Deputy Nguyễn Anh Trí from Hà Nội speaks at the NA’s discussion on  draft Law on Public-Private Partnership on Tuesday. VNA/VNS Photo Phương Hoa

HÀ NỘI — Most National Assembly (NA) deputies agreed on the need for the draft Law on Public-Private Partnership to finalise a legal framework of this type of investment and improve the effectiveness of long-term public-private partnership (PPP) projects.

The bill was one of several the NA discussed yesterday.

While saying the law should soon be line with international practices and reduce the burden on public investment, many deputies proposed additional regulations to control risks in PPP investment.

According to Deputy Nguyễn Anh Trí from Hà Nội, shortcomings have been found in PPP investment in the past few years, citing the fact that a number of projects suffered damage and loss of value after being handed over to local authorities.

He said the most important thing was to issue a law with specific terms and regulations.

To improve the efficiency of PPP investment, the Government should create favourable regulations which were not only attractive to big corporations but also individuals to pour money into supplying public services, he said.

“It is necessary to encourage people, including Party members and officials, who have idle money to invest in building works for the country,” he said.

Bắc Giang Province deputy Hà Thị Lan agreed, saying PPP investment had contributed significantly to the development of the country’s major projects.

However, no specific and strict regulations relating to this type of investment had been set. The issuance of the law on PPP was essential, she said.

Lan said the total investment of the project as stipulated in the draft Law of not lower than VNĐ 200 billion (US$8.6 million) was unreasonable and needed to be adjusted to attract domestic and foreign investors.

Risk sharing

Regarding risks in the management of PPP projects, Vũ Thị Lưu Mai, a deputy from Hà Nội, said PPP referred to voluntary economic agreements between the State and investors. Before signing the contract, investors must envision two factors - profit and risk - the greater the profit, the higher the risk.

A draft law on PPP that allowed investors to increase fees and extend the fee collection period would affect the interests of citizens, she said.

“In accordance with the draft law, the State will share 50 per cent of the risk for large-scale projects. How will it be implemented?” Mai said.

Deputy Mai also suggested the compiling committee include provisions to determine the level of risk or which agency is authorised for risk identification.

Deputy Lan from Bắc Giang said, as regulated by the draft law, the State Audit of Việt Nam (SAV) only auditing State capital in resettlement projects was not reasonable because it was very difficult to control risk during project implementation.

She said the SAV should cover projects related to public assets.

“Allowing the SAV to audit all PPP projects helps the State have more effective monitoring channels and certainly does not affect investor attraction," Lan said.

To finalise the draft law, NA deputies asked the compiling committee to review areas of investment and specify the minimum scale of investment for each field.

They also suggested revising provisions on the appointment of contractors and reviewing regulations on issuing corporate bonds and other related content. — VNS