There will be a national strategy on rare earths.

Minister Tran Duc Thang said that the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment is presiding over the development of a national strategy on rare earths, to be submitted to competent authorities for promulgation in early 2026.

On the morning of December 1, at the plenary discussion session of the National Assembly, Minister of Agriculture and Environment Tran Duc Thang, on behalf of the drafting agency, sent thanks to National Assembly deputies for their attention, support and "heartfelt and responsible" comments on the draft laws presented at this session.

According to the drafting agency, many opinions are highly practical and will be seriously absorbed to complete the draft before submitting it to the National Assembly for consideration and approval, especially contents related to the consistency of the legal system, transitional regulations and detailed guidance documents.

The Minister said that at the group and hall discussion sessions, many issues raised by delegates could be updated immediately in the draft law; other contents will continue to be compiled during the process of drafting sub-law documents.

Minister Tran Duc Thang spoke to clarify some opinions of National Assembly deputies. Photo: Nhu Y.

Clarifying the scope of regulation of two draft laws

Some delegates suggested considering adding more regulations that are stuck in addition to the identified bottlenecks. Regarding this content, Minister Tran Duc Thang said:

Regarding the draft Law on Geology and Minerals, the new law will be issued in 2024 and is expected to take effect from July 1, 2025. This revision focuses mainly on urgent shortcomings affecting key national programs and projects, as well as strategies on management, exploitation and use of rare earth resources.

Other problems will continue to be reviewed and studied based on the delegates' comments. "Many opinions are completely valid and need to be accepted, even though the law has not yet come into effect," Minister Tran Duc Thang emphasized.

Clarifying many specific contents that delegates were interested in, Minister Tran Duc Thang informed that delegates focused on discussing solutions to speed up the exploitation of material groups No. 3 and No. 4 to serve key national projects, while still ensuring environmental protection requirements and preventing policy abuse.

Regarding the licensing mechanism for mineral exploitation for public works and key projects, some opinions suggested considering the scope of subjects to which the special mechanism is applied and the licensing authority, avoiding excessive expansion.

On behalf of the drafting agency, Minister Tran Duc Thang said: The special regulations only apply to expansion and lowering of mine bottoms in operating mines, without requiring additional planning; new mines must still comply with the planning; the licensing of exploitation of groups 3 and 4 is not based on the radioactive geological management plan, but must still ensure requirements on national defense, security, environment and infrastructure.

Mining organizations and individuals must also explore and evaluate mineral quality; ensure technical safety; and compile statistics and inventory output to limit risks and avoid wasting resources.

There will be a national strategy on rare earths.

Rare earth management was the focus of the parliament when many delegates such as Dieu Huynh Sang, Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, Trinh Thi Thu Anh, Pham Van Hoang... requested clarification of the strategy for managing this special resource.

According to the Minister, Vietnam possesses huge rare earth potential, with reserves ranking second and third in the world , distributed in 21 provinces and cities. The Ministry has conducted a complete basic survey of rare earth areas, strictly managed them and is developing a National Strategy on rare earth minerals, expected to be issued in early 2026.

After identifying areas with rare earths, the key task is to effectively exploit these resources, form a deep processing value chain, and minimize the export of raw materials.

The draft law has separated the content on rare earth into a separate chapter, and at the same time added sanctions and principles for the Government to specify in sub-law documents.

Minister Tran Duc Thang said that the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment is presiding over the development of a national strategy on rare earths, to be submitted to competent authorities for promulgation in early 2026. Photo: Nhu Y.

Criteria for delimiting areas where exploitation rights are not auctioned

Many delegates commented on the criteria for determining areas where mineral exploitation rights are not auctioned. Regarding this content, the draft law has established criteria to: ensure a stable source of raw materials for important and urgent projects; support deep processing projects with large capital, with a wide impact on socio-economic development.

Minister Tran Duc Thang gave an example that for cement factories, investors have to spend a lot of money to build the factory, so auctioning the raw material mines will not be feasible. Therefore, the law assigns the Government to specify this criterion in detail, with inter-sectoral coordination between the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Public Security and localities. The assessment factors include: market demand, efficiency of resource use, investor capacity, environmental impact, people's livelihoods, and the ability to form a deep processing chain.

The drafting agency will fully absorb comments on the requirement for strict control to avoid loss of resources.

"We will seriously accept all opinions of delegates to complete the dossier to submit to the National Assembly," Minister Tran Duc Thang emphasized.

Source: https://nongnghiepmoitruong.vn/se-co-chien-luoc-quoc-gia-ve-dat-hiem-d787500.html