Amending the law to unlock resources for the economy

Many policy groups have been proposed for amendment to remove difficulties and obstacles in the preparation, appraisal, implementation, and disbursement of projects using public investment capital.

Construction of Ha Giang – Tuyen Quang Expressway. Photo: Minh Anh

Solving difficulties from the "root" by amending the law

The Ministry of Planning and Investment is urgently, quickly, and focused on completing the dossier to propose the development of two draft laws assigned by the Government, namely the Law on Public Investment (amended) and One Law amending 4 laws. Of these two draft laws, the Law on Public Investment is receiving the most attention.

“We have made initial proposals on amending the Law on Public Investment. Of these, the three important contents that we are seeking opinions from relevant agencies are promoting decentralization and delegation of authority in conjunction with the responsibility of the head; increasing the scale of important national projects and planning to design a separate chapter for ODA,” said Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Quoc Phuong.

In fact, since the Public Investment Law No. 39/2019/QH14 was passed by the National Assembly on June 13, 2019 and took effect from January 1, 2020, along with the management efforts of the Government and localities, the disbursement of public investment capital has been significantly improved, and the quality of public investment has been raised to a new level.

However, the implementation of the 2019 Public Investment Law has revealed a number of difficulties and problems, affecting the implementation and disbursement of projects using public investment capital.

For example, decentralization and delegation of power are not thorough; some procedures and processes still have to be submitted and reported through many levels, causing time loss and affecting the progress of implementing the medium-term public investment plan; some contents are still overlapping, not specifically regulated or there are many ways to understand the same content, causing confusion for ministries, agencies and localities in implementation...

“The process of monitoring the implementation and disbursement of public investment projects shows that not everything can be blamed on the Public Investment Law. The biggest problem now is in the compensation and site clearance stages, then the issue of authority to adjust and bid for project implementation… Recently, the story of project preparation has emerged. A project that is only prepared in a short time cannot be good, it must be carefully prepared for the implementation progress to be fast,” said Mr. Nguyen Huu Toan, Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly’s Finance and Budget Committee.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has also repeatedly asked why, with the same institutional and policy framework, some places have good disbursement while others do not. And the answer is due to “implementation”.

However, amending the Law on Public Investment is extremely necessary and important to perfect the mechanisms and policies related to public investment, in order to optimize and enhance the efficiency of using public investment capital. This is even more important when in the current context, public investment is playing an increasingly important role, being one of the main growth drivers of the economy, helping to stabilize the macro economy, control inflation, ensure major balances, create jobs for people and businesses, ensure social security and in the long term, contribute to continuing to perfect the economic - social infrastructure system serving development...

Unlocking resources for the economy

There is a story that has been emphasized many times by Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung, that is the issue of public investment is "first", not "where is the money". According to the Minister, to increase feasibility, speed up the implementation of public investment projects, it is necessary to prepare the project early, from afar, prepare the project very well...

We need to change our thinking, change our vision, change our methods of management and governance. We must put the interests of national development first and foremost. How to develop the country, liberate, mobilize and use resources effectively. Seize opportunities, even the smallest ones, to develop the country.

– Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung

Perhaps that is why, in the groups of policies proposed to be amended in the Law on Public Investment, simplification, reduction of procedures and improving the quality of project investment preparation are emphasized. Along with that, there are also groups of policies aimed at institutionalizing and concretizing the policies of the Politburo and the Central Executive Committee; as well as legalizing specific pilot policies that the National Assembly has allowed to be applied in the past...

For example, allowing land clearance to be separated into independent projects, simplifying the process and procedures for medium-term and annual public investment planning... ODA projects are also proposed to cut down on the order and procedures for proposal and approval...

According to Mr. Nguyen Duc Tam, Director of the Department of National Economic Synthesis (Ministry of Planning and Investment), shortening the time and process of investment procedures will significantly contribute to speeding up the implementation of public investment projects.

When public investment projects are quickly implemented, it will contribute significantly to unlocking resources for the economy and promoting growth. This is also one of the reasons why, in addition to amending the Law on Public Investment, the Ministry of Planning and Investment - after receiving instructions from the Prime Minister - quickly started to develop a 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 model and the Law on Bidding (One law amending four laws).

In recent days, the Ministry of Planning and Investment has been focusing on completing the dossier to speed up the process, with the participation of relevant agencies. The Ministry has established drafting committees to quickly review and identify groups of contents that need to be amended in the laws, especially those with many urgent problems that need to be resolved to remove bottlenecks, promote growth, control inflation and stabilize the macro economy in the current context.

On the afternoon of August 20, right after his working trip to China, Minister Nguyen Chi Dung went to work with members of the Drafting Committee assigned to complete the documents proposing the development of two draft laws. According to the Minister, one of the key issues in amending current draft laws is to help clear bottlenecks and free up resources for the economy.

“Currently, we have many bottlenecks and bottlenecks, especially in terms of institutions and social governance thinking, which have not kept up with development. Therefore, we are forced to change to meet development requirements,” the Minister said, emphasizing that this law-making process must be considered a real revolution, innovation and institutional reform.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/sua-luat-de-khoi-thong-nguon-luc-cho-nen-kinh-te-d223037.html