Earlier this week, the National Assembly discussed the implementation result of the socioeconomic development plan for 2023 and the projected socioeconomic development plan for 2024, in addition to other important topics.

In his speech, delegate Nguyen Ngoc Son from Hai Duong province elevated his stance on nutrition security along with agricultural restructuring.

According to Nguyen Ngoc Son, Vietnam has implemented national policies to enhance nutrient conditions in addition to food security policies.

"Such as Directive No.46 of the Prime Minister on enhancing nutrition works on new situations to ensure proper nutrition for the improvement of nutrition conditions for each object, locality, area, ethnics, contributing to mitigating illness burden, enhance lifespan, population quality, stature, physics and intelligence of Vietnamese people", Hai Duong delegate spoke at the National Assembly's Q&A session. In light of this, he observed that the Government's session report contained few references to this issue.

Practical research reveals that Vietnam is currently facing a nutritional burden, with a particular concern being the low undernutrition rate in children under 5 years old at 19.6%, particularly in mountainous regions where it reaches 38%.

The delegate reported that the incidence of overweight and obesity in children is significantly increasing in urban areas and major cities, exceeding 40%. In addition, there is a high prevalence of nutritional deficiencies, with fifty percent of children lacking zinc, over twenty percent suffering from anemia, and a deficiency of vitamin A at the community health level.

In addition, there is an increasing incidence of metabolic disorders related to nutrition, including heart disease, diabetes, and excessive blood pressure. The prevalence of malnutrition among the elderly and the risk of malnutrition in the community are both 57.9%, whereas the prevalence of malnutrition in hospitals is 64.7%.

"In actuality, our country is still focusing on improving and attaining food security objectives. However, keeping up with global trends and making nutritional security the foundation for promoting food security is exceedingly necessary," emphasized Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Son.

Consequently, addressing the issue of nutritional security is a future objective that will guide the restructuring of the agriculture sector, resulting in changes to the structure of agricultural production based on the comparative advantages of each region and ecological agricultural sub-regions. This will satisfy the nutritional demands of the domestic and international markets, as well as the nutritional needs of society.

Therefore, the delegates recommend that the government promptly evaluate and appraise the national nutrition strategy, leading to the research and development of nutritional security policies and legal regulations. To address health, hygiene, and agricultural policies in Vietnam, it is necessary to establish a Nutrition Law that is compatible with local conditions.

Prior to this, when evaluating the socioeconomic situation in 2023, this delegate believes that the situation continues to show positive indications of recovery, with basic macroeconomic stability, manageable public debt, and basic social welfare and sustenance for the people.

"The agriculture sector is experiencing stable development, emphasizing environmental protection, promoting afforestation, selling carbon certificates for the first time, and developing green bonds, demonstrating responsibility to the international community and aiming to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050," Nguyen Ngoc Son told the National Assembly.

Concerning credit growth and non-performing loans on the domestic market, Delegate Nguyen Ngoc Son reported that as of October 11, 2023, credit growth had reached 6.29 percent compared to 2022, which is slower than the same period the previous year. The ratio of domestic non-performing loans is higher than the set target.

However, the report does not specify the development of credit in each sector. Cases where credit growth is concentrated in real estate during this period will lead to an increase in non-performing loans. This is due to an oversupply of real estate, a stagnant real estate market, and a decrease in confidence in the real estate market.

In light of this reality, the delegate suggests that the government analyze and elucidate this issue, consider loosening lending conditions cautiously, and implement solutions to eliminate business and production bottlenecks. This will significantly increase growth factors and regulate credit in sectors with potential risk.