The Investment Law (amended) needs to be designed in the direction of strengthening post-audit.

Photo caption — National Assembly delegations from Ninh Binh and Quang Tri provinces discuss in groups. Photo: Doan Tan/VNA

Promoting investment in innovative startups

Commenting on the Draft Law on Investment (amended), delegate Ha Sy Dong ( Quang Tri ) said that the new Draft Law is only at a general level, not clearly defining the competent authority, procedures, criteria and scope of support, leading to difficulties in practical application. Changing the law for reasons of national defense, security, order, social safety, social ethics, public health or environmental protection is necessary to ensure national interests, but can also directly affect the legitimate rights and interests of investors.

Therefore, the delegate suggested that the Drafting Committee consider detailing this clause or assign it to the Government . Thus, the addition of regulations on support mechanisms and procedures, criteria for determining the level of damage and responsibilities of management agencies will ensure the transparency and feasibility of the policy; at the same time, clearly demonstrate the State's commitment to protecting the legitimate rights and interests of investors, in accordance with the principle of the rule of law and international commitments on investment protection.

Regarding incentives and special investment support (Article 18) for large-scale technology and innovation projects, delegates said that the capital scale threshold set is very high compared to the capacity of most Vietnamese enterprises. Specifically, the innovation center project, R&D... must have a total capital of 3,000 billion VND, disbursed 1,000 billion/3 years; the chip production project, AI data center needs 6,000 billion VND, disbursed 6,000 billion VND/5 years. In reality, only very large corporations or FDI enterprises can achieve this threshold. Many domestic startups and technology enterprises, although innovative but with small capital, will not enjoy this incentive, leading to disadvantages for domestic private investment - the group that the law aims to support.

Delegates said that it is possible to reduce the capital threshold for some high-tech projects of domestic enterprises, or add qualitative criteria (for example: technology projects with inventions and breakthrough solutions recognized by competent authorities) to enjoy special incentives even when the investment capital is not as large as that of FDI projects.

In addition, the Draft Law should stipulate that the Government can periodically review and lower capital standards for special incentives for emerging innovation sectors. This ensures that incentives do not only focus on “mega-projects”, but also support small and medium-sized enterprises and innovative startups - important drivers of the digital economy. This adjustment still maintains the goal of attracting high-impact projects, while expanding the scope of benefits for domestic private investors, promoting the comprehensive development of the innovation ecosystem.

According to delegate Ha Sy Dong, the innovative startup ecosystem in Vietnam is growing strongly with more than 4,000 startups. Innovative startups are a new driving force for economic growth, creating high-quality jobs and promoting technology transfer. In particular, in the context of Vietnam moving towards a digital economy and the Net Zero 2050 target, our country needs to continue promoting innovation, mobilizing investment resources, and creating a favorable environment for startups to develop sustainably. The State has issued a number of policies such as Resolution No. 198/2025/QH15 of the National Assembly "On a number of special mechanisms and policies for private economic development", but the new Investment Law Project does not have a separate chapter or provision on innovative startups.

Delegates believe that including the content of supporting startups in the Law will create a solid legal basis to attract and retain talents and startups to stay in Vietnam instead of going abroad. Supporting startups also means preparing medium and large-sized enterprises in the future, contributing to the budget and technological position for the country. On the other hand, startups are often pioneers in new fields (AI, green technology, etc.), if given favorable conditions to develop, it will help Vietnam catch up with global technology trends and improve national competitiveness.

Delegates suggested that the Drafting Committee consider adding a separate section on “Investing in innovative startups”; including preferential policies on tax and land, support for financial access, testing mechanisms, etc.

Design towards enhanced post-control

Commenting on conditional business lines in Article 7 of the Draft Law, delegate Nguyen Van Quan (Can Tho) suggested that the design should be in the direction of announcing business conditions, or the decree should be specific on this issue. That is, the State and the Government should announce business conditions and investment conditions so that enterprises only need to register and have a commitment to send to the competent authority, without having to ask for permission or license.

According to the delegate, the advantage of this is first of all to eliminate the mechanism of asking for permission; increase the responsibility of enterprises. Because when announcing investment and business conditions, new enterprises will base on the conditions, if they meet the conditions, they only need to register and announce; avoid harassment; reduce administrative procedures; reduce costs and time for enterprises, organizations and individuals.

The delegate said that recently, the procedures for granting business eligibility certificates took a lot of time. However, during the production and business process, some enterprises did not comply with and did not follow the license, did not follow the standards and criteria that the eligibility certificate had issued. According to the delegate, our post-audit role in some areas has been weak in the past. The input of granting eligibility was done very well and very strictly, but the implementation process was still loose.

Agreeing with the view, delegate To Ai Vang (Can Tho) said that before the project starts, the State management agency should focus on building clear regulations and standards and strengthen inspection, examination and supervision during and after the project goes into operation to ensure compliance with the law, quality and safety.

The Management Boards of industrial parks and economic zones, in licensing, managing and supervising investment projects in their areas, shall review and abolish unnecessary and no longer suitable business conditions to facilitate enterprises. The remaining conditions must be publicly announced and transparent so that investors can easily learn and comply with the provisions of law; at the same time, build a national information system on investment to connect and share data between relevant agencies. This helps to monitor and manage investment projects nationwide effectively, quickly and reduce the need for investors to re-provide other documents. In addition, it is necessary to train and foster to improve the professional qualifications and public ethics of the team of civil servants working in investment management, associated with enhancing the responsibility of leaders in cutting administrative procedures...

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/thoi-su/luat-dau-tu-sua-doi-can-duoc-thiet-ke-theo-huong-tang-cuong-hau-kiem-20251111184857079.htm