Law 57/2024/QH15 amending Planning Law, Law on Investment, Law on Investment in the Form of Public-Private Partnership and Bidding Law

LAW

Amending and Supplementing A Number of Articles of the Planning Law, Law on Investment, Law on Investment in the Form of Public-Private Partnership and Bidding Law

Pursuant to the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam;

The National Assembly hereby promulgates the Law Amending and Supplementing A Number of Articles of the Planning Law No. 21/2017/QH14, which had a number of articles amended and supplemented under Law No. 15/2023/QH15, Law No. 16/2023/QH15, Law No. 28/2023/QH15, Law No. 31/2024/QH15, Law No. 35/2024/QH15, Law No. 38/2024/QH15 and Law No. 43/2024/QH15; Law on Investment No. 61/2020/QH14, which had a number of articles amended and supplemented under Law No. 72/2020/QH14, Law No. 03/2022/QH15, Law No. 05/2022/QH15, Law No. 08/2022/QH15, Law No. 09/2022/QH15, Law No. 20/2023/QH15, Law No. 26/2023/QH15, Law No. 27/2023/QH15, Law No. 28/2023/QH15, Law No. 31/2024/QH15, Law No. 33/2024/QH15 and Law No. 43/2024/QH15; Law on Investment in the Form of Public-Private Partnership No. 64/2020/QH14, which had a number of articles amended and supplemented under Law No. 03/2022/QH15, Law No. 28/2023/QH15 and Law No. 35/2024/QH15; and Bidding Law No. 22/2023/QH15.

Article 1. To amend and supplement a number of articles of the Planning Law

1. To amend and supplement a number of clauses of Article 6 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Clause 1 as follows:

“1. The national marine space master plan or national land use master plan must conform with the national overall master plan.

In case the national marine space master plan and national land use master plan are inconsistent with one another, it shall be adjusted to suit the national overall master plan.”;

b) To amend and supplement Clause 4 as follows:

“4. A technical and specialized master plan must be inconsistent with relevant national-level, regional and provincial master plans under the Government’s regulations.”.

2. To amend and supplement Article 9 as follows:

“Article 9. Expenses for planning activities

1. Expenses for the formulation, publicization and adjustment of national-level, regional and provincial master plans shall be covered by public investment funds in accordance with the law on public investment, and other lawful funds; for national land use master plans, master plans on land use for national defense and security purposes, such expenses shall comply with the land law.

2. Expenses for the formulation, appraisal and adjustment of the tasks of formulation of national-level, regional and provincial master plans; appraisal of adjustments of, and appraisal of national-level, regional and provincial master plans; adjustment according to the shortened order and procedures of national-level, regional and provincial master plans; evaluation of national-level, regional and provincial master plans shall be funded by current expenditures under the law on the state budget.

3. Expenses for the formulation, appraisal, publicization, evaluation and adjustment of technical and specialized master plans shall be funded by current expenditures under the law on the state budget, and other lawful funds.

4. The Government shall detail this Article.”.

3. To amend and supplement Clause 2 Article 15 as follows:

“2. The competence to organize the appraisal and approval, and approve adjustments of master plan formulation tasks is prescribed as follows:

a) The Government shall appraise the tasks of formulating, and approve adjustments of, the national overall master plan, national marine space master plan and national land use master plan;

b) The Prime Minister shall appraise the tasks of formulating national sectoral master plans and regional master plans; approve the tasks of formulating, and approve adjustments of national sectoral master plans and regional and provincial master plans;

c) The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall appraise the tasks of formulating provincial master plans.”.

4. To amend and supplement a number of points and clauses of Article 16 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Points b, c and d Clause 1 as follows:

“b) The planning agency shall select planning consultancy organizations; and assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related ministries, ministerial-level agencies and localities in, studying, analyzing, evaluating and forecasting elements, conditions, resources, and development context, evaluating the country’s current situation of socio-economic development, proposing guiding viewpoints and objectives, and contents of the master plan; and submit them to related ministries, ministerial-level agencies and localities;

c) Related ministries, ministerial-level agencies and localities shall give opinions and propose contents of the master plan under their management, and send them to the planning agency;

d) The planning agency shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related ministries, ministerial-level agencies and localities in, considering and settling inter-sectoral, inter-regional and inter-provincial issues in order to ensure the consistency, synchronicity and effectiveness of the master plan;”;

b) To amend and supplement Points b, c and d Clause 3 as follows:

“b) The planning agency shall select planning consultancy organizations; and assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related ministries, ministerial-level agencies and localities in, studying, analyzing, evaluating and forecasting elements, conditions, resources, and development context, evaluating the current situation of socio-economic development in the region, proposing guiding viewpoints and objectives, and contents of the master plan; and submit them to related ministries, ministerial-level agencies and regional localities;

 c) Related ministries, ministerial-level agencies and regional localities shall give opinions and propose contents of the master plan under their management, and send them to the planning agency;

d) The planning agency shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related ministries, ministerial-level agencies and localities in, considering and settling inter-regional and inter-provincial issues in order to ensure the consistency, synchronicity and effectiveness of the master plan;”;

c) To add Clause 5 after Clause 4 as follows:

“5. The Government shall detail this Article.”.

5. To amend and supplement Clause 2 Article 20 as follows:

“2. Higher-level master plans (if any).”.

6. To amend and supplement Point n Clause 2 Article 22 as follows:

“n) List of planned national important projects;”.

7. To amend and supplement Point i Clause 2 Article 23 as follows:

“i) List of planned national important projects.”.

8. To amend and supplement a number of points and clauses of Article 25 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Point g Clause 3 as follows:

“g) List of planned national important projects and prioritized national infrastructure projects;”;

b) To amend and supplement Point d Clause 5 as follows:

“d) List of planned national important projects and prioritized environmental protection projects;”;

c) To amend and supplement the first paragraph of Clause 6 as follows:

“6. An overall master plan on biodiversity conservation must have the following major contents:”;

d) To amend and supplement Point d Clause 6 as follows:

 “d) List of planned national important projects and prioritized biodiversity conservation projects;”.

9. To amend and supplement Point g Clause 2 Article 26 as follows:

“n) List of planned priority projects of the region;”.

10. To amend and supplement a number of points of Clause 2 Article 27 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Point d as follows:

“d) Plans for development of the system of urban areas and cities; plans for development of the system of economic zones, industrial parks, export processing zones and hi-tech parks, tourist zones, physical training and sports areas, research and training quarters; plans for development of reserves, areas where historical-cultural relics, natural landscapes and inventoried relics require preservation, embellishment and restoration; plans for development of industrial clusters; plans for development of centralized agricultural production areas; determination of military and security zones; plans for development of areas with difficulties, extreme difficulties or dynamic roles;”;

b) To amend and supplement Point e as follows:

“e) A plan for development of a power supply network that consists of power development plans in the locality as defined in national-level and regional master plans, and a plan for power source and power grid development;”;

c) To amend and supplement Point h as follows:

“h) A plan for development of an irrigation and water supply and drainage system that consists of irrigation works and water supply and drainage systems in the locality as defined in national-level and regional master plans, and inter-district irrigation works and water supply and drainage systems;”;

d) To amend and supplement Point o as follows:

“n) List of the province's planned priority projects;”.

11. To amend and supplement Clause 2 Article 34 as follows:

“2. The Prime Minister may approve national sectoral master plans, regional master plans and provincial master plans.”.

12. To amend and supplement Article 45 as follows:

“Article 45. Plans on implementation of master plans

1. A plan on implementation of a master plan shall be promulgated as soon as the master plan is decided or approved.

The competence to promulgate a plan on implementation of the master plan shall comply with Articles 55 and 56 of this Law. The agency competent to promulgate a plan on implementation of the master plan may promulgate an adjustment of a plan on implementation of the master plan.

2. A plan on implementation of a master plan must comply with the decision or approval of the master plan and have the following principal contents:

a) Public investment projects;

b) Investment projects using other funding sources other than public investment funds;

c) Determination of resources and use of resources for implementing master plans.

3. The Government shall detail the dossiers, order and procedures for promulgation and adjustment of plans plans on implementation of master plans.”.

13. To amend and supplement Clause 4 Article 47 as follows:

“4. Provincial-level People’s Committees shall, within the ambit of their tasks and powers, arrange resources for implementing provincial master plans.”.

14. To amend and supplement Clause 1 Article 49 as follows:

“1. The evaluation of the implementation of master plans shall be carried out every 5 years, or on an extraordinary basis and according to the evaluation criteria prescribed by the Government.”.

15. To amend and supplement Article 51 as follows:

“Article 51. Principles of adjustment of master plans

1. A master plan shall be adjusted according to the order and procedures specified in Article 54 of this Law, when any of the grounds specified in Article 54 of this Law is available.

