Regarding the contents of the Resolution, there are many opinions agreeing with the necessity of issuing the Resolution, however, there are still opinions disagreeing with the issuance of the pilot Resolution, suggesting reviewing relevant laws for comprehensive amendments. On this issue, on behalf of the National Assembly Standing Committee, Chairman of the National Assembly Economic Committee Vu Hong Thanh presented a Report explaining, accepting and revising the draft Resolution on piloting a number of specific mechanisms and policies on investment in the construction of road traffic works.
According to Chairman of the Economic Committee Vu Hong Thanh, in recent times, the State has paid attention to and devoted large resources to investing in road traffic infrastructure, but for many different reasons, the implementation is still limited and has not met the needs of socio-economic development, while investing in the synchronous and modern construction of the infrastructure system is one of the strategic breakthroughs.
In order to strive to successfully implement the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress and the 5-year socio-economic development plan for the period 2021 - 2025 of the National Assembly, it is necessary to prioritize resources and have specific policies to accelerate the construction of a modern road infrastructure system. At the same time, a number of pilot policies in the draft Resolution are inherited from policies that have been approved by the National Assembly for application in the past and have achieved positive results.
In addition, amending and supplementing legal regulations requires a lot of time to evaluate and summarize thoroughly, so given the current urgent and necessary needs, the Government's proposal to pilot specific policies on investment in road construction is reasonable. However, it is recommended that the Government, based on the implementation of this pilot Resolution if approved by the National Assembly, conduct an assessment and summary of relevant legal regulations to propose amendments.
Regarding the scope of regulation, subjects of application and criteria for selecting pilot projects (Article 1), there are opinions suggesting reviewing the scope of regulation and subjects of application of the draft Resolution. Many opinions suggest reviewing, supplementing and perfecting the principles and criteria for selecting pilot projects. Regarding this issue, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly would like to report: The Government has proposed criteria for selecting pilot projects and, based on proposals from localities, has reviewed and submitted to the National Assembly the draft Resolution and list of projects.
In addition, to effectively implement the pilot, clarify the address, scope, and application time, and avoid spreading out in accordance with the nature of the pilot, we would like to propose that the National Assembly consider and decide that the pilot only applies to projects submitted by the Government and not add to the list of pilot projects after the National Assembly votes and approves them. The Government is fully responsible for the list of projects proposed to the National Assembly.
Therefore, we would like to not stipulate the principles and criteria for selecting projects in the draft Resolution. At the same time, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly would like to remove the provisions on the subjects of application in the draft Resolution, because the provisions in Article 1 on the scope of adjustment of the regulations on specific policies on investment in road construction for the projects stated in the Appendix attached to this Resolution already include the subjects and specific addresses of the projects.
Many opinions suggested adding principles and criteria on commitment to ensure progress, coordination responsibilities of localities in compensation, support, and resettlement of projects; and project management capacity of localities. The Chairman of the Economic Committee said that according to current legal regulations, compensation, support, and resettlement for project implementation are the responsibility of localities.
In addition, this work involves many state management agencies, investors, compensation and resettlement subjects, etc. and has been specifically regulated in relevant laws. Currently, the law on construction and the law on public investment do not stipulate criteria for capacity and experience in project management of the managing agency. According to the law on construction, projects will be assigned to agencies and organizations to implement the project. Therefore, whether the progress and quality of the project meet the requirements or not depends largely on the capacity of these agencies and organizations.
Therefore, at Point b, Clause 4, Article 7 of the draft Resolution, it is stipulated that the Provincial People's Committee is assigned as the competent authority responsible for ensuring the capacity and experience of the agencies and organizations assigned to implement the project in accordance with the law on construction.
Reporting and explaining the proportion of state capital participating in investment projects under the public-private partnership model (Article 2), Chairman of the Economic Committee Vu Hong Thanh stated that Ho Chi Minh City is a special urban area, so the implementation of projects always has large compensation, support and resettlement costs, so allowing the City People's Council to consider and decide on increasing the proportion of state capital participating in PPP projects but not exceeding 70% of the total investment of the project is appropriate. However, for projects passing through difficult socio-economic areas, site clearance costs may not be high, but due to low traffic volume, if applied according to the specific mechanism for Ho Chi Minh City, the financial plan for the project will not be guaranteed. However, the Appendix attached to the Resolution clearly stipulates the maximum level for each Project. Therefore, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly would like to keep the draft Resolution as it is.
