Completion of the draft decree replacing Decree No. 30/2015/ND-CP

With the aim of removing obstacles in the selection of investors for the PPP projects, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung has assigned the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) to complete the draft decree replacing the Decree No. 30/ 2015/ND-CP, scheduling to be submitted to the Prime Minister in March 2018.

The draft Decree replacing Decree No. 30/2015/ND-CP on selection of investors has received many comments from the Cabinet Members; The majority of opinions agree with the proposal of the Ministry of Planning and Investment. However, the Government's Decree should ensure that its principle does not contravene the law, so some contents needed to be studied and adjusted accordingly such as the appointment of investors; time for calculating land use and land renting fees…

One of the biggest bottlenecks in PPP implementation is the overwhelming opinions of the role of public investment in investment management. It is from the perspective of PPPs with the heavy role of public investment that leads to the burdensome investment procedures and especially the fear that implementing this unprecedented type of investment is relatively new in Vietnam.

Therefore, the revised draft Decree is expected to remove difficulties and obstacles as well as creating a more coherent legal framework for PPP.

In addition, this draft will also regulate more details on the selection of investors. Regarding the process of selection of investors for land use investment projects, the Drafting authority also made two scenarios: If only one investor is interested and meets the preliminary criteria, the approval process of investment policy will be carried out in accordance with the Investment Law. In the case of two investors, the biding process will be carried out with the rating criteria not tilted towards the highest level of land use, but towards the most effective implementation.

The draft requires that investors implementing the PPP projects must have the financial-trading capacity, ability to arrange budget and ability to implement the project along with extensive experience in similar projects. In cases of partnership, capability and experience of the investor is determined by the total capacity and experience of all partnership members, the investor leading the partnership must have a minimum capital percentage of 30%, each following partner in the partnership has a minimum capital percentage of 15% in the partnership.

The reason for this provision, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, is to bind the responsibility of investors as well as the minimum equity requirement in the partnership to avoid the situation when investors “participate only in name" but remain unclear about the financial obligations in the implementation of the project.