Nearly a year of implementing Resolution 98/2023 on developing Ho Chi Minh City: Investors suffer less thanks to special mechanisms
After nearly a year of implementing Resolution 98/2023/QH15 (Resolution 98) on piloting a number of specific mechanisms and policies for the development of Ho Chi Minh City, many investment procedures have been brought to a single window and implemented faster than before.
Significant effect
“Since the implementation of Resolution 98, the City has allowed the High-Tech Park to re-establish one-stop administrative procedures on-site, so now the procedures have been significantly shortened. Investors only need to submit one-stop documents at the High-Tech Park,” Ms. Huynh Thi Ngoc Dao, Chief of Office of the Management Board of Ho Chi Minh City High-Tech Park (SHTP) said to many businesses at a recent meeting.
Currently, implementing the specific mechanism of Resolution 98, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee authorizes the SHTP Management Board to issue environmental licenses, appraise and approve projects or adjust detailed construction planning projects 1/500 scale of investment projects in the High-Tech Park...
From the time of receiving the application at the SHTP one-stop office, businesses only need about 6 months, or even 4 months to complete the procedures. Previously, with the same application, it took 2 years to complete the procedures.
The most typical story is the project of Nipro Corporation (Japan) in the High-Tech Park. In March 2021, this enterprise submitted an application to expand the factory, but due to planning adjustments, the project still could not adjust the planning by early 2024.
After applying the specific mechanism of Resolution 98, on December 29, 2023, Nipro submitted a Submission to the SHTP Management Board for appraisal of the project to adjust the master plan at a scale of 1/500 of the Nipro Vietnam Factory Project in the High-Tech Park.
On May 24, 2024, the SHTP Management Board issued a decision approving the project to adjust the master plan at a scale of 1/500 for the Nipro Vietnam Factory Project.
Thus, the approval of the 1/500 scale planning adjustment project from the time it is transferred to the SHTP Management Board for implementation only takes a few months, while previously, the implementation by departments and branches took years.
Ms. Ho Thi Thu Uyen, Head of the SHTP Business Association, said that the issue of re-establishing the one-stop mechanism has been proposed by businesses for a long time, so they are looking forward to this administrative procedure reform. "Resolving one-stop procedures on-site is considered a key factor to attract investment to the High-Tech Park," Ms. Uyen assessed.
Similarly, the Ho Chi Minh City Export Processing and Industrial Zones Authority (Hepza) is also delegated to carry out a number of licensing procedures for enterprises under the specific mechanism of Resolution 98.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan Huong, Chief of Hepza Office, said that according to the decentralization mechanism of Resolution 98, Hepza is licensed for environmental procedures at the district level, and approves 1/500 planning in industrial parks. Thanks to the implementation of the one-stop mechanism in industrial parks, the time to process procedures has been significantly reduced compared to before.
Licensing and managing foreign workers is still stuck.
Although many procedures have become much more convenient when implemented under the mechanism of Resolution 98, one of the issues that businesses have most reported over the past year is the licensing procedure for foreign workers working in Ho Chi Minh City.
Solving one-stop procedures on the spot is considered a key factor in attracting investment to the High-Tech Park. 
- Ms. Ho Thi Thu Uyen, Head of SHTP Business Association
Citing a real story of a Singaporean enterprise, a representative of the Singapore Business Association in Vietnam said that a Singaporean enterprise in Ho Chi Minh City, when converting from a single-member company model to a joint-stock company, continued to use foreign experts and workers who had worked for the previous company. However, just because of the model conversion, the enterprise had to apply for a new license for foreign workers. "Such requirements take a lot of time for employees and investors to implement," he complained.
A representative of the Singapore Business Association suggested that to facilitate businesses, management agencies only need to update information, instead of forcing workers to redo the procedures from the beginning.
Also facing difficulties related to licensing procedures for foreign workers, a representative of the European Chamber of Commerce (EuroCham) reported that many foreign experts from Europe encountered difficulties when carrying out procedures to apply for work permits in Ho Chi Minh City.
“Having to go through too many procedures to apply for a work permit wastes time and affects European investors, while many people from Europe have worked and lived for a long time in Ho Chi Minh City,” he said.
It is known that previously, the licensing of foreign workers was carried out at the one-stop office at SHTP and Hepza. However, according to the provisions of Decree No. 70/2023/ND-CP, the licensing of foreign workers is transferred to the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs of Ho Chi Minh City, so the licensing time is longer.
Therefore, the SHTP Management Board and Hepza have sent a document requesting the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to decentralize the authority to grant licenses and manage foreign workers working in the High-Tech Park and industrial parks, to facilitate businesses when investing in the City.
Source: https://baodautu.vn/gan-mot-nam-thuc-hien-nghi-quyet-982023-phat-trien-tphcm-nha-dau-tu-bot-kho-nho-co-che-dac-thu-d219792.html
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