This afternoon (March 3), the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment and the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations (VUSTA) held a workshop to contribute ideas to perfect the draft Law on Railways (amended).
It is necessary to amend the Law, affirming that railways play a leading role.
Speaking at the workshop, Mr. Le Quang Huy, Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment, highly appreciated the entire process of preparation and elaborate development of the Draft Law by the drafting agency, from impact assessment, summarizing the 2017 Railway Law; researching and learning international experiences; widely collecting opinions...
Regarding the continued collection of opinions, acceptance and revision, Mr. Le Quang Huy requested the drafting agency - the Ministry of Construction (formerly the Ministry of Transport) to note some important contents for research to serve the review work.
Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment Le Quang Huy suggested that the Draft Law on Railways (amended) must clearly demonstrate the policies of the Party, State and National Assembly on railway development.
Accordingly, the viewpoint and approach is to institutionalize the Party and State's policies and guidelines on railway development policies, so it is necessary to review the inclusion in the Draft Law on the Party's policies in Resolution No. 57 of the Politburo on breakthroughs in science and technology development, innovation and national digital transformation, and Conclusion No. 49 of the Politburo on the orientation for the development of Vietnam's railway transport to 2030, with a vision to 2045.
According to Resolution No. 57, science and technology are a competitive advantage, removing barriers and bottlenecks, creating momentum, and contributing to GDP growth. According to Conclusion 49, railways are the main mode of transport.
Along with that are the National Assembly's resolutions with policies related to high-speed railway investment, urban railway development in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City...
Mr. Huy emphasized that the construction of the Law must thoroughly follow the direction of the Party, State and National Assembly leaders on the thinking of building the Law: Not only for management but also for serving creation, development, and clearing bottlenecks; from pre-inspection to post-inspection, risk management; concise, easy to understand, and immediately implementable. Do not get bogged down in the authority of the Government, do not include contents and regulations of decrees and circulars.
Regarding high-speed railways and urban railways, according to the Chairman of the Committee on Science, Technology and Environment, two options should be considered: Separating into chapters or sections, some separate provisions; Including general provisions on railways.
Regarding policies, attention must be paid to issues of investment in connectivity, environmental protection and climate change response, energy saving, etc.
"An important content is the TOD model, we must pay close attention to the issues of planning, finance, and management. Regarding planning, TOD must be connected to urban areas; regarding management, responsibility belongs to the central or local level; regarding finance, investment resources and post-investment revenue, sharing mechanism...
For the railway industry, there are related issues such as: research and development, human resources, market, standards, international cooperation. The railway industry is not only about locomotives and carriages but also many other contents, including digital data, digital transformation...", Mr. Huy noted.
At the workshop, experts and scientists all agreed that it is necessary to amend the Railway Law to facilitate railway development. Railways must play the role of the main mode of transport due to its advantages: transporting large volumes, long distances, safety, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and protecting the environment. The Railway Law (amended) must soon be put into practice to meet the needs of transport and socio-economic development.
Giving opinions on the Draft Law, experts said that it is necessary to have an innovative mindset and approach, taking efficiency as the goal, from which there are ways to build and invest. Note the contents on international cooperation; TOD model; biological environmental impact, environmental pollution; decentralization, delegation of power, authority, and responsibility of localities; protection and ensuring railway safety...
Former Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Dang Huy Dong said that we must prioritize output results, from which we design the draft. Regarding the development of urban, industrial and export processing zones, creating economic hubs along the railway corridor, there must be railway connections and railways must be the main mode of transport because they transport large volumes, reduce emissions and reduce costs.
"This is an opportunity for us to redraw the country's economic corridor, making the economy more effective," Mr. Huy said and suggested that the drafting agency take maximum mechanisms and policies from the Capital Law, from the National Assembly's resolution on urban railway development in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, reflected in the Draft Law on Railways (amended).
