Amending Resolution No. 98/2023/QH15: Creating a breakthrough mechanism for the development of Ho Chi Minh City

On the afternoon of December 3, continuing the 10th Session, National Assembly deputies listened to the presentation and verification report on the draft Resolution of the National Assembly amending and supplementing a number of articles of Resolution No. 98/2023/QH15 on piloting a number of specific mechanisms and policies for the development of Ho Chi Minh City.

This is an important step to perfect the legal basis, creating new momentum and breakthroughs for Ho Chi Minh City to develop, worthy of its role as the economic locomotive of the whole country.

Presenting the Government's Proposal, Deputy Prime Minister Bui Thanh Son stated that the amendment and supplementation of Resolution 98 is based on a solid political , legal and practical basis, based on the development orientation of Ho Chi Minh City in the resolutions and conclusions of the Politburo, especially after the merger, the City has been significantly expanded in terms of area, population size and development space.

Deputy Prime Minister Bui Thanh Son. (Photo: DUY LINH)

However, to successfully achieve development goals, especially the double-digit growth target in the next 5 years, Ho Chi Minh City needs an additional 1.8 million billion VND. Existing resources only meet about 30% of the total capital needs of society. Therefore, adding breakthrough solutions, surpassing the law in Resolution 98 is extremely urgent to attract investment resources, immediately resolve bottlenecks, and unblock resources.

Proposal to establish Ho Chi Minh City Free Trade Zone

Regarding the basic contents, Deputy Prime Minister Bui Thanh Son said that the draft Resolution amends and supplements 6 articles (Articles 1, 4, 6, 7, 11, 12) and adds a new article, Article 7a, to Resolution No. 98, with policies focusing on 4 main groups of issues.

Payment for railway projects: Allowing the People's Council of Ho Chi Minh City to use the local budget to pay compensation and support resettlement of the station area, railway and surrounding areas to create a land fund for comparison or payment to investors implementing the railway under the BT (build - transfer) contract.

Exploiting TOD land fund: Allows the City to use 100% of revenue from TOD land fund (urban development oriented towards public transport) to directly invest in local railway projects and transport projects on TOD routes.

Decentralization of authority: Decentralize to the City People's Committee to decide on investment in construction combining housing, commercial services at stations, train maintenance areas, and areas near traffic intersections; decide on technical economic indicators, land use planning indicators in these areas that are different from national technical standards.

Streamlining procedures: Expanding the scope of application of special investment procedures to all projects in functional zones (industrial parks, export processing zones, high-tech zones...) to shorten administrative procedures.

View of the meeting. (Photo: DUY LINH)

Regarding the establishment of the Free Trade Zone, the draft Resolution supplements Article 7a stipulating a complete legal framework for the Free Trade Zone model in Ho Chi Minh City, similar to the mechanisms applied to Hai Phong and Da Nang. At the same time, it grants the authority to the City People's Committee to decide on the establishment, expansion and adjustment of the boundaries of the Free Trade Zone, considering this as a local adjustment of the master plan.

Regarding land recovery, the draft Resolution expands the authority to recover land to serve socio-economic development, for national and public interests; adds cases of land recovery including projects in Free Trade Zones and projects to attract strategic investors in Con Dao.

Regarding attracting strategic investors, expanding the list of priority industries to attract strategic investors, focusing on large-scale projects, leading in the development of transport infrastructure, urban areas, tourism, culture - sports, healthcare, clean energy, logistics, environmental protection and investment projects in Con Dao area.

In addition, the draft Resolution adds corporate income tax incentives for infrastructure projects in particularly difficult areas and incentives for research and development activities. It allows competent authorities to simultaneously approve investment policies and investors if only one investor meets the conditions.

Consider carefully the provisions on land recovery in the draft Resolution.

Presenting the review report, Chairman of the Economic and Financial Committee Phan Van Mai said that the Committee and the Standing Committee of the National Assembly basically agreed with the policy of amending and supplementing Resolution 98 to take advantage of development opportunities of Ho Chi Minh City. However, he requested clarification of some contents.

The Economic and Financial Committee noted that the proposed scope of the draft Resolution is still wide and spread out, with many provisions overlapping with current legal provisions and other draft laws and resolutions being submitted to the National Assembly. At the same time, some contents have a direct impact on the state budget, land management, public assets and people's lives, requiring the drafting agency to carefully review and evaluate for completion.

The Economic and Financial Committee raised a number of specific issues for consideration, such as the urban development model according to TOD. Regarding the payment regulations for BT contracts, the majority of the Committee's opinions found that the additional content on payment for railway project investors applying the BT contract type has a narrower scope or overlaps with current regulations and may limit the initiative of localities. It is recommended that the drafting agency clarify this narrowing of scope.

Chairman of the Economic and Financial Committee Phan Van Mai. (Photo: DUY LINH)

Regarding the combined use of land, the examining agency basically agrees with allowing the combination of housing construction and commercial services in the station area and TOD intersection to exploit land funds and increase budget revenue. However, the current land law does not allow the combination of land used for public purposes with housing purposes. It is recommended to review and propose amendments for nationwide application to ensure consistency.

With the retention of 100% of TOD revenue stipulated in the Railway Law and the use of local budgets under the authority of the People's Council, it is recommended to consider not stipulating this content in the draft Resolution to avoid duplication.

Regarding land acquisition, the Committee finds that adding cases of land acquisition beyond those specified in the Land Law is a sensitive and complicated issue, directly related to the rights and legitimate interests of land users. Therefore, it is recommended that this policy be carefully considered.

Chairman of the Economic and Financial Committee Phan Van Mai suggested that the drafting agency continue to review and research, only propose a list of really necessary projects, prioritize attracting large-scale projects, using high and advanced technology and having a large and positive impact on the socio-economic development of the City and solving urgent local problems.

Regarding the establishment of the Free Trade Zone, the Economic and Financial Committee and the Standing Committee of the National Assembly agencies agreed with the establishment of the Free Trade Zone in Ho Chi Minh City. Regarding the specific mechanisms and policies for the Free Trade Zone, the Committee basically agreed with the mechanisms and policies that have been prescribed to apply to the Hai Phong City Free Trade Zone.

Literature

Source: https://nhandan.vn/sua-doi-nghi-quyet-so-982023qh15-tao-co-che-dot-pha-phat-trien-thanh-pho-ho-chi-minh-post927676.html