2. Agencies competent to decide or approve master plans shall have the power to decide or approve adjustments of such master plans, except for the cases specified at Points b and c Clause 6 Article 54a of this Law.

3. Agencies having the competence to organize the formulation of master plans shall organize the formulation of adjusted master plans.

4. The adjusted master plans may not change their objectives, except the cases specified in Clauses 1, 2, 3 and 4 Article 53 of this Law.”.

16. To add Article 54a after Article 54 of Section 3 Chapter IV as follows:

“Article 54a. Adjustment of master plans according to the shortened order and procedures

1. The adjustment of the master plan according to the shortened order and procedures must not change its viewpoints and objectives; while ensuring the connection, synchronization, inheritance and stability between the master plans.

2. A national-level, regional or provincial master plan shall be adjusted according to the shortened order and procedures when there is any of the following grounds:

a) The implementation of resolutions of the National Assembly, the National Assembly Standing Committee or the Government, on assurance of national defense, security or arrangement of administrative units, and national important projects changes one or several content(s) of the master plan;

b) The master plan is inconsistent with the higher-level master plan;

c) The master plan is inconsistent with the master plan of the same level;

d) The implementation of urgent projects and tasks changes one or several content(s) of the master plan according to Government's regulations.

3. When there is any of the grounds specified at Point b or c Clause 2 of this Article, the Government shall consider and approve the policy on adjustment of the national marine space master plan or national land use master plan.

4. When there is any of the grounds specified at Point b or c Clause 2 of this Article, the Prime Minister shall consider and approve the policy on adjustment of the national sectoral master plan, regional or provincial master plan.

5. An agency in charge of organizing the formulation of the master plan or planning agency shall formulate the dossier of adjustment of the master plan, send to relevant agencies for comments; receive comments, make explanations and complete the dossier of adjustment of the master plan, submit it to the competent authority for decision or approval of the adjustment of the master plan.

6. The competence to decide on, or approve adjustments of a master plan is prescribed as follows:

a) The National Assembly may decide on adjustments of the national overall master plan, national marine space master plan and national land use master plan;

b) Ministers assigned to organize the formulation of national sectoral master plans or regional master plans may approve the adjustments of national sectoral master plans or regional master plans and report the implementation results to the Prime Minister;

c) Provincial-level People’s Committees may approve the adjustments of provincial master plans and report the implementation results to the Prime Minister.

7. The Government shall detail Clauses 1, 2 and 5 of this Article; and prescribe the dossiers of adjustment of master plans according to the shortened order and procedures.”.

17. To amend and supplement a number of points and clauses of Article 55 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Clause 2 as follow:

“2. The Prime Minister shall promulgate policies and solutions, and arrange resources for the implementation of national sectoral master plans and regional master plans; plans for implementation of regional master plans.”;

b) To amend and supplement Point dd Clause 3 as follows:

“dd) To provide guidance on determination of expenses for planning activities of national-level, regional and provincial master plans;”;

c) To amend and supplement Point a Clause 4 as follows:

“a) To promulgate plans for implementation of national sectoral master plans; to submit to the Prime Minister for promulgation policies and solutions and arrange resources for implementation of national sectoral master plans; to submit to the Prime Minister to form the appraisal council for national sectoral master plans;”.

18. To amend and supplement Clause 1 Article 56 as follows:

“1. To promulgate plans for implementation of provincial master plans; to promulgate according to their competence or submit to competent agencies for promulgation policies and solutions and arrange resources for implementing provincial master plans;”.

19. To amend and supplement a number of serial numbers in Appendix I - List of national sectoral master plans, as follows:

a) To amend and supplement No. 26 as follows:

b) To amend and supplement No. 29, 32 and 33 as follows:

20. To amend and supplement No. 11 in Appendix II on List of technical and specialized master plans as follows:

21. To annul Clause 5 Article 5, Point dd Clause 1 and Point dd Clause 3 Article 16, Point m Clause 2 Article 27, Article 28, Clause 3 Article 47, Article 52 and No. 31 in Appendix I.

Article 2. To amend and supplement a number of articles of the Law on Investment

1. To add Clause 3a after Clause 3 Article 4 as follows:

“3a. If there are any different provisions between Article 36a of the Law on Investment and other Laws promulgated before January 15, 2025, the provisions of Article 36a the Law on Investment shall prevail.”.

2. To add Point i and Point k after Point h Clause 1 Article 6 as follows:

“t) Trading and purchase and sale of national treasures;

k) Trading and purchase and sale of national relics and antiques.”.

3. To add Article 18a after Article 18 as follows:

“Article 18a. Vietnam Fund for Investment Support

1. The Government shall establish a Vietnam Fund for Investment Support from the top-up tax revenues under the Global Anti-Base Erosion Model Rules and other lawful sources to stabilize the investment environment, encourage and attract strategic investors, multinational enterprise groups and support domestic enterprises in a number of areas requiring investment incentives.

2. The Government shall specify in detail the operating model, legal status, annual and additional budget sources for the Fund, forms of support, support reimbursement mechanisms and other specific policies of the Fund, and report to the National Assembly Standing Committee for comments before promulgation.”.

4. To amend, supplement and annul a number of points of Clause 1 Article 31 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Point d as follows:

“d) Investment projects to build new harbors or harbor areas with a total investment capital of VND 2,300 billion or more of special seaports and class-I seaports;”;

b) To amend and supplement Point g1 as follows:

g1) Investment projects compliant with the law on cultural heritages, regardless of their land area used or population accommodated, that are to be implemented in level-I protected areas of relics recognized by competent authorities as special national relics on the List of world heritages;”.

c) To annul Point h.

5. To amend and supplement a number of points of Clause 1 Article 32 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Point b1 as follows:

“b1) Investment projects compliant with the law on cultural heritages, regardless of their land area used or population accommodated, that are to be implemented in level-I and II protected areas of relics recognized by competent authorities as national relics or special national relics, except level-I protected areas of special national relics on the List of world heritages; or investment projects, regardless of their land area used or population accommodated, that are to be implemented in areas restricted from development or historical inner areas of special-grade urban centers (as identified under urban master plans);”;

b) To add Point dd and Point e after Point d as follows:

“dd) Investment projects on construction and commercial operation of infrastructure in industrial parks or export processing zones;

e) Investment projects to build new harbors or harbor areas with a total investment capital of less than VND 2,300 billion of special seaports.”.

6. To amend and supplement Point a Clause 3 Article 33 as follows:

“a) Assessment of the investment project’s conformity with national-level master plans, regional master plans, provincial master plans, urban master plans and relevant master plans of special administrative-economic units (if any);”.

7. To amend and supplement Point c Clause 6 Article 34 as follows:

“c) The investment project’s conformity with national-level strategies and master plans, regional master plans, provincial master plans, urban master plans and relevant master plans of special administrative-economic units (if any);”.

8. To add Article 36a after Article 36 of Section 2 Chapter IV as follows:

“Article 36a. Special investment procedures

1. Except for investment projects specified in Article 30 of this Law, the investors may choose to make investment registration under this Article for projects implemented in industrial parks, export processing zones, hi-tech parks, centralized information technology zones, free trade zones and functional zones within economic zones in the following sectors:

a) Investment in construction of innovation centers or research and development (R&D) centers; investment in the field of semiconductor integrated circuit industry, design technology, manufacturing of components, integrated circuits (IC), flexible electronics (PE), chips, semiconductor materials;

b) Investment in the high-tech sector prioritized for developing and manufacturing products on the list of high-tech products encouraged for development according to the Prime Minister's decision.

2. A dossier for investment registration must comprise documents specified at Points a, b, c, d, dd, g and h Article 33 of this Law, in which the written request for implementation of the investment project must include the commitment to satisfy the conditions, standards and regulations as prescribed by the law on construction, environmental protection, fire prevention and fighting; investment project proposal, including identification, forecast of environmental impacts and measures to minimize adverse environmental impacts in lieu of a preliminary environmental impact assessment.

3. Contents of dossier assessment:

a) The project’s conformity with investment sectors specified in Clause 1 of this Article;

b) The project's conformity with relevant master plans;

c) Legal status and experience of the investor;

d) Land use demand (if any);

dd) Project implementation progress;

e) Contents of the investor's commitments;

g) Investment incentives and conditions for entitlement to investment incentives (if any).

4. The registration dossier shall be sent to the management board of industrial park, export processing zone, hi-tech park or economic zone. Within 15 days after receiving the dossier, the management board of the industrial park, export processing zone, hi-tech park or economic zone shall assess and grant an investment registration certificate.

