Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyễn Chí Dũng presents the draft law at the meeting of the 15th National Assembly on Wednesday morning. — VNA/VNS Photo Phạm Kiên

HÀ NỘI — A draft law to amend four laws was discussed at the eighth working session of the National Assembly on Wednesday morning.

The draft supplemented several articles of the Law on Planning, Law on Investment, the Law on Investment under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and the Law on Bidding.

It was presented by Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyễn Chí Dũng.

The draft stipulates that, under the Law on Planning, technical and specialised planned projects must collaborate with projects belonging to the national planning system to resolve problems that arise when higher-level planning has not been approved.

It also allows the use of public investment capital, regular expenditure sources and other legal capital sources for planning activities to create a flexible mechanism when using the State budget, along with simplifying the planning process.

NA deputy Thạch Phước Bình from Trà Vinh Province said that simplified procedures will help to solve urgent problems, but there should be specific regulations to ensure planning quality, especially for plans adjusted without going through the appraisal process.

He suggested that the draft law add more criteria for quality control for projects adjusted according to the simplified procedures.

For the Law on Investment, NA deputies applauded the amendment to decentralise the authority to grant special investment certificates to the management boards of industrial parks, export processing zones, high-tech zones and economic zones.

“It will shorten the process, reduce the burden on high-level officials and create favourable conditions for project implementation,” said NA deputy Thạch Phước Bình.

“However, this regulation needs to be accompanied by specific criteria on the capacity and resources of each management board to ensure their ability to perform,” he said.

For the Law on PPP, the draft proposed removing restrictions on investment fields and establishing the minimum capital level for PPP projects.

According to the current PPP Law, only five fields are eligible for investment and the minimum capital required is VNĐ100 billion (US$3.9 million) for projects in healthcare and education/training, and VNĐ200 billion ($7.9 million) for others.

NA deputies said expanding the PPP investment fields and abolishing the minimum scale will incentivise the private sector to assist the State in solving societal problems and tasks.

However, the scope of eligible investment fields should be clarified for cities where the draft law will be piloted such as Hà Nội, HCM City and Đà Nẵng.

The draft also proposed that capital contribution from the State should be higher than 50 per cent – but not exceeding 70 per cent – of the total investment for projects with site clearance costs exceeding 50 per cent of the total investment.

This rate should also be applied to projects implemented in difficult socio-economic areas and those requiring the transfer of high technology.

For the Law on Bidding, the Government proposes simplifying bidding procedures for bidding packages using official development aid (ODA) and preferential loans from donors to accelerate the signing of international treaties and foreign loan agreements.

In special cases, contractors should be assigned to packages not through bidding and the authority to make decisions on such cases should be decentralised.

The draft also amends and supplements some articles of the current Law on Bidding to remove obstacles, increase competitiveness in bidding and ensure the interests of all parties during the bidding process.

NA deputy Huỳnh Thành Chung from Bình Phước Province said he was happy that the draft law addresses the pressing problems that businesses face by simplifying procedures and promoting decentralised authority.

"I hope the draft law will soon be approved to resolve difficulties for businesses and to prepare for the next meeting of the National Assembly." — VNS