No higher capital level for projects needing NA approval

Up to 90.7% of National Assembly (NA) deputies passed the revised Law on Public Investment during their ongoing seventh session in Hanoi today, June 13. Under the current regulations, State-funded projects that cost VND10 trillion or above must be presented to the NA for approval.

According to Chairman of the NA’s Committee on Finance and Budget Nguyen Duc Hai, the deputies agreed to maintain the current criteria on project classification, which define that a major national project is one that costs VND10 trillion (US$427 million) or higher. The rule means the NA has the power to approve huge projects.

Earlier, in a draft law presented to legislators at the sixth session in late 2018, the Government had proposed that the level be raised to VND35 trillion so that it could directly plan and execute projects with lower investment capital. The Government had explained that the large amount of work involved would reduce the productivity of the legislature as there are only two sessions each year.

At the ongoing sitting, the Government proposed the level be revised up to VND20 trillion to speed up work on big projects, but the proposal was met with opposition from lawmakers. During their discussions, many deputies said they were in charge of supervising large-scale projects.

In addition, deputies rejected the proposal that the portfolio of the medium-term public investment plan should be subject to Government approval. According to a report from the NA Standing Committee, neither of the two solutions presented by the Government, mandated to either the Government or the NA Standing Committee, had received a majority of votes.

The Government had previously proposed a draft law on public investment that would give it the authority to approve medium-term public investment projects. It said the bill aims to reduce the NA’s workload.

The NA deputies adopted the revised Law on Tax Management today, with 91.32% of votes.