5. In case there are two or more investors proposing projects that request the State to lease land or to permit change of land use purposes in the same location, the management board of the industrial park, export processing zone, hi-tech park or economic zone shall consider and grant an investment registration certificate the investor that submitted the first valid dossier, and notify in writing to the remaining investors. In case of refusal to grant an investment registration certificate to the investor that submitted the first dossier, the management board of the industrial park, export processing zone, hi-tech park or economic zone shall carry out procedures for grant the investment registration certificate on the principle of considering dossiers of subsequent investors one after another. Foreign investors may establish an economic organization for implementation of investment projects before making investment registration.

6. The adjustment of operational objectives of investment projects shall comply with corresponding provisions of Clause 4 of this Article.

7. Investment projects registered under this Article are not required to carry out procedures for approval of investment policy, appraisal of technology, formulation of environmental impact assessment reports or detailed master plans, or grant of construction permits, and procedures for obtaining approval, consent or permit in the field of construction, fire prevention and fighting.

8. Before construction commencement, the investor shall send a notice of commencement of construction to the competent state agency in charge of construction order management in the locality and the management board of the industrial park, export processing zone, hi-tech park or economic zone, together with the following documents:

a) An economic-technical report on construction investment, which includes contents as prescribed by the law on construction, prepared, appraised and approved by the investor;

b) A report on results of appraisal of the economic-technical report on construction investment, prepared by organization or individual eligible for appraising construction safety, environmental protection, fire prevention and fighting as prescribed by law; the compliance with technical regulations and standards.

9. Investment registration certificates shall be used as a basis for land lease, land use change; performance of administrative procedures; inspection, examination, supervision, assessment and handling of administrative violations, and state management of projects.

10. The management board of the industrial park, export processing zone, hi-tech park or economic zone shall inspect, supervise and assess the implementation of the project in accordance with the law; settle according to the competence, or notify competent authorities to settle arising issues relating to the project.

11. The Minister of Planning and Investment shall formulate forms and dossiers for implementation of investment projects under this Article.

12. The Government shall detail this Article.”.

9. To amend and supplement Point dd Clause 2 Article 47 as follows:

“dd) The investor fails to properly comply with the written approval of investment policy or investment registration certificate and repeats violations even after having been administratively sanctioned, except for the case of failing to properly comply with the progress stated in the written approval of investment policy, investment registration certificate or written approval of adjustment of investment policy or modified investment registration certificate.”.

10. To add Point a1 after Point a Clause 2 Article 48 as follows:

“a1) After 24 months from the ending of the schedule of achievement of operational objectives of the investment project or the operational objectives of each stage (if any) as stated in the written approval of the investment policy, investment registration certificate or written approval of adjustment of investment policy or modified investment registration certificate, the investor still fails to complete such operational objectives and is ineligible for schedule adjustment as prescribed, except for the cases specified at Point d of this Clause;”.

11. To amend and supplement a number of serial numbers of Appendix IV - List of sectors and trades subject to conditional business investment, as follows:

a) To amend and supplement No. 50 as follows:

b) To amend and supplement No. 115, No. 193, No. 194, No. 201 and No. 202 as follows:

c) To add No. 90a, No. 90b and No. 90c after No. 90; to add No. 230, No. 231 and No. 232 after No. 229 as follows:

d) To annul No. 11.

Article 3. To amend and supplement a number of articles of the Law on Investment in the Form of Public-Private Partnership

1. To add Point e1 after Point e Clause 16 Article 3 as follows:

“e1) Build-Transfer (BTO) contract;”;

2. To amend and supplement Article 4 as follows:

“Article 4. Investment fields in the PPP form and classification of PPP projects

1. Investment projects in the PPP form are implemented in public investment sectors and fields for the purpose of investing in and constructing infrastructure facilities and systems, and providing public services and products, except for projects in the following cases:

a) Cases where the State holds monopoly as prescribed by law;

b) Projects in the national defense, security and order, social safety sectors as prescribed by the law on public investment.

2. PPP projects shall be classified based on the competence to decide on investment policy, including:

a) Projects with investment policy to be decided by the National Assembly;

b) Projects with investment policy to be decided by the Prime Minister;

c) Projects with investment policy to be decided by ministers or heads of central agencies or other agencies as specified in Clause 1 Article 5 of this Law;

d) Projects with investment policy to be decided by provincial-level People’s Councils;

dd) Projects with investment policy to be decided by provincial-level People’s Committees;

e) Projects not subject to investment policy decision, including projects prescribed in Clauses 2a, 2b and 2c Article 11 of this Law.”.

3. To amend and supplement Point b and Point c Clause 1 Article 6 as follows:

“b) Interdisciplinary appraisal councils, which shall appraise prefeasibility study reports of PPP projects with investment policy to be decided by the Prime Minister;

c) Grassroots-level appraisal councils, which shall appraise the following reports, unless the appraisal task is assigned to units attached to the competent agencies specified in Clause 3 of this Article: feasibility study reports of PPP projects with investment policy to be decided by the Prime Minister; prefeasibility study reports and feasibility study reports of PPP projects with investment policy to be decided by ministers, heads of central agencies or other agencies, or provincial-level People’s Councils, provincial-level People's Committees; feasibility study reports of PPP projects not subject to investment policy decision as prescribed in Clauses 2a, 2b and 2c Article 11 of this Law.”.

4. To amend and supplement a number of clauses of Article 11 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement the first paragraph of Clause 1 as follows:

“1. Except the case specified in Clauses 2, 2a, 2b and 2c of this Article, the process of implementation of a PPP project is as follows:”;

b) To add Clauses 2a, 2b and 2c after Clause 2 as follows:

“2a. For a PPP project not using the State capital, with the total investment amount equal to that of group-B or -C projects as prescribed by the law on public investment mentioned in Articles 70, 71 and 72 of this Law, the process of PPP project implementation shall be as follows:

a) Formulating and appraising the feasibility study report or economic-technical report on construction investment, for the PPP project subject to formulation of an economic-technical report on construction investment;

b) Approving the project, based on the feasibility study report or economic-technical report on construction investment, announcing the project;

c) Selecting investors;

d) Establishing a PPP project enterprise and signing a PPP project contract;

dd) Performing the PPP project contract.

2b. For a PPP project to be implemented under an O&M contract, the process of PPP project implementation shall be as follows:

a) Preparing and appraising a feasibility study report, approving and announcing the project;

b) Selecting investors;

c) Establishing a PPP project enterprise and signing a PPP project contract;

d) Performing the PPP project contract.

2c. For a PPP project to be implemented under a BT contract without payment requirement, the process of PPP project implementation shall be as follows:

a) The investor proposes the project, and prepares a feasibility study report and the draft contract;

b) The competent agency organizes the appraisal of feasibility study report, approves the project and draft contract;

c) Establishing a PPP project enterprise, if so proposed by the investor;

d) Signing the PPP project contract;

dd) Performing the project contract; organizing the supervision of the construction, conducting acceptance of the complete works in accordance with the law on construction as prescribed for public investment projects.

Projects specified in this Clause are not subject to investor selection under Chapter III, and are not required to implement contents relating to performance of project contracts as prescribed in Articles 53, 54, 55, 58, 59, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65 and 66 of this Law.”;

c) To amend and supplement Clause 5 as follows:

“5. The Government shall detail this Article.”.

5. To amend and supplement a number of points and clauses of Article 12 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Point a Clause 1 as follows:

“a) Using public investment funds valued at VND 30,000 billion or more;”;

b) To amend and supplement Point b Clause 2 as follows:

Projects with the total investment amount equal to that of group-A projects as prescribed by the law on public investment, using public investment funds valued at VND 10,000 billion or more, under the management of ministries or central agencies; projects to be implemented under BT contracts with payment covered by the state budget obtained after auction of land funds or public assets, for land funds and public assets managed by central authorities with original book value from VND 500 billion or more;”;

c) To amend and supplement Point d Clause 2 as follows:

“d) Projects compliant with the law on cultural heritages, regardless of their land area used or population accommodated, that are to be implemented in level-I protected areas of relics recognized by competent authorities as special national relics on the List of world heritages.”;

d) To amend and supplement Clause 3 and Clause 4; to add Clause 4a after Clause 4 as follows:

“3. The ministers or heads of central agencies or other agencies decide on investment policy for the following PPP projects:

a) Projects under the management of ministries, central agencies and other agencies, except for projects specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article;

b) Projects to be implemented under BT contracts with payment covered by the state budget obtained after auction of land funds or public assets, for land funds and public assets managed by ministries, central authorities and other agencies, with original book value of less than VND 500 billion.

4. The provincial-level People’s Councils decide on investment policy for the following PPP projects:

a) Projects under the local management with the total investment amount equal to that of group-A projects as prescribed by the law on public investment, except for projects specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article;

b) Projects specified in Clause 3 Article 5 of this Law, that are assigned to a locality by the Prime Minister, with the total investment amount equal to that of group-A projects as prescribed by the law on public investment, except for projects specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article.

