A ground-breaking ceremony was held at the Ba Dinh Hall in Hanoi on October 12 to start the construction of a new National Assembly building, which will be the headquarters of the top legislative agency.

Present at the ceremony were Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Deputy Prime Ministers Truong Vinh Trong and Hoang Trung Hai, Deputy Chairmen of the National Assembly Nguyen Duc Kien and Uong Chu Luu, and leaders of various ministries and central agencies.

PM Dung stressed on the need to implement the construction regulations and ensure the progress and quality of the project designed by the German architects GMP, which won first prize in recent design contest.

The new building will have seven floors, including two basements and a tunnel linked to the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2012 at an estimated cost of VND4,797 billion.

Source: VOV