The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) is seeking feedback on amendments and supplements to four investment-related laws, including the Law on Planning, Investment Law, Law on Investment in the Form of Public-Private Partnerships, and the Bidding Law.
Regarding the Investment Law, a new proposal in the draft is to offer special investment procedures with expedited processes and licensing within 15 days for high-tech investment projects.
The projects proposed for these special procedures include high-tech projects (research and development centers; semiconductors, chips, and new technology batteries), investments in industrial parks, export processing zones, high-tech parks, and functional areas within economic zones.
Proposed special investment procedures for high-tech projects. Photo: Trong Tai.
According to the drafting agency, attracting strategic investors in certain fields has been implemented through resolutions on experimental mechanisms and policies in some localities. However, these projects are still subject to regular investment procedures as stipulated by laws on investment, bidding, land, construction, environment, and fire protection.
In reality, the processes related to land, construction, environment, technology transfer, and fire protection can be time-consuming. Each procedure has its own requirements for dossiers, sequences, and timelines, with some procedures involving multiple steps (construction permits) and some needing to be carried out sequentially, where the output of one procedure serves as the input for the next. On average, completing all the above procedures takes between 250 and 350 days. In practice, the time required can be even longer due to delays in finalizing relevant documents and dossiers.
The MPI also proposes that projects registered under the special procedure will not have to go through the processes of obtaining permits, approvals, acceptances, clearances, and other requirements related to construction, environmental protection, technology transfer, and fire protection.
Investors are responsible for fulfilling commitments and complying with standards and technical regulations as stipulated by laws on construction, environmental protection, technology transfer, and fire protection.
In addition, the MPI proposes two new investment-related policies: delegating the authority to approve investment proposals to the provincial People’s Committees and supplementing regulations on establishing investment support funds and amending provisions on the termination of project operations.
The delegation of authority to approve investment proposals from the Prime Minister to the provincial People’s Committees is proposed for projects on constructing and trading infrastructure in industrial parks, and for projects on constructing new ports or port systems with investment capital of up to VND 2,300 billion belonging to special seaports.
Based on feedback from enterprises and comments on the amendment of the Investment Law, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) believes that these changes represent a significant breakthrough and reform in the implementation procedures for investment projects and will considerably shorten the time required for project implementation. However, these regulations are related to multiple legal documents in the fields of land, construction, technology transfer, environmental protection, and fire protection.
As the draft stipulates exemptions from relevant procedures without simultaneously amending the provisions in the legal documents on construction, technology transfer, environmental protection, and fire protection, there may be confusion and inconsistencies in implementation.
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