4a. The provincial-level People’s Committees decide on investment policy for the following PPP projects:

a) Projects under the local management, except those specified in Clause 1, 2 and 4 of this Article;

b) Projects specified in Clause 3 Article 5 of this Law, that are assigned to a locality by the Prime Minister, with the total investment amount equal to that of group-B or -C projects as prescribed by the law on public investment;

c) Projects to be implemented under BT contracts with payment covered by the state budget obtained after auction of land funds or public assets, for land funds and public assets managed by local authorities.”.

6. To amend and supplement a number of points and clauses of Article 13 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Point c Clause 1 as follows:

“c) The State Appraisal Council appraises the prefeasibility study report;”;

b) To add Clause 4a after Clause 4 as follows:

“4a. Procedures for deciding on investment policy for a PPP project falling within the competence of a provincial-level People’s Committee:

a) The PPP project preparation unit prepares a prefeasibility study report for use as a basis for submission to the provincial-level People’s Committee for consideration and decision;

b) The grassroots-level appraisal council or unit assigned the appraisal task appraises the prefeasibility study report;

c) The grassroots-level appraisal council or unit assigned the appraisal task finalizes and sends the appraisal report to the PPP project preparation unit;

d) The PPP project preparation unit completes the dossier for submission to the provincial-level People’s Committee for consideration and decision;

dd) The provincial-level People’s Committee decides on investment policy for the project.”;

c) To annul Points d and dd Clause 2, Point c Clause 3, Point c Clause 4 of this Article.

7. To amend and supplement a number of points and clauses of Article 14 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Clause 1 as follows:

“1. Ministries, central agencies, other agencies and provincial-level People’s Committees shall select appropriate projects for implementation in the form of PPP based on the following conditions:

a) Necessity of investment;

b) Conformity with sectors and fields defined in Clause 1 Article 4 of this Law;

c) Not overlapping with a project for which investment policy decision or project approval decisions has been issued;

d) Being more advantageous than other forms of investment, based on comparable factors in terms of expenses for investment preparation; ability to attract capital, technologies, management skills from investors; ability to perform the project and contractual obligations by competent authorities;

dd) Possibility to allocate state capital in case the project needs state capital, or possibility to allocate the state budget and land fund for payment for the project to be implemented under a BT contract with payment covered by the land fund, or the project to be implemented under a BT contract with payment covered by the state budget.”;

b) To amend and supplement Points d, dd and e Clause 3 as follows:

“d) Preliminary evaluation of socio-economic benefits of the project; preliminary assessment of environmental impacts in accordance with the law on environmental protection as for a public investment project;

dd) Estimated total investment amount; preliminary evaluation of the project’s financial plan; expected use of state capital in the project (if any); expected method of payment for investors, for projects to be implemented under BTL or BLT contracts, BT contracts with payment covered by the state budget or BT contracts with payment covered by land fund, specifying the location, area and estimated value of the land fund to be used for payment;

e) Expected type of PPP project contract; forms of investment incentives and guarantees; mechanism for sharing decreased amounts in turnover (if any).”.

8. To amend and supplement a number of points and clauses of Article 19 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Clause 1 as follows:

“1. The PPP project preparation unit shall prepare a feasibility study report based on the provisions of Clause 2 of this Article. A feasibility study report may be prepared during the appraisal and approval of the investment policy, provided that the project approval must be based on the investment policy decision.”;

b) To amend and supplement the first paragraph of Clause 2 as follows:

“2. Except for the cases specified in Clauses 3 and 4 of this Article, a feasibility study report of a PPP project must have the following principal contents:”;

c) To amend and supplement Point i Clause 2 as follows:

“i) Socio-economic benefits of the project.”;

d) To add Clauses 3, 4, 5 and 6 after Clause 2 as follows:

“3. For a project to be implemented under an O&M contract, a feasibility study report of a PPP project covers the following principal contents:

a) Necessity of the project implementation; advantages of applying the O&M contract compared to other forms of investment; impacts of project implementation in the PPP form on the community within the scope of the project on the basis of assimilation of opinions from the provincial-level People’s Council, People’s Committee and Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of the locality where the project is to be implemented, and professional associations related to investment fields;

b) Objectives; location; assessment of current status of the existing infrastructure facilities and systems and machinery, equipment of the infrastructure facilities and systems;

c) Explanation of the requirements for the plan for management, operation and commercial operation of infrastructure facilities and systems; requirements for the quality of public products and services;

d) Information about the project contract, including term, risk analysis and risk management measures for the project;

dd) Forms of investment incentives and guarantees;

e) Total investment amount; the project’s financial plan; capacity to raise funds for implementation of the project;

g) Socio-economic benefits of the project.

4. For a project to be implemented under a BT contract without payment requirement, the feasibility study report shall be prepared in accordance with the law on construction and other relevant laws, ensuring the project’s satisfaction of conditions for selection of PPP projects specified at Points a, b and c Clause 1 Article 14 of this Law.

5. For a PPP project only subject to a construction investment economic-technical report, such report shall be prepared in accordance with the law on construction and provisions of Points a, e, g, h and i Clause 2 of this Article.

6. The project preparation unit shall organize the environmental impact assessment for the project subject to environmental impact assessment, or carry out procedures for applying for an environmental license under the law on environmental protection. The bid-winning investor and PPP project enterprise are not required to conduct environmental impact assessment when implementing a PPP project contract.”.

9. To amend and supplement Clause 2 and 3; to add Clause 4 after Clause 3 Article 21 as follows:

“2. The ministers or heads of central agencies or other agencies approve the following PPP projects:

a) Projects under their management as specified in Clauses 2 and 3 Article 12 of this Law;

b) Projects to be implemented under O&M contracts under their management;

c) Project to be implemented under BT contracts without payment requirements, that are proposed to be implemented in ministries, central agencies or other agencies by the investors.

3. Provincial-level People’s Committees approve the following PPP projects:

a) Projects under their management as specified in Clauses 2, 4 and 4a Article 12 of this Law;

b) Projects to be implemented under O&M contracts under their management;

c) Project to be implemented under BT contracts without payment requirements, that are proposed to be implemented in localities by the investors.

4. For PPP projects with total investment amount equal to that of group-B or -C projects as prescribed by the law on public investment, not using state capital mentioned in Articles 70, 71 and 72 of this Law, Ministers, heads of central agencies and other agencies, Chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees shall approve such projects based on feasibility study reports that are prepared and appraised under Articles 19 and 20 of this Law.”.

10. To amend and supplement Clause 2 Article 28 as follows:

“2. Based on actual conditions for implementation of each project, the competent agency shall concurrently:

a) Select the short list during the preparation of a feasibility study report based on the investment policy decision;

b) Organize to make the bidding dossiers during the project preparation specified in Chapter II of this Law, while ensuring the approval of bidding dossiers based on the decision on investment policy and decision on project approval.”.

11. To amend and supplement Clause 3 Article 42 as follows:

“3. Financial and commercial evaluation shall be based on the comparison and ranking method as stated in bidding dossiers. The comparison and ranking method shall be developed based on one, several or all of the following criteria for financial and commercial evaluation:

a) Criterion on public product and service prices and charges;

b) Criterion on state capital provided in support of construction of infrastructure facilities and systems;

c) Criterion on social interests and state interests;

d) Criterion on payment value.”.

12. To amend and supplement a number of clauses of Article 45 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement the first paragraph of Clause 1 as follows:

“1. Group of project contracts applying the mechanism of collecting charges directly from users or organizing public product and service factoring, or applying other business forms as prescribed by law, including:”;

b) To add Clause 2a and Clause 2b after Clause 2 as follows:

“2a. A BT contract means a contract signed between the competent agency and the investor, or project enterprise (if any) to build the infrastructure facilities and systems; which will be transferred to the competent agency by the investor after completion.

A BT contract may be implemented in the following forms:

a) Payment by land fund recovered in accordance with the land law, land fund managed by State agencies and organizations to implement counterpart projects. The allocation or lease of land for BT work and counterpart project implementation means the allocation or lease of land without auction of the land use rights, or bidding for selection of investors for implementing land-using projects. The order and procedures for land allocation or lease shall comply with the land law. The estimate price of the land fund for payment of the BT project shall be calculated based on the land price list available at the time of formulation of the project and bidding dossiers. The payment shall be made according to the mechanism of offsetting the difference between the value of the BT project and the value of the land fund for payment;

b) Payment by state budget from the public investment funds or state budget collected after auction of the land fund and public assets and recorded as state budget revenue and expenditure. The value of a BT project includes the total investment in construction of the work determined under the law on construction and other costs after the construction phase, including interest after the construction phase and reasonable profits of the investor;

c) Payment is not required.

2b. The Government shall detail Points a and b Clause 2a of this Article.”.