There is a proposal to increase the proportion of state capital participating in the project to no more than 70% or 80% of the total investment to ensure financial solutions for disadvantaged areas with low traffic volume that need to promote the development of road traffic infrastructure. The Standing Committee of the National Assembly would like to accept, according to the Government's report, the Prime Minister has decided on the investment policy for the proposed pilot PPP projects. In Article 2, the draft Resolution has been completed in the direction of allowing the proportion of state capital participating in the PPP project to exceed 50% of the total investment for 02 projects as prescribed in Appendix I attached to this Resolution.
Regarding the competent authority for road project investment (Article 3), Chairman of the Economic Committee Vu Hong Thanh said that according to the provisions of the Construction Law, the Ministry of Transport will appraise the basic design and total investment of projects assigned to localities as competent authorities. At the same time, the law on construction has stipulated criteria on the capacity and experience of agencies and organizations implementing the project. Incorporating the opinions of delegates, the draft Resolution has stipulated in Point b, Clause 4, Article 7 that the People's Committees of the provinces assigned as competent authorities are responsible for ensuring the capacity and experience of agencies and organizations assigned to implement the project in accordance with the law on construction.
Explaining and accepting delegates' opinions on the exploitation of minerals for common construction materials (Article 4), there are opinions suggesting to consider the scope and criteria for applying to projects that are subject to the policy on the exploitation of minerals for common construction materials to avoid widespread application that would lose the meaning of the pilot. The Standing Committee of the National Assembly would like to accept and stipulate that this policy is only allowed to be applied to national highway and expressway projects in Appendix IV attached to the draft Resolution. There are opinions suggesting to consider adding the subject of investors to which the policy on the exploitation of minerals for common construction materials is applied. The Standing Committee of the National Assembly would like to accept and revise not to stipulate the subject of investors in Article 4 of the draft Resolution.
Regarding the project using the general reserve fund of the Medium-term Public Investment Plan for the period 2021 - 2025 corresponding to the increased central budget revenue in 2022, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly would like to accept and amend the provisions at Point a, Clause 1, Article 5 as follows: "The capital source and the remaining capital compared to the estimated total investment of the project shall be arranged from other legal capital sources"; amend the provisions at Clause 2, Article 5 as follows: "The additional State capital in the total investment of the Project shall be arranged from other legal capital sources". Clause 7, Article 7 stipulates that "The Government is responsible for the capital source and the remaining capital in the total investment of the project specified at Point a, Clause 1 and Clause 2, Article 5 of this Resolution; summarize and report to the National Assembly at the nearest session after the projects have their investment policies approved".
At the same time, it is recommended that the Government report to the National Assembly for consideration and decision at the next session on the amount of capital to be arranged in the Medium-term Public Investment Plan for the period 2026 - 2030 for the project's investment policy and the specific rate exceeding the provisions in Clause 2, Article 89 of the Law on Public Investment and associated with the content of the Government reporting to the National Assembly on the addition of VND 63,725 billion of the State budget revenue increase in 2022 to the Medium-term Public Investment Plan for the period 2021 - 2025 corresponding to the general reserve of the Medium-term Public Investment Plan for the period 2021 - 2025. The Government needs to report to the competent authority before submitting these contents to the National Assembly for consideration on the budget and supplementing the Medium-term Public Investment Plan for the period 2021 - 2025...
Regarding the effective date (Article 8), some opinions suggested clearly defining the effective date of the Resolution; considering and reviewing the appropriate time for summarizing the Resolution, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly would like to accept and revise Article 8 of the draft Resolution in the direction that this Resolution takes effect from the date of adoption and is implemented until June 30, 2025. Provisions in Clause 1, Article 7 on the Government summarizing the implementation of the Resolution and reporting to the National Assembly at the end of 2025 session.
Source
Comment (0)