Delegates have not yet agreed to propose the General Confederation of Labor to build social housing.

Some delegates agreed with the proposal of the General Confederation of Labor to build social housing, but many people said that this was not suitable for the requirement of separating State management functions from production and business.

On the afternoon of October 26, the National Assembly discussed a number of controversial contents of the draft Law on Housing (amended).

Previously, the Government and the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor proposed that the General Confederation be the governing body to invest in the project of building social housing for rent, using trade union financial capital. On behalf of the National Assembly Standing Committee, presenting a report on receiving and explaining the opinions of delegates at the previous session, Chairman of the Law Committee Hoang Thanh Tung said that due to many different opinions, the draft submitted this time proposed two options for delegates to discuss.

Option one, the General Confederation is the governing body investing in social housing projects for rent, limiting the scope to improve feasibility. Option two is that the General Confederation reports to the National Assembly for consideration and decision to pilot this policy for a certain period of time, if it is effective, it will be stipulated in the Law.

Delegate Nguyen Quoc Luan (Deputy Head of Yen Bai Delegation) agreed with option 1 that the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor is the managing agency for the social housing investment project using only trade union financial resources. The houses will be for workers and laborers who enjoy social housing rental policies.

According to Mr. Luan, in the context of limited state resources and enterprises not being interested in investing in social housing, this is necessary, promoting social development resources in accordance with the policies of the Party and the State. The participation of the General Confederation also increases investment resources, helping workers improve their living, working and living conditions, ensuring social security.

However, Yen Bai province delegates suggested solutions to balance resources to ensure the feasibility of investment projects because these are rental housing projects with large investment capital but long payback periods. At the same time, the authorities need to amend and supplement relevant regulations in a number of laws, creating a synchronous legal basis for the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor to implement.

"I propose that the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor have reasonable mechanisms and policies to manage and implement investment and rental of social housing to improve efficiency and avoid loss and waste of investment resources," said Mr. Luan.

Sharing the same opinion, delegate Be Minh Duc (Deputy Head of Cao Bang Delegation) said option 1 is reasonable and the State needs to create a mechanism for the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor to continue to promote its role and demonstrate its strengths in attracting and gathering workers.

Workers' housing area at Hoa Cam Industrial Park in Da Nang city. Photo: Van Dong — Workers' housing area at Hoa Cam Industrial Park in Da Nang city. Photo: *Van Dong*

Delegate Nguyen Hai Dung (Deputy Head of the Nam Dinh Provincial Delegation) said that the reason why the General Confederation of Labor built social housing to attract union members to join the union was unreasonable. When organizations representing workers are formed (outside the General Confederation of Labor), they can use more attractive material tools to attract union members to their organization, such as renting houses at lower prices.

"When this situation occurs, it is clear that the tools and measures we have put forward in this Housing Law will lose their effectiveness. I propose choosing option 2, which does not stipulate that the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor is the governing body for the construction of social housing," said Mr. Dung.

Delegate Hoang Van Cuong (Vice Principal of the National Economics University) analyzed that the Trade Union is the representative voice of the workers. If it becomes the investor, when there is a problem with the house, who will be the representative of the workers to speak up? "I agree that the Trade Union can invest in housing for workers, but only in model projects to serve as an example and for the Trade Union to have a basis for comparison and to have a voice with other forces," said Mr. Cuong.

Vice President of the Dong Thap Province Bar Association Pham Van Hoa said that the current capital of the General Confederation of Labor is only over 30,000 billion VND. This amount is not enough to build housing for workers and needs support from the budget, but the law stipulates that only existing capital can be used. Therefore, he suggested that the drafting committee study it carefully.

Delegate To Van Tam (Standing member of the Law Committee) said that according to current law, the construction of houses for sale, rent, and hire-purchase belongs to economic organizations with business registration licenses operating in the housing sector. Assigning a State agency or socio-political organization to be the investor of a social housing project is not in line with the requirement of separating the State, socio-political management function from the production and business function. "This content needs to be carefully considered and not included in the law," said Mr. Tam.

Delegate To Van Tam (Standing member of the Law Committee) spoke on the afternoon of October 26. Photo: National Assembly Media — Delegate To Van Tam (Standing member of the Law Committee) spoke on the afternoon of October 26. Photo: *National Assembly Media*

Explaining, Chairman of the Law Committee Hoang Thanh Tung said that the Committee supports the General Confederation of Labor in performing its role to take care of the legitimate rights and interests of workers, especially in terms of social security. The Committee will take into account opinions, and if there are regulations on this issue, it will propose synchronous amendments to the Land Law and the Real Estate Business Law; strict regulations so that the General Confederation of Labor has a basis for implementation.

According to the 2014 Housing Law, the subjects developing social housing include the state; enterprises, cooperatives; households, individuals, and not the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor. The National Assembly will vote and pass the draft Housing Law (amended) on November 27.

Son Ha

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