13. To amend and supplement Clause 1 and add Clause 1a after Clause 1 Article 49 as follows:

“1. Except for projects to be implemented under BT contract without payment requirement, a PPP project contract may be signed on the basis of a decision approving the investor selection result, contract negotiation result, valid bid dossiers, information on capacity of investors updated at the time of contract signing, and bidding dossier. In case a PPP project has mini-projects using public investment fund and is a three-step design type of project as prescribed by the law on construction, the competent agency shall organize the preparation, appraisal and approval of the technical design and cost estimates of the mini-project using public investment fund during the process of selecting investors, ensuring that the contract is signed on the basis of the approved technical design and cost estimates.

1a. The project contract to be implemented under the BT contract without payment requirement, shall be signed based on the decision on project approval and contract negotiation results.”.

14. To amend and supplement a number of clauses of Article 52 as follows:

a) To add Clause 2a and Clause 2b after Clause 2 as follows:

“2a. Investors and PPP project enterprises shall be entitled to a payment in cases of premature termination of contracts as follows:

a) Cases specified at Points a, b and dd Clause 2 of this Article, and project contracts determined under the payment responsibility of the agencies signing such contracts;

b) Cases specified at Point d Clause 2 of this Article due to the contract-signing agencies’ faults.

2b. Expenses for compensation, premature termination of contracts for investors and PPP project enterprises specified in Clause 2a of this Article must be audited by Audit Office of Vietnam for use s basis for payment for investors and PPP project enterprises. Contract-signing agencies, investors and PPP project enterprises may reach an agreement on hiring an independent audit firm to audit such expenses.”;

b) To amend and supplement Clause 6 and add Clause 6a after Clause 6 as follows:

“6. In case where the PPP project contract is prematurely terminated under Clause 2a of this Article, expenses for acquisition of the PPP project enterprise or expenses for compensation and contract termination shall be allocated from the state capital in accordance with the law. In case of contract termination due to the investor's fault as prescribed at Points c and d Clause 2 of this Article and the contract-signing agency and the lender are allowed to select an alternative investor, the investor shall transfer its/his/her shares or contributed capitals to the alternative investor.

6a. The use of public investment fund for compensation and premature termination of the contract shall be as follows:

a) In case where the project contract is terminated during the construction, the competent agency shall, based on the competent authority's decision as prescribed at Point b Clause 2 Article 89, Clause 2 Article 93 and Clause 3 Article 94 of this Law, make a plan on public investment fund, including costs for construction of the remaining works, and expenses for compensation and premature termination of the contract for the investor and project enterprise. The order and procedures for decision on investment policy, decision on project investment specified at this Point shall comply with the law on public investment.

In case where the competent authority decides not to continue making investment in, and construction of infrastructure facilities and systems that have not yet been completed, the competent agency shall carry out the order and procedures for payment for the investor and PPP project enterprise in accordance with Point b of this Clause;

b) In case where the project contract is terminated during the commercial operation and business, the competent agency shall, based on the competent authority's decision as prescribed at Point b Clause 2 Article 89, Clause 2 Article 93 and Clause 3 Article 94 of this Law, report to the competent authority to supplement the capital sources into the medium-term and annual public investment plan or supplement the budget estimate into the central and local budget capital plan in accordance with the law on public investment and the law on the state budget. Activities specified at this Point shall comply with the corresponding order and procedures applicable to each funding source as prescribed by the law on public investment and the law on the state budget.”.

15. To amend and supplement Clause 1 Article 57 as follows:

“1. Based on feasibility study reports and provisions of PPP project contracts, PPP project enterprises shall carry out either or several or both of the following steps:

a) Making construction designs after basic designs of infrastructure facilities and systems of PPP projects in accordance with the law on construction, except for the cases specified at Point c of this Clause;

b) Making the design of the infrastructure system of the PPP project in accordance with relevant laws for projects without construction components, except for the cases specified at Point c of this Clause;

c) For PPP projects using public investment funds that are divided into mini-projects, PPP project enterprises shall make construction designs after basic designs of infrastructure facilities and systems using the investors’ capital; make construction drawing designs of infrastructure facilities and systems of mini-projects using public investment capital based on approved technical designs;

d) For PPP projects using public investment fund in the manner of arranging for specific items, in addition to the responsibilities specified at Point a and Point b of this Clause, the PPP project enterprise shall prepare an estimate for the items using public investment fund and send it to a specialized construction agency in accordance with the provisions of the law on construction for projects with a construction component or a specialized agency in accordance with other relevant laws for projects without a construction component for appraisal.”.

16. To amend and supplement a number of points and clauses of Article 69 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Point b Clause 1 as follows:

“b) Payment to PPP project enterprises providing public products and services under BTL or BLT contracts; payment to investors and PPP project enterprises under BT contracts with payment covered by the state budget;”;

b) To amend and supplement Point d Clause 1 as follows:

“d) Payment for offsetting turnover reduction; expenses for compensation and premature termination of the contract;”;

c) To amend and supplement Clause 2; to add Clause 2a and Clause 2b after Clause 2 as follows:

“2. The ratio of state capital amount in a PPP project mentioned at Point a or c, Clause 1 of this Article must not exceed 50% of the estimated total investment amount, total investment fund of such project, except for the cases specified at Point 2a of this Article.

2a. The ratio of state capital amount in a PPP project may higher than the amount specified in Clause 2 of this Article but must not exceed 70% of the estimated total investment amount, total investment fund of such project, if the PPP project satisfies one, several or all of the following conditions:

a) The project has costs specified at Point c Clause 1 of this Article exceeding 50% of the estimated total investment amount or total investment fund;

b) The project is implemented in an area with difficult socio-economic conditions, area with especially difficult socio-economic conditions and requires the use of state capital higher than the level prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article to ensure the financial feasibility of the project;

c) The project requires the transfer of high technology, new and advanced technology from private investors and requires the use of state capital higher than the level prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article to ensure the financial feasibility of the project.

2b. In case where the project satisfies one, several or all of the conditions specified in Clause 2a of this Article, the authority competent to decide on investment policy shall decide on applying the ratio of state capital amount in a PPP project according to the following provisions:

a) For a PPP project that does not divide into component projects, the applied state capital ratio must not exceed 70% of the estimated total investment amount or total investment fund of the project;

b) For a PPP project including component projects, the state capital ratio must not exceed 70% of the estimated total investment amount or total investment fund of each component project;

c) For a PPP project divided into component projects including public investment projects and PPP projects, the state capital ratio must not exceed 70% of the estimated total investment amount or total investment fund of the PPP project. In case compensation, site clearance, support, resettlement, and support for temporary construction works are separated into an independent component project using public investment fund, the PPP component project is allowed to apply a state capital ratio of no more than 70% of the estimated total investment amount or total investment fund when meeting the conditions specified at Point b and Point c Clause 2a of this Article.”.

17. To amend and supplement Clause 4 Article 70 as follows:

“4. The state capital amounts provided as support for the construction of infrastructure facilities and systems and allocated from public investment funds shall comply with the law on public investment.”.

18. To amend and supplement a number of clauses of Article 73 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Clause 1 as follows:

“1. Expenses for project preparation by competent agencies or PPP project preparation units; expenses for organization of appraisal by PPP project appraisal councils and units assigned to appraise PPP projects; and expenses for investor selection and contract signing by competent agencies and bid solicitors shall be allocated from public investment funds, regular expenditures and other lawful funding sources and included in total investment amounts of projects.”;

b) To amend and supplement Clause 3 as follows:

“3. Expenses for project implementation after contract signing by competent agencies and contract-signing agencies shall be allocated from regular expenditures of such agencies and other lawful funding sources.”.

19. To amend and supplement Clause 3 and add Clause 3a after Clause 3 Article 82 as follows:

“3. The mechanism of sharing decreased turnover provided in Clause 2 of this Article shall be determined in investment policy decisions. Based on actual conditions of sectors and localities in terms of available conditions of each funding source and the priority level of state budget expenditure tasks in each period, the competent agency of the project shall determine the feasible funding source to pay for the reduced revenue and report to the competent authority according to the corresponding regulations for each funding source. The order of priority of funding sources as follows:

a) Annual central budget contingency funds and local budget contingency funds for development investment expenditures. The order and procedures for preparing and approving projects using annual central budget contingency funds and local budget contingency funds for development investment expenditures shall comply with the law on public investment and the law on the state budget;

b) Sources of increased revenue and expenditure savings of the central budget, sources of increased revenue and expenditure savings of the local budget for development investment expenditure. The order and procedures for preparing and approving projects using sources of increased revenue and expenditure savings specified at this Point shall comply with the law on public investment and the law on the state budget;

c) General central and local budget contingency funds of medium-term public investment plan. The order and procedures for preparing and approving projects using general central and local budget contingency funds specified at this Point shall comply with the law on public investment.

