Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyễn Chí Dũng

HÀ NỘI — Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyễn Chí Dũng stressed that legal regulations must stimulate growth, create new opportunities, address bottlenecks, and unlock resources for the country’s advancement.

While explaining the draft of the amended Law on Public Investment at the NA's ongoing eighth session on Wednesday, Dũng emphasised that the draft reflects a shift in legislative philosophy, aiming to both regulate and foster national development.

He highlighted the need to move from a 'pre-check' to a 'post-check' approach while promoting decentralisation and empowerment.

"The National Assembly and the Government should focus on oversight, institutional improvement, investment environment enhancement, administrative simplification and reducing bureaucratic delays," he said.

Regarding the proposal to raise the threshold for national significant projects to VNĐ30 trillion, Dũng noted that the current VNĐ10 trillion standard has been unchanged since 1997.

Over the last 27 years, the economy has expanded tenfold since 2000 and 2.5 times since 2013, with an average inflation rate of three per cent per year since 2020.

Given that the law’s lifespan is expected to be around 5-10 years, he argued that raising the threshold to VNĐ20 trillion would quickly become outdated, and thus proposed raising it to VNĐ30 trillion.

From 2026 to 2030, approximately 40 projects are expected to exceed VNĐ10 trillion, with 30 of them surpassing VNĐ30 trillion. Lowering the threshold to VNĐ20 trillion would require the National Assembly to invest significant time in reviewing and approving numerous national-level projects. Increasing the investment threshold is intended to further decentralise management of public investment.

Addressing concerns about delegating authority from provincial People’s Councils to provincial People’s Committees for approving investment policies for Group B and C projects, the minister clarified that Article 17 of the current law already permits this.

From 2021 to 2025, the People’s Councils of 43 localities delegated authority to their respective People’s Committees for such projects.

Regarding the separation of land clearance as an independent stage, Dũng explained that while previously there were only two stages, including investment preparation and project implementation, this is now divided into three: investment preparation, project preparation, and project implementation.

Land clearance is now categorised within project preparation. This division allows for clear attribution of causes and accountability. While this is a significant reform, Dũng agreed with deputies on the need for strict regulations, ensuring flexibility but also robust management to prevent waste and loss.

In his closing remarks, NA Vice Chairman Nguyễn Đức Hải emphasised the importance of careful review to refine the draft law.

The NA Standing Committee will direct the review committee to work closely with drafting bodies and relevant agencies to consider feedback and finalise the draft law for submission to the NA. VNS