Law on Public Investment amended

(MPI) - On November 6, 2024, continuing the program of the 8th Session of the 15th National Assembly, the National Assembly discussed in the hall the draft Law on Public Investment (amended). According to the program, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung will explain and clarify a number of issues raised by National Assembly deputies.

Overview of the discussion session. Photo: quochoi.vn

According to the Government's Submission presented by Minister Nguyen Chi Dung to the National Assembly on October 29, 2024, the Draft Law on Public Investment (amended) consists of 07 Chapters and 109 Articles (amending 44 articles, of which 16 articles only amend and supplement wording to clearly define, create consistency and synchronization in implementation, without changing the policy content compared to the 2019 Law on Public Investment; adding 15 articles; abolishing 07 articles).

The revised content of the Law on Public Investment has fully and comprehensively specified 05 major policy groups, deeply demonstrating the spirit of breakthrough, reform, decentralization, and delegation of power of the Party Central Committee, the Politburo , the National Assembly, and the Government according to the motto "locality decides, locality does, locality is responsible", the Central Committee, the National Assembly, and the Government play the role of creating, strengthening institutional improvement and inspection and supervision; ensuring clear people, clear work, clear responsibilities, clear results; cutting down and simplifying administrative procedures, not allowing responsibility to be passed on, avoiding creating a "request-grant" mechanism...

05 major policy groups in the proposal dossier for the draft Law on Public Investment (amended), including: policy group on institutionalizing pilot and specific mechanisms and policies that have been allowed to be applied by the National Assembly; policy group on continuing to promote decentralization and delegation of power; policy group on improving the quality of investment preparation, resource exploitation, and capacity to implement public investment projects of localities and state-owned enterprises; policy group on promoting the implementation and disbursement of ODA capital plans and preferential loans from foreign donors (foreign capital); policy group on simplifying procedures; supplementing and clarifying concepts, terms, and regulations, ensuring consistency and uniformity of the legal system.

In particular, the policy group continues to promote decentralization and delegation of power. Accordingly, the main contents of amendments and supplements include: Decentralization of authority to adjust the medium-term public investment plan of the central budget (NSTW) between ministries, central and local agencies from the National Assembly Standing Committee to the Prime Minister; Decentralization of authority to decide on the use of the central budget reserve, unallocated NSTW capital in the medium-term public investment plan from the National Assembly to the National Assembly Standing Committee.

Increase the scale of public investment capital: of national key projects from 30,000 billion VND or more; of group A, group B and group C projects with a scale twice that of current regulations.

Decentralize authority to the heads of ministries and central agencies to decide on investment policies for group A projects managed by their agencies and organizations with capital scale of less than VND 10,000 billion; group A projects from VND 10,000 billion to VND 30,000 billion are under the authority of the Prime Minister.

Decentralize authority to People's Committees at all levels to decide on investment policies for group B and group C projects under their management.

Decentralize authority to People's Committees at all levels to adjust medium-term public investment plans for local budget capital under their management.

Decentralize the authority to extend the time for allocating central government capital from the Prime Minister to the level deciding on investment policies; local budget capital from the provincial People's Council to the Chairman of the People's Committee at all levels.

Accordingly, for NSTW capital, group A, group B and group C projects with total investment of less than VND 10,000 billion will have their capital allocation period extended for no more than 01 year, and group A projects from VND 10,000 billion to VND 30,000 billion will have their capital allocation period extended for no more than 02 years. In addition to the above period, the Prime Minister decides to extend the NSTW capital allocation period.

Decentralize the authority to extend the implementation time and disbursement of local budget capital plans from the Provincial People's Council to the Chairmen of the People's Committees at all levels.

This draft Law also designs a separate chapter on promoting the implementation and disbursement of ODA capital plans and preferential loans from foreign donors (foreign capital), in which it adds provisions on allowing the disbursement of foreign capital plans from the central budget and re-lending capital plans from local budgets to be disbursed in accordance with the provisions of the law on public debt management, regardless of the allocation and re-lending rates.

Speaking at the group discussion session on this Law project, Minister Nguyen Chi Dung said that the presiding agency has closely coordinated with ministries, branches, localities, and agencies of the National Assembly in the process of developing the Law and if it is passed at this session with major decisions and changes, it will help prepare a new medium-term public investment plan; it will be a very strong breakthrough.

At the same time, it is affirmed that this draft Law innovates management thinking from pre-control to post-control, from management to development creation; ensuring clear people, clear work, clear responsibilities for easy inspection, urging, supervision, evaluation, meeting the requirements of management and use of public investment resources to implement three strategic breakthroughs, especially infrastructure breakthroughs in the new situation./.

Tung Linh

Ministry of Planning and Investment

Source: https://www.mpi.gov.vn/portal/Pages/2024-11-6/Luat-Dau-tu-cong-sua-doitx0fts.aspx