Expenses for handling the mechanism for sharing decreased amounts in turnover specified in this Clause must be specified in the project contract.

 3a. For projects with investment policy to be decided by the National Assembly, the Prime Minister, ministers, heads of central agencies and other agencies, the central budget shall be prioritized for payment for offsetting turnover reduction. For projects with the investment policy to be decided by the provincial-level People’s Councils and provincial-level People’s Committees, the local budget shall be prioritized for offsetting turnover reduction. For projects to be implemented in two provinces or more, the provincial-level People’s Committees assigned to act as the competent agencies by the Prime Minister shall agree on the responsibility of each locality in offsetting turnover reduction in the decision on the project’s investment policy.”.

20. To amend and supplement Article 86 as follows:

“Article 86. Monitoring of investment in the PPP form by state management agencies

1. The central-level state management agency in charge of investment in the PPP form shall monitor the process of PPP project implementation provided at Points a, b and c Clause 2 Article 4 of this Law and other projects as assigned by the National Assembly or Prime Minister.

2. Local-level state management agencies in charge of investment in the PPP form shall monitor the process of PPP project implementation provided at Points d, dd and e Clause 2 Article 4 of this Law.”.

21. To amend and supplement Clause 1 Article 91 as follows:

“1. To promulgate according to its competence or submit to competent authorities for promulgation legal documents on financial management mechanisms of investment projects in the PPP form, payment and final settlement mechanisms for projects to be implemented under BT contracts.”.

22. To amend and supplement a number of points and clauses of Article 101 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Clause 4 as follows:

“4. Except for projects to be implemented under BT contracts or PPP project contracts signed before January 1, 2021, which are allowed to continue to be implemented under the project contracts; in case of modifying any contents of the project contracts that are not regulated by the law in force at the time of signing the contracts, the parties may agree to make modifications in accordance with this Law and relevant laws in force at the time of contract modification.”;

b) To annul Point d Clause 5.

Article 4. To amend and supplement a number of articles of the Bidding Law

1. To amend and supplement a number of points and clauses of Article 3 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Clause 5 as follows:

“5. The selection of contractors for projects funded by official development assistance (ODA) capital or foreign concessional loans under treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party (below referred to as treaties) or foreign loan agreements must comply with the provisions of these treaties or loan agreements. In case a treaty or foreign loan agreement does not provide or provides that Vietnam’s law must apply, this Law’s provisions shall apply.

Before signing a treaty or foreign loan agreement containing bidding provisions different from those of, or not yet contained in, this Law, the agency in charge of negotiation shall report to the Government for consideration and decision on the applying provisions of the donors or international organizations of which the State or the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member.”;

b) To amend and supplement Point d Clause 7 as follows:

“d) Selection of contractors for provision of goods, consultancy services or non-consultancy services in order to ensure continuity of production and business activities and for procurement to maintain regular operation using production and business capital by state enterprises and enterprises with 100% of charter capital held by state enterprises; selection of contractors to implement bidding packages under business investment projects specified in Clause 3 Article 2 of this Law; selection of contractors to provide goods, consultancy services, raw materials, fuels, materials, supplies and non-consultancy services to directly serve bidding packages under contracts signed by public non-business units;”.

2. To amend and supplement Point a Clause 1 Article 5 as follows:

“a) For domestic contractors or investors: Being an enterprise, cooperative, union of cooperatives, cooperative group, public non-business unit, foreign-invested economic organization or another organization registered for establishment and operation in accordance with Vietnamese law. For foreign contractors or investors: Having a registration for establishment and operation under foreign laws;”.

3. To amend and supplement a number of points and clauses of Article 6 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Point d Clause 1 as follows:

“d) The project owner and bid solicitor, except where contractors are public non-business units of state management agencies with their assigned functions and tasks conforming with the nature of bidding packages of such state management agencies and except for the cases specified in Clause 4a of this Article.”;

b) To amend and supplement Point d Clause 4 as follows:

“d) Holding no shares of, or capital contributions to, each of others; not holding over 20% shares of, or capital contributions to, the same organization or individual, for contractors participating in the bidding for a bidding package and the contractor providing consultancy for such bidding package, except for the cases specified in Clause 4a of this Article.”;

b) To add Clause 4a after Clause 4 as follows:

“4a. Parent companies, subsidiaries and member companies in a state economic group or state corporations are allowed to participate in each other's bidding packages if the products and services in that bidding package belong to the main business lines of such state economic group or state corporations. For mixed bidding packages in which a state economic group or parent company, subsidiary, or member company in a state economic group is the project owner, the bid solicitor, contractors participating in the bidding and contractors providing consultancy for preparation, verification of front-end engineering designs (FEED), feasibility study reports (in case of not preparing front-end engineering designs), economic-technical reports (in case of neither preparing feasibility study reports nor front-end engineering designs under the construction law) must not shares of, or capital contributions to, each of others; not hold over 30% of shares of, or capital contributions to, the same organization or individual.”.

4. To amend and supplement Clause 9 Article 16 as follows:

“9. Organizing the contractor selection when the funding source has not yet been determined under Clause 3 Article 39 of this Law, except the cases of bidding in advance specified in Article 42 of this Law.”.

5. To add Point e after Point dd Clause 1 Article 17 as follows:

“e) Cancellation of bidding in accordance with Clause 5 Article 42 of this Law.”.

6. To amend and supplement Clause 1 Article 19 as follows:

“1. An expert group, composed of qualified and experienced individuals, shall perform one or all of the following tasks: formulation of the dossiers of invitation for expression of interest, dossiers of invitation to prequalification, bidding dossiers or dossiers of requirements; evaluation of dossiers of expression of interest, dossiers for participation in prequalification, bid dossiers, dossiers of proposals and dossiers of registration for implementation of the business investment project; and performance of other tasks during the contractor or investor selection process. An expert group shall be established as follows:

a) The project owner establishes or assigns tasks, for contractor selection;

b) The party inviting the expression of interests, or the bid solicitor establishes or assigns tasks, for investor selection;

c) Consultancy unit establishes in case of hiring consultants to prepare the dossiers of invitation for expression of interest, dossiers of invitation to prequalification, bidding dossiers or dossiers of requirements; evaluation of dossiers of expression of interest, dossiers for participation in prequalification, bid dossiers, dossiers of proposals and dossiers of registration for implementation of the business investment project.”.

7. To amend and supplement a number of points and clauses of Article 23 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Point c Clause 1 as follows:

“c) Consultancy service and non-consultancy service bidding packages, bidding packages for procurement of medicines, chemicals and supplies for medical tests, medical equipment, components, spare parts or means, and construction and installation bidding packages, bidding packages for procurement of pesticides, plant seeds, disinfectants, and supplies that need to be immediately executed to serve epidemic prevention and control work; consultancy service and non-consultancy service bidding packages, bidding packages for procurement of goods, construction and installation bidding packages for the maintenance of the operation of medical examination and treatment establishments in case of emergency, preventing harms to the people’s life and health; bidding packages for procurement of medicines, chemicals and supplies for medical tests, medical equipment, components and spare parts for giving first aid to patients in emergency situations in accordance with the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment in case medical examination and treatment establishments do not have adequate medicines, chemicals and supplies for medical tests, medical equipment, components and spare parts; and bidding packages for procurement of medicines and medical equipment with one manufacturer available in the market;”;

b) To amend and supplement Point g Clause 1 as follows:

“g) Bidding packages for provision of consultancy services for the formulation of feasibility study reports or construction designs that are designated to authors of selected architecture designs, provided the authors are fully capable as prescribed by the construction law; bidding packages for construction and restoration of monuments, bas-reliefs, grand murals and artistic works subject to copyright protection from the stage of creation to the stage of construction; bidding packages for provision of consultancy services for the formulation of construction master plans that are designated to authors of urban and rural area planning initiatives selected through contests; bidding package for provision consultancy services for archaeological exploration and excavation; bidding package for provision consultancy services, construction, restoration and rehabilitation of national relics, special national relics and world cultural heritage;”;

c) To amend and supplement Point m Clause 1 as follows:

“m) Bidding packages under procurement estimates without project formation, with a price of not exceeding VND 300 million; biding packages under projects with a price of not exceeding VND 500 million (for consultancy service bidding packages) or not exceeding VND 1 billion (for non-consultancy service, goods procurement and construction and installation bidding packages and mixed bidding packages); bidding packages for formulation of planning tasks with a price of not exceeding VND 500 million.”;

d) To amend and supplement Point a Clause 3 as follows:

“a) Having the project’s investment decision approved, except bidding packages for provision of project preparation consultancy; having a decision on approval of planning tasks, for planning consultancy bidding packages and bidding packages serving the planning, except for the bidding packages that need to be executed before approval of the planning tasks, and the cases where the planning task approval is not required in accordance with the planning law;”.

