Strengthening decentralization when amending the law

On October 7, the National Assembly Standing Committee gave its opinion on the draft Law on Management and Investment of State Capital in Enterprises. The opinions assessed that this is a difficult draft law and raised the issue of amending the law in the spirit of fully concretizing the viewpoints and policies of the Party and the State...

View of the meeting. Photo: Thong Nhat/VNA

Consider amending the law in the spirit of Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress

At the meeting, Deputy Minister of Finance Cao Anh Tuan presented a summary of the draft Law. The Government's submission of the draft Law on State Capital Management and Investment in Enterprises to replace Law No. 69/2014/QH13 is necessary to implement the Party's guidelines and policies and the State's policies on improving the efficiency of management and use of state capital invested in production and business at enterprises, in response to new requirements from management practices and international integration, ensuring the consistency and unity of the legal system.

The law consists of 8 chapters and 62 articles. The draft law adjusts the scope in the direction of not specifically regulating the content of "using capital and assets at enterprises".

The use of capital and assets is regulated in the direction of "State capital investment in enterprises"; regulations on capital mobilization; purchase, sale, use of fixed assets; management of receivables and payables are assigned to enterprises to decide in order to clearly identify the State as the owner of capital investment, management according to capital contribution in enterprises, no administrative intervention in enterprise operations; strong decentralization is strengthened in conjunction with enterprise accountability.

The subjects of application of the law include state-owned enterprises as prescribed by the Law on Enterprises, credit institutions in which the state holds 50% or more of the charter capital; capital owner representative agencies, capital owner representatives and credit institutions with state investment capital; relevant agencies, organizations and individuals.

National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man assessed that this is a difficult bill, so it is necessary to consider whether this amended law has been implemented in accordance with the spirit of the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress or not?

Raising the issue of amending the law in the spirit of fully concretizing the viewpoints and policies of the Party and State on restructuring and developing state-owned enterprises with state capital.

Accordingly, the separation and clear definition of the function of the owner of state capital assets with the function of state management of all types of enterprises; the function of enterprise business administration ensures the principle that the State does not directly intervene in production, business activities, and enterprise administration. This law amendment must emphasize the enhancement of decentralization and delegation of power.

Avoid creating legal gaps

National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man said that amending and building new laws also needs to separate what content the National Assembly regulates, what content the Government and ministries and branches regulate. At the same time, it is necessary to clarify whether the provisions of the draft law have ensured consistency with legal provisions or not, especially with other related laws such as the Investment Law, Enterprise Law, and Construction Law.

Sharing the same view with the National Assembly Chairman that this is a difficult bill, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Thanh said that the draft law replaces the entire structure and approach, adjusts many specific contents, and adds many new regulations compared to Law No. 69/2014/QH13. Among them, there are many contents that are more restrictive for the operations of enterprises in which the State holds from 50% to 100% of charter capital. However, the drafting agency has not yet had a report explaining the reasons for the amendments, supplements, and replacements and assessing the impact of these amendments on the operations of enterprises, and has not yet designed all the details and transitional regulations.

According to Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Thanh, Article 2 of the draft law stipulates that the subjects of application include enterprises in which the State holds from over 50% to under 100% of charter capital, which is inappropriate. Therefore, the drafting agency needs to study and consider adding this subject to ensure coverage of cases with State investment capital; closely manage, inspect, and monitor State resources in enterprises, avoid the risk of loss, waste, and avoid creating legal gaps.

Source