Development partners support Vietnam to develop the PPP Law

The overall action plan for the PPP program in Vietnam is long-term, which yields to significant support and commitments from development partners for the development of the PPP Law in Vietnam. These efforts, when realized, open great room for attracting private investment, especially from international investors, in the development of infrastructure in Vietnam in the form of PPP in a proper and interest-harmonious way.

The first high-level PPP development partnership dialogue in Vietnam is the initiative of the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) in order to create a forum, and connect ministries, departments and localities of Vietnam with representatives of development partners to discuss PPP policies; cooperate and promote the implementation of PPP programs and projects; avoid overlaps and duplication in the support of development partners.

At the Dialogue, the Deputy Minister Vu Dai Thang said that MPI as the standing body of the Government’s PPP Steering Committee made great efforts to improve policies on PPP to attract private investment in infrastructure more effectively. However, during the implementation of the Government’s decrees on investment in the PPP form, there were many obstacles that did not create an attractive environment and flexible investment modes and favorable conditions for investors, especially foreign investors to join the Government agencies during the implementation of key national infrastructure projects.

Therefore, in order to further improve the legality, the National Assembly assigned the Government to develop the PPP Law (expected from 2018 – 2020) to express Vietnam’s determination on removing legal difficulties and limitations related to this form. In addition to improving the legal framework, specific supports for the implementation of PPP projects were of great importance in the upcoming time.

Speaking at the Dialogue, Ousmane Dione, Country Director of the WB in Vietnam said that the PPP cooperation was an important issue for the development of Vietnam. MPI put great effort to enable such the significant agenda for Vietnam. Over the world, PPP was the successful model of many governments to attract investment in infrastructure, benefiting socio-economic development. The PPP framework has become more and more important when governments had to deal with fiscal difficulties. To ensure the success of PPP, it should be considered as a long-term partnership, which required sharing benefits and risks between public and private sector. In particular, sharing risks was vital, along with reasonable resource allocation to ensure fair competition, best control project risks and benefit both sides.

Ousmane Dione asserted the importance of the participation of the private sector. WB was willing to support Vietnam to promote PPP programs and attract international investors. The Vietnamese government has put great efforts to attract PPP projects, yet slowly. Therefore, the development of the PPP Law was a brilliant initiative. Besides the development of the Law, the enforcement was of significance. So was the development and cooperation for the overall action plan for PPP programs. If the PPP Law was well-designed, it would open great opportunities for PPP projects in Vietnam.

Apart from WB, at the Dialogue, representatives of other development partners such as ADB, Keximbank, AFD, JICA, JBIC, USAID, etc. also expressed their consensus to support Vietnam during the development of the PPP Law, as well as the law enforcement.