8. To amend and supplement Article 29 as follows:

“Article 29. Contractor selection in special cases

1. The contractor selection in special cases may be applied to bidding packages belonging to the procurement projects and estimates with one or several specific conditions on process, procedures and criteria for contractor selection, conditions for contract signing and performance, or bidding packages subject to requirements on national defense and security, external affairs and territorial borders, performance of national political tasks when being implemented, to which any of the forms of contractor selection specified in Articles 21 thru 28 of this Law cannot be applied.

2. The Government shall detail this Article.”.

9. To amend and supplement Point a Clause 1 Article 30 as follows:

“a) Open bidding or restricted bidding for bidding packages to provide non-consultancy services, procure goods, or for construction and installation, and mixed bidding packages. In case where the bidding package meets the requirements specified at Point b Clause 1 Article 31 of this Law, the single-stage single-envelope method or single-stage two-envelope method may be applied;”.

10. To amend and supplement Point b Clause 1 Article 31 as follows:

“b) Open bidding or restrict bidding for mixed bidding packages opened for international bidding specified at Point b Clause 1 Article 11, restricted bidding for bidding packages specified in Clause 1 Article 22 of this Law.”.

11. To add Clause 3 after Clause 2 Article 34 as follows:

“3. Investor selection in special cases.”.

12. To add Article 34a after Article 34 as follows:

“Article 34a. Investor selection in special cases

1. The selection of investors in special cases is applied to business investment projects with one or several special requirements and conditions regarding investment procedures; procedures for land allocation or lease, and sea area allocation; procedures, methods, and criteria for selecting investors and the content of business investment project contracts or requirements to ensure national defense, security, foreign affairs, territorial borders, national interests, and the implementation of national political tasks for which any of the forms of investor selection specified in Clauses 1 and 2 Article 34 of this Law cannot be applied.

2. The Government shall detail this Article.”.

13. To amend and supplement Point a Clause 1 Article 38 as follows:

“a) The project approval decision and relevant documents, except cases where a bidding package needs to be executed before the project is approved; the decision on approval of planning tasks and relevant documents, for planning consultancy bidding packages and bidding packages serving the planning, except for the bidding packages that need to be executed before approval of the planning tasks, and the cases where the planning task approval is not required in accordance with the planning law. For a bidding package which needs to be executed before the project approval, the decision of the head of the project owner or the head of the unit assigned to prepare the project in case the project owner is not yet identified, may be used as a basis;”.

14. To amend and supplement Article 42 as follows:

“Article 42. Bidding in advance

1. Bidding in advance means the implementation of certain procedures before a treaty or foreign loan agreement is signed for a project using ODA capital or foreign concessional loans or before the project is approved for investment in order to speed up project implementation, except for bidding packages that need to be implemented before project approval.

2. Bidding packages that may be put for bidding in advance include:

a) Goods procurement bidding packages of which the scope of supply and technical requirement have been clearly defined;

b) Consultancy service, non-consultancy service or goods procurement, construction and installation bidding packages to serve the compensation, ground clearance, relocation of technical infrastructure facilities, bomb, land mine and explosive sweeping, planning and resettlement;

c) Project management consultancy bidding package for work performed after the project is approved, preparing technical design dossiers, preparing construction drawing design dossiers, and construction supervision;

d) Bidding packages of the project using ODA or foreign concessional loans, requiring bidding in advance according to binding regulations of the sponsor. If the sponsor does not regulate, the bidding packages of the project using ODA or foreign concessional loans may be put for bidding in advance under Points a, b and c of this Clause.

3. For bidding packages specified in Clause 2 of this Article, procedures performed before the project is approved, or before the treaty or foreign loan agreement is signed, include:

a) Making, appraising and approving the contractor selection plan;

b) Determining the short list (if any):

c) Making, appraising and approving bidding dossiers and dossiers of requirements;

d) Evaluating bid dossiers or dossiers of proposals:

dd) Approving and determining bid winners.

The contract shall only be concluded after the project is approved for investment; for a bidding package of the project using ODA or foreign concessional loan, the contract may be concluded before signing the treaty or foreign loan agreement in accordance with the foreign sponsor’s regulations, and after the project is approved for investment.

4. For the bidding package put for bidding in advance, the contractor is not required to take bid security specified in Article 14 of this Law, but must make commitments in the bid dossier, specifying his/her responsibility to participate in the bid.

5. The dossier of invitation for expression of interest, dossier of invitation for prequalification, dossier of requirements and bidding dossier must clearly define responsibilities of the contractor and project owner in implementing bidding in advance under this Article.

In case where the project is not approved, or the treat or foreign loan agreement is not signed, and other funding sources are not allocated, the project owner shall cancel the bidding without making offsetting for the expenses relating to the contractor’s bidding participation.

6. The project owner or the head of the unit assigned the tasks of project preparation may form a bidding package, including one or several of the following tasks: construction survey, preparation of prefeasibility study report or investment proposal report, preparation of detailed construction planning, feasibility study report, technical economic report, preparation of technical design dossiers, preparation of construction drawing design dossiers, construction supervision to organize contractor selection. The tasks of preparing technical design dossiers, construction drawing design dossiers and construction supervision shall only be performed after the project is approved.

7. Activities specified in this Article shall be carried out according to the process and procedures prescribed in Clause 1 Article 43 of this Law. The preparation of the contractor selection plans for the bidding packages put for bidding in advance is not required to base on the contents specified in Clause 1 Article 38 of this Law.”.

15. To amend and supplement Point d Clause 1 Article 43 as follows:

“d) Negotiation of contracts, for bidding packages to provide consultancy services.

For goods procurement, construction and installation, and non-consultancy service bidding packages subject to international bidding, mixed bidding packages and bidding packages subject to restricted bidding specified in Clause 1 Article 22 of this Law, in case of necessity, bid solicitors may negotiate contracts with first-ranked contractors;”.

16. To amend and supplement Point b and Point dd Clause 1 Article 45 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Point b as follows:

“b) The time period for preparing bid dossiers for open bidding or restricted bidding is at least 18 days, for domestic bidding, or 35 days, for international bidding, counted from the first date of distribution of the bidding dossier to the date of bid closing; for a construction and installation bidding package or mixed bidding packages with a price not exceeding VND 20 billion, a goods procurement or non-consultancy service bidding package with a price not exceeding VND 10 billion, the time period for preparing bid dossiers is at least 9 days, for domestic bidding, or 18 days, for international bidding; for a simple consultancy service bidding package or consultancy service bidding package with a price not exceeding VND 500 million, or urgent consultancy service bidding package that needs to be immediately executed due to requirements on progress, the time period for preparing bid dossiers is at least 7 days, for domestic bidding;”;

b) To amend and supplement Point dd as follows:

“dd) The modification of the bidding dossier shall be carried out at least 10 days before the date of bid closing; for a construction and installation bidding package or mixed bidding packages with a price not exceeding VND 20 billion, goods procurement or non-consultancy service bidding package with a price not exceeding VND 10 billion, simple consultancy service bidding package or consultancy service bidding package with a price not exceeding VND 500 million, or urgent consultancy service bidding package that needs to be immediately executed due to requirements on progress, the modification of the bidding dossier shall be carried out at least 3 working days before the date of bid closing. The modification of the dossier of invitation for expression of interest or dossier of invitation to prequalification shall be carried out at least 3 working days before the date of bid closing.”.

17. To amend and supplement Clause 2 Article 55 as follows:

“2. For the procurement of medicines or medical equipment for retail sale at pharmacies within the premises of public health facilities, and the procurement of vaccines for vaccination in the form of services, health facilities are allowed to make their own procurement decisions on the basis of ensuring publicity, transparency, economic efficiency and accountability.”.

18. To amend and supplement Point a Clause 3 Article 58 as follows:

“a) The combined technique-and-price method shall be applied to bidding packages specified at Point b Clause 1 Article 31 of this Law;”;

19. To amend and supplement Clauses 4 and 10 Article 78 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Clause 4 as follows:

“4. To decide to establish bid solicitors with staffs meeting requirements of the contractor selection. In case of unqualified staffs, to select consultancy contractors to act as bid solicitors or perform some tasks of bid solicitors. To decide to form expert teams under Article 19 of this Law in case of not hiring consultancy units to formulate dossiers of invitation for expression of interest, dossiers of invitation for prequalification, bidding dossiers, dossiers of requirements; to evaluate dossiers of expression of interest, dossiers for participation in prequalification, bid dossiers and dossiers of proposals.”;

b) To amend and supplement Clause 10 as follows:

“10. To cancel bidding, for the case specified at Points a and e Clause 1 Article 17 of this Law.”.

