Vietnam to simplify investment procedures
Vietnam will empower the People's Committees of cities and provinces, and management boards of industrial parks and export processing zones nationwide to license nearly all kinds of domestic and foreign-invested projects.
Under a draft decree on guiding the implementation of the new Investment Law, taking effect in July, the committees and the boards will have the rights to either directly consider and license most of projects or indirectly license some projects which are earlier approved by the prime minister, local newspaper Youth quoted Pham Manh Dung, director of the Legal Department under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, as saying.
The prime minister is in charge of approving projects in some limited fields, including construction of airports, air transport, building and running national seaports, mineral exploration and exploration, broadcasting and television, and casino, Dung said, noting that if projects in the fields have already been listed in Vietnam's development plans, investors do not have to submit them to the prime minister for approval.
Now, the prime minister approves the construction of casinos, however, when casino investment is listed in the country's development plans in the coming time, the committees or management boards will be in charge of considering and licensing casino projects, he noted.
Now, several ministries, mainly the Ministry of Planning and Investment, are in charge of licensing projects in some specific areas, including insurance, banking and lawyers' operation.
Also under the draft decree, domestic investors can register for establishing enterprises and for investment at the same time, provided that their projects have capital of below 300 billion Vietnamese dong (nearly 18.9 million U.S. dollars). Under the prevailing rule, they must set up enterprises first, and then ask for investment licenses.
Vietnam plans to attract 30-34 billion dollars of foreign direct investment (FDI) between 2006 and 2010. Under a draft program on enticing FDI from 2006 to 2010 worked out by the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the country is anticipated to attract 22-24 billion dollars of fresh FDI and 8-10 billion dollars of additional capital of operational projects.
To this end, Vietnam will strongly encourage foreign investment in information technology, electronics, micro-electronics, biotechnology, basic technology, auxiliary industries, agro- processing, realty trading, tourism, healthcare, education and training.
Vietnam is expected to attract FDI worth 6.8 billion dollars next year, up from anticipated 6.5 billion dollars this year. Of the FDI in 2007, between 5 and 6 billion dollars is expected to be fresh investment, and the rest additional capital of operational projects, according to the ministry's Foreign Investment Department.
Vietnam attracted nearly 5.9 billion dollars worth of FDI in 2005, up 40.2 percent over 2004. As of July 20, it housed 6,427 foreign-invested projects with a total registered capital of over 54.6 billion dollars, the department said.
Xinhua - September 11, 2006.
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