Our long-standing GBA board member Dr. Oliver Massmann, Partner at Duane Morris Vietnam LCC, is sharing the most relevant legal updates with you.
- Amended chemical law reduces administrative procedures
- NA deputies debate amended draft laws to facilitate investment, production, business
- Impose additional tax on owners of multiple properties: lawmakers
- New regulations on foreign indirect investment in Vietnam drafted
1. Amended chemical law reduces administrative procedures
Some highlines are as below:
- The draft of the law was released by a representative of the Department of Chemicals, Ministry of Industry and Trade at a workshop on the amended law and a strategy for the development of Vietnam’s chemical industry, held in Hanoi on October 28.
- The draft of the amended law stipulates 12 groups of administrative procedures, including four new groups and six groups of amended and supplemented administrative procedures. Meanwhile, the draft has two groups of unchanged administrative procedures and nine groups of existing administrative procedures which will be abolished.
- Deputy Director of the Department of Chemicals – Ministry of Industry and Trade Phạm Huy Nam Sơn, said the Law on Chemicals was effective from July 1, 2008, creating an official and unified legal corridor for chemical production, trading and using activities.
- Amending this law is necessary, aiming to ensure the synchronisation and unity of the legal system, to overcome some shortcomings of the existing law and to be suitable for international commitments that Việt Nam participates in.
- The industry had a lot of potential to develop, but it was still below what could be achieved, so amending the chemical law was necessary to promote its development in the future.
2. NA deputies debate amended draft laws to facilitate investment, production, business
Some highlines are as below:
- Lawmakers continue their debate on the draft Law on Public Investment (amended) as part of the 15th National Assembly (NA)’s ongoing eighth session in Hanoi on November 6.
- The draft law has been hailed by ministries, sectors, localities, international organizations, and foreign donors, particularly in terms of fundamentally addressing existing issues, limitations, and bottlenecks arising in the implementation of the 2019 Law on Public Investment.
- The regulations on the decentralization and delegation of authority ensure clarity in roles, tasks, and responsibilities, making it easier to monitor, supervise, and evaluate the work, meeting the requirements for managing and using public investment resources to implement the three strategic breakthroughs, particularly in infrastructure development.
- According to Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung, the major policy groups specified include institutionalizing mechanisms and pilot and specific policies that have been authorized by the NA; promoting decentralization and delegation of authority; improving the quality of investment preparation, resources, and ability mobilization to implement public investment projects of localities and State-owned enterprises; promoting the implementation and disbursement of official development assistance (ODA) funding and concessional loans from foreign donors (foreign capital); and simplifying procedures, and adding and clarifying concepts, terms, and regulations to ensure the consistency and coherence of the legal system.
3. Impose additional tax on owners of multiple properties: lawmakers
Some highlines are as below:
- Lawmakers have proposed introducing a tax policy targeting individuals who own multiple properties or leave them idle
- Such policy will foster a sustainable property market, according to a proposal of the Supervising Committee of the National Assembly which was being discussed Monday. The property market for years has seen a disparity between supply and demand.
- The apartment market has seen prices shooting up and exceeding the ability to pay of the average homebuyer. There is an oversupply of mid- and high-end products and shortage of affordable homes.
- Most localities have failed to achieve their social housing construction quota. Hanoi has built 9% of target while HCMC has completed 19%. Many projects have been stuck in acquiring licenses, resulting in the delay in launching new projects.
- The government has been discussing imposing more home taxes in the last 15 years to reduce speculation but no decision has been made.
4. Investors seek stable renewables policies
Some highlines are as below:
- Several investors in Vietnam are seeking updates to the current legal system to remove problems for their renewable energy projects, with projects stalling and contractors quitting due to delays.
- The draft amended Law on Electricity (LoE) has been presented to the National Assembly (NA) for review during its current session. The draft includes nine chapters and 119 articles, focusing on key areas such as ensuring national energy security, encouraging renewable energy development, fostering competitive electricity markets, and improving safety regulations for electricity usage and infrastructure.
- TravelDuring discussions on the draft law, NA deputies underscored the importance of synchronising regulations with other laws, particularly those related to renewable energy and ensuring the new legislation is clear, practical and adaptable to global trends in the electricity sector.
- Do Duc Chien, an expert of the Electricity and Renewable Energy Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, stated that several new regulations were supplemented to promote the development of renewable energy and electricity.
- This supplementation is a step forward to institutionalise policies that include mechanisms to encourage clean energy sources to replace fossil energy. The draft also aims to reduce net emissions to zero by 2050, in line with the national plan.