According to Associate Professor Dr. Hoang Ha, Vice President of the Vietnam Bridge and Road Science and Technology Association, the Draft Law must regulate the fields of high-speed railways and modern urban railways, especially investment issues, safety control, and human resources issues...
Creating new momentum for railway development
Mr. Tran Thien Canh, Director of the Vietnam Railway Authority, said that during the process of drafting the Law, the presiding agency surveyed domestic and foreign railway types and assessed the affected subjects, from the Vietnam Railway Corporation, specialized railway companies, project management boards, and urban railway management companies. Thereby, it received opinions from units on difficulties and wishes when formulating policies. Up to now, the affected subjects all agree with the Draft Law.
On the other hand, through review and assessment, there is no conflict with more than 40 Laws related to railways.
The Railway Law has been amended and supplemented to create new momentum for railway development (Photo: Ta Hai).
Furthermore, through learning from foreign experiences from countries such as Korea and through assessments by the World Bank, organizations from Italy and Australia through technical support in the railway sector, all stated: The 2017 Railway Law is advanced, separating between State management and enterprises, separating between infrastructure and transportation... Therefore, the Draft Railway Law (amended) inherits the 2017 Railway Law and updates new policies of the National Assembly resolutions on investment in the North-South high-speed railway, Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong railway, and urban railway.
"The draft law has been appraised by the Ministry of Justice and the Government Standing Committee has basically agreed. Representatives of the drafting agency will absorb the opinions at today's workshop and continue to exchange information to contribute to the development of a complete and practical Railway Law (amended)," said Mr. Canh.
Specifically regarding the Draft Law, Mr. Canh said that the development and promulgation of the Railway Law (amended) is necessary to continue institutionalizing the Party and State's policies and guidelines on railway development; overcoming existing institutional shortcomings and inadequacies, creating new momentum for the development of the railway industry, promoting the competitiveness of railway transport, and serving the travel needs of the people.
The draft Law has been reviewed and redesigned and consists of 8 Chapters and 70 Articles. The content focuses on 5 important and breakthrough innovations to create a legal corridor for railway development in terms of: Infrastructure development; infrastructure management and exploitation; railway transport activities; connection; industrial and human resource development. At the same time, the entire draft Law has been reviewed and revised.
In particular, the Draft Law has added regulations to mobilize maximum local resources as well as other economic sectors to participate in investing in the construction of railway infrastructure. In particular, there are regulations on encouraging all organizations and individuals to participate in investing in the development of railway infrastructure through many forms of contracts (BT, BOT, BTO, BLT, BTL...) and regulations on exploiting land funds in the vicinity of railway stations.
Amending and supplementing a number of regulations on incentives and support in railway operations; Amending and supplementing regulations clearly defining the responsibilities of entities in investing in the construction of national railways, local railways, and specialized railways.
Amending and supplementing regulations on organizations assigned to manage state-invested railway infrastructure assets to perform railway infrastructure maintenance; Regulations on leasing and transferring for a limited period the right to exploit state-invested railway infrastructure assets.
Regarding the connection of transport modes, additional requirements are required when investing in railway construction to ensure synchronous and effective connection with other transport modes, including connection to airports, large seaports, and traffic hubs.
Regarding the development of railway industry and human resources, supplement the provisions on a number of railway industrial products in the List of high technologies prioritized for investment and development according to the provisions of the law on high technology; Railway construction investment projects and railway industrial works with bidding packages organized for international bidding must have conditions binding foreign contractors to transfer technology and train human resources for Vietnamese partners to master the management, operation, exploitation, maintenance and gradually master the technology.
Contractors and investors in railway construction investment projects and projects to purchase and build new locomotives and carriages must prioritize the use of products, goods and services that can be produced and supplied domestically in order to create conditions to attract maximum investment resources and develop the railway industry, thereby creating a large enough market to contribute to the development of supporting industries...
Clarifying TOD development model in railwaysSource: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/sua-luat-tao-dong-luc-phat-trien-duong-sat-192250303201737094.htm
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