Timely removal of difficulties in planning, investment and bidding

Discussing in groups, the majority of delegates agreed on the necessity of promulgating a Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Planning, the Law on Investment, the Law on Investment under the public-private partnership model and the Law on Bidding, stating that the development of the Law will promptly remove urgent difficulties and obstacles in institutions, simplify administrative procedures and promote decentralization and delegation of power in these four areas.

Delegate Nguyen Manh Hung (Can Tho City delegation) spoke at the discussion session at the group on October 30. (Photo: THUY NGUYEN)

Establishment of Investment Support Fund is necessary

Giving comments on the content of the amendment to the Investment Law, delegate Nguyen Manh Hung (Can Tho city delegation) was interested in the content on the establishment of Investment Support Fund.

Accordingly, draft 1 law amending 4 laws stipulates: The Government establishes an Investment Support Fund from the state budget and other legal sources of revenue to attract strategic investors, multinational corporations and support domestic enterprises in a number of investment incentive industries and professions.

The Investment Support Fund is a national fund assigned to the Ministry of Planning and Investment for management; it operates not for profit, not for the purpose of preserving the Fund's financial resources. The Fund is under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, operates under the model of a public service unit and according to separate regulations on organization and operating mechanism prescribed by the Government.

Delegate Hung said that at the 6th Session at the end of 2023, the National Assembly passed a Resolution to apply global minimum tax From 2024 and in the Resolution of the Session, the National Assembly assigned the Government to develop a draft Decree on the establishment, management and use of the Investment Support Fund from global minimum tax revenue to stabilize the investment environment, attract strategic investors and attract investment in a number of areas that need encouragement.

However, according to the delegate, the draft law amending 4 laws does not clearly stipulate the legal status of the Fund. "Even though it is assigned to the Government, what if it exceeds the Government's authority? The operating mechanism is currently regulated at the principle level, it would be better if it was regulated more clearly."

Also supporting the proposal for the Investment Support Fund, National Assembly delegate, Venerable Thich Duc Thien (Dien Bien delegation) said that the establishment of this Fund is extremely necessary to retain strategic investors who have invested in Vietnam and invite large enterprises to Vietnam, attracting investment in high-tech fields.

“Wherever businesses go, they pay great attention to investment incentives. Investment incentives also take advantage of FDI enterprises’ resources and take advantage of science and technology to develop the country,” said Venerable Thich Duc Thien.

Affirming that the Investment Support Fund is very necessary, delegates proposed to specify the operating mechanism of this Fund and especially the Fund's spending mechanism must be really fast to take advantage of opportunities to attract and invite investment.

There should be no detailed regulations on projects to which special investment procedures are applied.

Another notable new point when amending the Investment Law this time is that the Government proposes to apply special investment procedures to a number of investment projects in industrial parks, export processing zones, high-tech zones and functional areas in economic zones.

Projects subject to special investment procedures include: projects to build innovation centers, research and development (R&D) centers; investment projects in the field of semiconductor integrated circuit industry, design technology, manufacturing of components, integrated electronic circuits (IC), flexible electronics (PE), chips, semiconductor materials; projects in the high-tech field that are prioritized and encouraged for investment according to the Prime Minister's decision.

Scene of a group discussion session on October 30. (Photo: THUY NGUYEN)

Projects applying special investment procedures do not have to carry out investment policy approval procedures; appraisal procedures or have opinions on technology according to the provisions of law on technology transfer.

With this project, the investor is not required to prepare, appraise and approve an environmental impact assessment report in accordance with the provisions of the law on environmental protection; but must carry out the procedures for granting an Environmental License in accordance with the provisions of the law on environmental protection.

Investment projects with construction components are exempted from Construction Permits, do not have to prepare or approve detailed construction plans, and do not have to carry out procedures to obtain permits, approvals, consents, permits, confirmations and other requirements in the fields of construction, fire prevention and fighting.

Delegate Nguyen Manh Hung expressed his high agreement with the design of special investment procedures to shorten project implementation time and attract investors. Furthermore, this mechanism is included in a series of specific Resolutions for some localities.

However, the delegation of Can Tho city is concerned about the regulations in the draft. “We are innovating the way of thinking in law-making, the law stipulates the framework and principles, but here we are listing the fields that enjoy special incentives. We propose that the Government specify the projects that are subject to special investment procedures, because technology changes every day, while the law only stipulates the framework of fields that apply this procedure,” delegate Nguyen Manh Hung commented.

Also related to the content of the amendment to the Investment Law, delegate Thach Phuoc Binh (Tra Vinh delegation) said that decentralizing the authority to grant special investment certificates to the Management Board of industrial parks, export processing zones, high-tech zones and economic zones is a reasonable direction, helping to shorten the process, reduce the burden on higher levels, creating favorable conditions for project implementation.

However, according to the delegate, this regulation needs to be accompanied by specific criteria on the capacity and resources of each Management Board to ensure the ability to perform its tasks. Along with that, the delegate suggested that it is necessary to supplement clear sanctions on the responsibilities of the Management Board for projects of large scale and complexity, in order to ensure transparency and avoid lax management.

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