to allow Vietnamese cinema to develop. However, as Viet Nam has become a member of the World Trade Organisation, some regulations in the law must be changed to comply with the organisation’s regulations.

Anh said the current Law on Cinema did not allow foreign organisations, individuals or Vietnamese abroad to establish filmmaking enterprises, but the revised law would allow these groups to co-operate with domestic film enterprises to invest in making and releasing films.

The current law states that the heads of film enterprises must be Vietnamese citizens, but the draft cancells this regulation.

Tran The Vuong, head of the NA’s Ombudsmen, said that most films shown in Viet Nam were from China, America, and South Korea. Vuong said he wondered if Vietnamese people would only be able to understand the cultures of these countries.

NA Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong and Vice Chairman Huynh Van Son said they worried about censorship in films. They said many foreign films on television were violent horror films not suitable for young people and did not fit Viet Nam’s traditional customs.  

(Source: VNS)