On the morning of October 30, National Assembly deputies continued to discuss in groups the draft 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 (PPP) model and the Law on Bidding.
Here, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh said that in order to attract investors to difficult projects, the State's contribution must exceed the current rate of 50% and not exceed 70%.
Removing difficulties for all PPP projects in operation
Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh said that in order to attract investors to difficult projects, the State's contribution must exceed the current rate of 50% and not exceed 70%.
“If we let businesses participate in all the capital in a PPP project, we will not be able to attract anyone. For difficult projects, the State capital must account for a high proportion, and businesses only participate partially, then they will be able to do it. For difficult projects, if we want to attract investors to participate in PPP, we need to increase the State capital contribution ratio here,” the Deputy Prime Minister said.
According to the Government's Submission, since the PPP Law took effect (January 1, 2021), there have been 31 new projects being implemented and 11 projects being prepared for investment under the PPP method. These are all large-scale, key projects of the country and localities, contributing to investment in expanding and upgrading transport, socio-economic works, etc. However, the implementation of the projects is still facing many difficulties.
In general, delegates said that the PPP Law is a difficult and complicated bill, and amendments and adjustments are necessary, in line with practical requirements, to remove difficulties for businesses and obstacles for localities with related projects, thereby creating a favorable environment and promoting socio-economic development for disadvantaged regions.
Delegate Tran Van Tuan, Deputy Head of the Delegation in charge of the National Assembly Delegation of Bac Giang province, said that amending and supplementing a number of articles of the PPP Law is necessary to remove difficulties and obstacles, unblock resources, and mobilize resources. non-budgetary resources investment in various fields in the context of limited state budget resources.
In particular, through amendments and supplements, it will contribute to removing difficulties and obstacles, ensuring feasibility and harmonizing the interests of relevant parties, not only for PPP projects implemented after this Law takes effect, but also for PPP projects that have been and are being implemented, operated and exploited.
However, the 2020 PPP Law only stipulates that state capital to support the construction of works and infrastructure systems is used to support project implementation during the construction phase to increase the financial efficiency of the project (Clause 1, Article 70), but lacks provisions on support when project revenue decreases through no fault of the investor, leading to some projects facing difficulties during the operation and exploitation phase. This leads to investor confidence, making it difficult to raise capital for new projects.
“Therefore, it is necessary to study and add to the draft Law specific provisions regulating cases requiring additional state capital support for PPP project signed contracts before the effective date of this Law, including projects in the process of operation and exploitation. At the same time, the Government is assigned to specify the procedures, subjects of application, and risk-sharing mechanisms of investors and lenders when implementing in these cases," concluded delegate Tran Van Tuan.
Increase the proportion of State capital participating in PPP projects
According to Mr. Tran Hong Minh, Secretary of Cao Bang Provincial Party Committee, Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Cao Bang Province, in the upcoming revision of the PPP Law, it is necessary to make some important adjustments to create favorable conditions for investors.
This delegate proposed to abolish the regulation on the minimum investment capital scale limit for PPP projects, and at the same time, it is necessary to apply a flexible mechanism for the proportion of state capital participating in these projects.
Delegate Tran Hong Minh emphasized that there are routes and projects that do not use state capital but still attract the enthusiastic participation of investors, because they see great transport potential and the ability to quickly recover capital. However, for projects passing through economically disadvantaged areas, state participation is essential to attract investors.
“Therefore, adding the regulation that state capital participation does not exceed 70% of total investment capital is reasonable and should be included in the law to ensure the feasibility of these projects,” Mr. Tran Hong Minh pointed out.
Delegate Tran Hong Minh also said that the PPP model has the potential to mobilize resources when implemented in midland and mountainous provinces, but to promote this advantage, there needs to be closer coordination between the State and investors.
This delegate emphasized the role of the State in sharing risks with investors, because the current PPP Law does not clearly stipulate the responsibility for sharing risks, and there are no specific regulations on how the province and the central government will be responsible.
In addition, delegate Tran Hong Minh proposed to add content related to the management of state capital advances for investors in purchasing materials to prevent price inflation risks.
Finally, to improve the efficiency of investment preparation, it is necessary to shorten the two steps of pre-feasibility and feasibility studies into one part of the investment project content. This will help reduce costs, increase efficiency and speed up the implementation of projects. “At the same time, in consulting activities, there should be a flexible bidding and bidding mechanism to ensure progress and save investment costs,” Mr. Tran Hong Minh pointed out.
Source
Comment (0)