Following the 16th National Assembly 's approval of the amended Capital City Law, the Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee, Vu Dai Thang, gave an interview discussing the breakthroughs for the capital's development in the coming period.
Could you please outline the main contents of the amended Capital City Law, which was recently passed by the National Assembly with a very high approval rate?
First of all, on behalf of the Hanoi city government, I would like to express my gratitude for the attention and support of the Party, the National Assembly, the Government, central agencies, provinces and cities nationwide, experts, scientists , and National Assembly deputies for the successful approval of the draft Law on the Capital City (amended). The high level of consensus among National Assembly deputies demonstrates their desire for Hanoi to have special mechanisms to further develop, befitting its position and role as the capital city, leading other provinces and cities nationwide in their development.
The promulgation of the Capital City Law represents a significant political commitment from the Central Government, the city, and the entire society, with the desire to create a superior institutional framework for Hanoi to contribute to realizing the goal of building Hanoi into a "Cultural - Civilized - Modern - Happy" city that reaches regional and global standards, as set out in Resolution 02-NQ/TW dated March 17, 2026, of the Politburo on building and developing Hanoi in the new era and the Capital City Master Plan with a 100-year vision.
This revised Capital City Law is enacted with a new mindset, implementing a thorough and comprehensive decentralization and delegation of power, coupled with mechanisms for control and accountability, ensuring that the Capital City has sufficient authority, tools, and resources to proactively decide, organize, implement, and bear full responsibility for development issues. This is a major breakthrough in this revised Capital City Law.
The amended Capital City Law grants the Hanoi city government over 190 powers. So, what are the breakthroughs for the capital's development in the coming period, sir?
Some measures have implemented strong decentralization, such as autonomy in managing organizational structure and staffing, stipulating that the City People's Council is empowered to decide on staffing levels for agencies within the city's political system; allowing those directly employing civil servants to carry out recruitment, appointment, and evaluation... The city has a specific mechanism for selecting, hiring, and employing heads of public service units and state-owned enterprises.
The law also expands the authority to issue legal normative documents; stipulating that cities are allowed to issue legal normative documents to organize and guide the implementation of laws and resolutions of the National Assembly, or those not yet regulated by the Government, the Prime Minister, ministries, or ministerial-level agencies.
Along with decentralization in policy piloting, the Capital City Law (amended) also empowers the city to proactively develop pilot and experimental mechanisms for new policies or those different from current legal regulations to address institutional "bottlenecks".
Regarding the delegation of authority in the management, protection, and use of resources, the city is authorized to issue mechanisms for managing, using, and exploiting forest resources, water resources, and other resources; measures for land readjustment; measures for compensation, support, and resettlement; land allocation and leasing; and land use conversion, with the requirement to comply with the conditions and principles for land use conversion and the approved planning.
Regarding decentralization in the field of planning and construction, the city is authorized to issue mechanisms, policies, and measures for the formulation, management, and implementation of plans. The city has the autonomy to develop mechanisms, policies, and solutions for green and smart urban development, transportation-oriented development (TOD), and urban renovation, upgrading, and reconstruction.
Regarding decentralization in the financial and investment sectors, the city has autonomy in structuring budget revenue and expenditure; deciding on credit allocations and establishing financial funds to serve development investment. The city has the authority to approve large and important investment projects, apply methods for selecting investors and contractors to implement projects; and decide on forms of socialization, public-private partnerships, and new mechanisms in the exploitation of public assets, public works, and infrastructure. Along with this are new mechanisms, policies, and development models in the fields of science and technology, culture, education and training, health, and social security.
These mechanisms enable the city to innovate its governance methods, build urban spaces, and maximize the utilization of social resources for development; thereby improving the quality of life for its residents, promoting the development of the capital in various fields; and simultaneously fostering the development of localities within the Capital Region, the Red River Delta, the northern midland and mountainous regions, and the entire country.
The amended Capital City Law also includes mechanisms to attract, utilize, and develop human resources, and mechanisms to protect officials who "dare to think and dare to act" through provisions that exclude or exempt from legal responsibility those involved in drafting, promulgating, and implementing the Capital City Law in cases where there is no self-interest, and they have acted in accordance with regulations on authority, procedures, and processes in the performance of their duties, but still cause damage.
This is an important mechanism to attract and develop experts, scientists, and people with qualifications, experience, and dedication to participate in building, managing, and developing the capital city, as well as to alleviate the hesitation of officials and civil servants when implementing breakthrough policies in the Law on the Capital City.
With increased authority, along with accountability and checks and balances, what solutions will the city implement to ensure the correct, effective, and transparent application of the amended Capital City Law, sir?
The viewpoint in Resolution 02-NQ/TW is: “Strictly implement regulations on preventing and combating corruption, waste, and negative practices; practice thrift; enhance the autonomy and accountability of Party committees and governments at all levels; individualize personal responsibility; and create momentum to promote innovation and creativity...”.
The recently enacted Law on the Capital City (amended) significantly decentralizes power and authority to the capital, reflecting trust and responsibility entrusted to the city government in proactively building, managing, and developing the city. This strong decentralization also comes with the responsibility of oversight and inspection by relevant agencies, as well as accountability from all levels of city government in implementing the amended Law on the Capital City. This aims to establish a synchronized and rigorous mechanism for controlling power during the implementation of the Law. Simultaneously, the Law ensures that mechanisms and policies are applied correctly, effectively, transparently, and in line with national interests. Therefore, for the mechanisms and policies in the amended Law on the Capital City to be implemented correctly, effectively, and transparently, all levels of government, organizations, and individuals must strictly comply with the Law, its implementing guidelines, and the overall legal system.
