WORDS ON THE STREET 70th anniversary of Hanoi's Liberation Day Vietnam - Asia 2023 Smart City Summit Hanoi celebrates 15 years of administrative boundary adjustment 12th Vietnam-France decentrialized cooperation conference 31st Sea Games - Vietnam 2021 Covid-19 Pandemic
Jul 21, 2017 / 10:07

Create opportunities to attract PPP investment

The Government Office has just announced the conclusion of the Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Ding, Head of the Steering Committee on investment in the form of public-private partnership (PPP).

The announcement clearly states that the investment model in the form of Build – Operate - Transfer (BOT) in Vietnam was initiated 20 years ago in accordance to the Resolution no. 77/CP on June 18, 1997. Until now, the resolution has been amended and revised many times to conform with the PPP model of international standards. However, during the process of imposing PPP projects, there are some difficulties including: the influence of related laws such as the State Budget Law, Investment Law, Public Investment Law, Enterprise Law, Land Law, Construction Law, etc.; the ambiguity between PPP and the concept of “socialization” of investment; the inappropriate articles in Resolution no. 15/2015/ND-CP and Resolution no. 30/2015/ND-CP; lack of investment; etc. In particularly, the capability of some investors is still lacking, both in finance and experience. 
 

As a result, in order to facilitate the development of the socio-economic environment of the nation, many policies need to be revised and amended, creating opportunities for investment and forming harmony between different forces. Ministries, departments and agencies need to restructure and put the public and nation’s benefits ahead of them, solving any existing problems such as corruption, lobbying, group benefits, etc. 

With regard to the direction to modify Resolution no. 15/2015/ND-CP and no. 30/2015/ND-CP, the Deputy Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Planning and Investment to gather opinions from other ministries, localities and delegates. It is expected that by August 2017, the Ministry of Planning and Investment will submit the two amended documents to the Ministry of Justice for appraisal and finally to the Government. 

In addition, the management should consider the output approach. Competent agencies need to publicize demands for constructions and public services so that investors can get access to information equally. Furthermore, investors balance their own resources including equity, market interest rates, acceptable returns, risks, etc. to choose to participate in bidding. Investors and project enterprises have to collect fees based on the quality of provided services. At the same time, they have to take responsibility for the quality of constructions and projects that relate to their benefits during the operation process. 

Moreover, the responsibility and decentralization process of governmental systems need to be facilitated, from the investment decision, force stabilization, project examination, etc. Every step needs to conform to the regulations of contract and the legal policies. 

Ministries, departments and agencies have to prioritize the budget to support project with PPP investment capability. Only after not being able to bid can investors consider public investment. The process to choose investors can be shortened, but still needs to be transparent and effective. 

The Deputy Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Planning and Investment to take charge of and collaborate with other ministries and departments to strengthen the preparation procedures for prioritized projects of the Professional Development Fund (PDF). 
Ministries, departments and People’s Committee at province level need to make an investment plan and continue to examine solutions to attract investment on the basis of market and transparency. 

The Deputy Prime Minister also assigned the State Bank of Vietnam to cooperate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance to evaluate the demand for credit fund of PPP projects in the upcoming period, proposing some possible solutions to organize funding. 

The Ministry of Finance collaborate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the State Bank of Vietnam and the Ministry of Transport to research guarantee mechanism for pilot application of various important PPP transport projects. The draft on using the investment funding of the State for PPP projects will have to submitted to the Prime Minister in October 2017.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment directs other ministries, departments and agencies to update information on the national bidding network system and the PPP website to better support communication platform on PPP. 

During the process, if there are any difficulties and problems, the ministries and departments need to report to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, thus communicating with the Steering Committee for consideration and settlement promptly.