To ensure the correct, effective, and transparent implementation of the amended Capital City Law, the city will implement the following solutions simultaneously: Firstly, clearly define the people, tasks, timelines, responsibilities, expected outcomes, and authority of the city's agencies and units in organizing the implementation of the Law.
Secondly, regularly inspect, supervise, and guide the implementation process, promptly resolving any obstacles or difficulties that arise.
Thirdly, strengthen inspection, examination, and supervision of the implementation of the provisions of the amended Capital City Law within the scope of management, and strictly handle violations and shortcomings occurring in the construction, development, and protection of the Capital City.
Fourth, strictly enforce regulations on transparency and accountability regarding land use, investment project implementation, administrative procedures, and other matters as prescribed by law, so that the people can be informed, participate in providing feedback, and monitor the implementation of the provisions of this Law.
Fifth, strictly comply with the regulations in the Law on the Capital City (amended); supervise, report, inspect, and audit by central agencies in the process of implementing the Law on the Capital City (amended) and ensure accountability of the city government.
As the capital and the national political and administrative center, how does he expect Hanoi to play a leading and influential role in implementing new mechanisms and policies to other localities when the amended Law on the Capital City is put into effect?
As the "heart of the nation," Hanoi not only enjoys special mechanisms for its own development. With the amendment of the Capital City Law, the city is being developed in a way that emphasizes not only "policy implementation" but also a higher-level "policy design" role to meet the goals, requirements, and expectations of development in the new era.
It's not enough to simply delegate specific powers and authority to the Capital; it's also necessary to empower it to issue legal regulations through a special mechanism, enabling the Capital to truly develop to the level of the continent and the international community, leading and spreading development throughout the Capital Region and the entire country.
The amended Capital City Law also stipulates that the city is allowed to pilot mechanisms and policies different from laws and resolutions of the National Assembly or not yet regulated by law, demonstrating a level of special empowerment for the capital city to create a flexible institutional space and experiment with new governance and development models. This is the basis for Hanoi to take the lead in policy innovation, meeting the requirements of rapid and sustainable development.
The amended Capital City Law allows Hanoi to pilot new policy models regarding organizational structure, civil service system, and civil servants. These include a new economic model based on science, technology, innovation, digital transformation, education and training, culture, health and healthcare, as well as models for ecological agriculture, high-tech agriculture, and urban agriculture. The law also covers models for urban and rural management, spatial planning, and sustainable development. Furthermore, it proposes methods for effectively exploiting, mobilizing, allocating, and utilizing resources for the development and governance of the Capital City.
This provides a foundation for the city to implement new models in governance and development of an advanced, modern capital based on technology and data, contributing to the efficient use of spatial resources, ensuring harmony between economic development, environmental protection, and preservation of urban identity, leveraging social resources to help realize the goal of building the capital.
The amended Capital City Law will come into effect on July 1, 2026. Some specific provisions will be applied earlier to promptly create momentum for the development of the Capital City. So, what preparations is the city making to ensure that the amended Capital City Law is quickly implemented, sir?
The Capital City Law (amended) was passed by the National Assembly and will take effect from July 1, 2026 (except for Clause 4 of Article 8 and Clause 6 of Article 36, which will take effect from the date the Capital City Law is passed). However, the Capital City Law (amended) is only a framework regulation.
To prepare for the implementation of the amended Capital City Law, Hanoi will proactively implement a comprehensive set of solutions to bring the Law into practice as soon as possible. Specifically: Firstly, the city will immediately issue plans to organize the implementation of the Law, including dissemination and training on the Capital City Law, with particular attention paid to the issuance of implementing documents ensuring the progress and quality in accordance with the spirit of the amended Capital City Law. The City People's Council will develop and organize specialized and regular sessions to consider and approve implementing documents of the amended Capital City Law, and plans for issuing documents under the authority of the City People's Committee and the Chairman of the City People's Committee, based on the principle of implementing and identifying content that is clear and can be implemented immediately; content requiring in-depth research will be implemented according to a suitable roadmap.
Secondly, the city has reviewed and identified the contents that require the issuance of detailed regulations, including policies that will continue to be implemented based on the amended Capital City Law, which inherits the provisions of the Capital City Law No. 39/2024/QH15 to ensure continuous policy implementation, as well as new policies stipulated in the amended Capital City Law.
Simultaneously, the city assigned departments and agencies to draft implementing documents for the Law in parallel with the drafting of the Capital City Law (amended). By the time the Capital City Law (amended) was passed by the National Assembly, more than 110 out of over 150 provisions granting the city the authority to regulate had been prepared. The remaining provisions granting general and long-term authority will be studied and finalized by the city in the future, in accordance with the actual development conditions of the Capital City.
Thirdly, the city has prepared financial and human resources to ensure the effective implementation of policies entrusted to the city by the Central Government as stipulated in the amended Capital City Law. In addition, the city focuses on improving the capacity of its staff, civil servants, and officials, inviting experts and scientists in the process of drafting and implementing documents, and enhancing transparency and oversight throughout the entire implementation process. In particular, it strengthens coordination among city agencies, including the City Party Committee, City People's Council, City People's Committee, and the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of the city, to ensure uniformity in the drafting, promulgation, and implementation of the amended Capital City Law and its guiding documents.
We sincerely thank Chairman of the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, Vu Dai Thang!
Source: https://baotintuc.vn/thoi-su/luat-thu-do-sua-doi-tao-dot-pha-cho-thu-do-phat-trien-manh-me-20260423160244139.htm
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