20. To annul Point b Clause 1 Article 79.

21. To replace the phrase “concessional loans of foreign donors” with the phrase “foreign concessional loans” in the title of Article 3, Point a Clause 7 Article 3, Point dd Clause 1 Article 38 and Clause 3 Article 39.

Article 5. Implementation provisions

1. To annul Articles 39 and 40 of the Law on the Capital No. 39/2024/QH15.

2. This Law takes effect on January 15, 2024, except the cases specified in Clauses 3 and 4 of this Article.

3. The performance of BT contracts with payment covered by the land funds, and BT contracts with payment covered by the state budget specified at Point b Clause 12 Article 3 of this Law, takes effect on July 1, 2025.

4. Provisions of Point a Clause 19 and Clause 20 Article 1; Clause 2 Article 2; Points b, c and d Clause 11 Article 2 of this Law take effect on July 1, 2025.

Article 6. Transitional provisions

1. Provisions on transition to those amending and supplementing the Planning Law as follows:

a) Fundings for planning activities already allocated before the effective date of this Law shall continue to be used in accordance with relevant laws in force at the time of funding allocation;

b) Master plans that are being adjusted under the National Assembly's Resolution No. 61/2022/QH15 dated June 16, 2022, and have been consulted with ministries, ministerial-level agencies and relevant agencies before the effective date of this Law, shall continue to be adjusted in accordance with the National Assembly's Resolution No. 61/2022/QH15 dated June 16, 2022;

c) For plans for implementation of national sectoral master plans and provincial master plans that have been submitted to the Prime Minister before the effective date of this Law, but have not yet been issued, ministries, ministerial-level agencies and provincial-level People’s Committees shall consider and issue them in accordance with Clauses 17 and 18 Article 1 of this Law.

In case of requiring the adjustment of a plan for implementation of a sectoral master plan or provincial master plan that has been issued by the Prime Minister before the effective date of this Law, such adjustment shall be made in accordance with Clauses 12, 17 and 18 Article 1 of this Law;

d) In case where the implementation of resolutions of the National Assembly, National Assembly Standing Committee and the Government, or resolutions of the provincial-level People’s Councils leads to change to one or several content(s) of the national-level master plan, regional or provincial master plan for the 2021-2030 period that has been decided or approved by the competent authority before the effective date of this Law (regarding phrases of implementation, parameters and information), without changing the master plan's viewpoints and objectives, such master plan shall be adjusted according to the shortened order and procedures specified in Clause 16 Article 1 of this Law.

2. Provisions on transition to those amending and supplementing the Law on Investment as follows:

a) Form the effective date of this Law, valid application dossiers for approval or adjustment of the investment policy of investment projects on construction and commercial operation of infrastructure in industrial parks or export processing zones; investment projects to build new harbors or harbor areas with a total investment capital of less than VND 2,300 billion of special seaports; investment projects compliant with the law on cultural heritages, regardless of their land area used or population accommodated, that are to be implemented in level-I and -II protected areas of relics recognized by competent authorities as national relics or special national relics, except for level-I protected areas of national of relics on the List of world heritages, that have been received before the effective date of this Law, but have their results not yet been returned, shall be processed as follows:

a.1) The project has been submitted to the Prime Minister for consideration and approval, adjustment of the investment policy before the effective date of this Law, shall continue to be made in accordance with the Law on Investment No. 61/2020/QH14, which had a number of articles amended and supplemented under Law No. 72/2020/QH14, Law No. 03/2022/QH15, Law No. 05/2022/QH15, Law No. 08/2022/QH15, Law No. 09/2022/QH15, Law No. 20/2023/QH15, Law No. 26/2023/QH15, Law No. 27/2023/QH15, Law No. 28/2023/QH15, Law No. 31/2024/QH15, Law No. 33/2024/QH15 and Law No. 43/2024/QH15 (hereinafter referred to as Law No. 61/2020/QH14);

For a project not satisfying the requirements or conditions for approval and adjustment of the investment policy under Law No. 61/2020/QH14, the Minister of Planning and Investment shall transfer the project dossier, appraisal opinions and appraisal report to the provincial-level People’s Committee for handling according to the competence specified in this Law based on the Prime Minister's opinions;

a.2) In case where the project has not yet been submitted to the Prime Minister for consideration and approval, or adjustment of the investment policy before the effective date of this Law, the Minister of Planning and Investment shall transfer the project dossier and appraisal opinions (if any) to the provincial-level People’s Committee for handling according to the competence specified in this Law;

a.3) The provincial-level People’s Committee may continue to use the project dossier, appraisal opinions and appraisal report to consider approving or adjusting the investment policy in the cases specified at Items a.1 and a.2 Point a of this Clause;

b) For investment projects on construction and commercial operation of infrastructure in industrial parks or export processing zones, investment projects to build new harbors or harbor areas of special seaports, investment projects to be implemented in protected areas of relics, of which the investment policy has been approved by the Prime Minister before the effective date of this Law, but now is under the approval competence of the provincial-level People's Committee under Clause 5 Article 2 of this Law, the provincial-level People's Committee shall have the competence to approve the investment policy adjustment;

c) For investment projects regulated by provisions of Clause 8 Article 2 of this Law that have the investment policy approved, or the investment registration certificate granted before the effective date of this Law, investors may choose to apply special investment procedures in accordance with the following provisions:

c.1) The investor submits the investment registration dossier in accordance with Clause 8 Article 2 of this Law, together with the report on the project implementation until the time of submission of the dossier to the management board of industrial park, export processing zone, hi-tech park or economic zone.

If the investment project is implemented in different stages, the investor may choose to apply the special investment procedures for each stage;

c.2) The management board of industrial park, export processing zone, hi-tech park or economic zone carries out the corresponding procedures specified in Clause 8 Article 2 of this Law to grant the investment registration certificate, or renew the investment registration certificate, if the project has been granted with an investment registration certificate;

c.3) The investment registration certificate records the contents of the investment project registered under Item c.1 Point c of this Clause;

The investor may implement the investment project according to the investment registration certificate granted or renewed in accordance with Item c.2 Point c of this Clause;

d) For projects having the investment policy decided or approved, or projects that have been approved for investment or granted an investment registration certificate before the effective date of this Law, within 24 months from January 15, 2025, the investment registration agency shall terminate one part or entire operations of the investment project specified in Clause 10 Article 2 of this Law, if the progress of implementing the project's main objectives stated in the investment policy decision, written investment policy approval, written investment approval, or investment registration certificate, or written adjustment of investment policy decision, written approval of investment policy adjustment or modified investment registration certificate, ends before January 15, 2025.

3. Provisions on transition to those amending and supplementing the Law on Investment in the Form of Public-Private Partnership as follows:

a) For a PPP project of which the prefeasibility study report or modified prefeasibility study report has been prepared but until the effective date of this Law, it has not yet been submitted for appraisal or the appraisal council has not yet been established, the competence, order and procedures for preparing the project or adjusting the investment policy shall comply with this Law. In case where the appraisal council has been established, and the tasks of appraising the investment policy has been deployed, the order and procedures, competence to appraise, decide the investment policy, or adjust the investment policy shall continue to comply with the law on investment the form of public-private partnership, which take effect before the effective date of this Law;

b) For a PPP project of which the investment policy has been decided by the Prime Minister, and the feasibility study report or modified feasibility study report is being prepared, but until the effective date of this Law, it has not yet been submitted for appraisal or the interdisciplinary appraisal council has not yet been established, the competence, order and procedures for approval of the project, or adjustment of the feasibility study report shall comply with this Law. In case where the interdisciplinary appraisal council has been established, and the tasks of appraising the feasibility study report has been deployed, the order and procedures, competence to appraise, decide the project, or adjust the feasibility study report shall continue to comply with the law on investment the form of public-private partnership, which take effect before the effective date of this Law;

c) For an approved PPP project having the investment policy decided by the competent authority, but until the effective date of this Law, the investor selection has not yet been organized, its investment policy shall be reviewed and adjusted, or the feasibility study report shall be modified for application of this Law's provisions;

d) For a PPP project that is being implemented under the National Assembly's Resolution No. 98/2023/QH15 dated June 24, 2023, on experimentation of a number of special mechanisms and policies for development of Ho Chi Minh City, the National Assembly's Resolution No. 136/2024/QH15 dated June 26, 2024, on urban government organization and piloting of a number of special mechanisms and policies for Da Nang City’s development, the National Assembly’s Resolution No. 137/2024/QH15 dated June 26, 2024, on additionally pilot implementation of a number of special mechanisms and policies for development of Nghe An province, the provincial-level People's Council shall decide on continuing to implement the PPP project in accordance with such Resolutions or this Law. In case of deciding on applying this Law, the provisions of Points a, b and c of this Clause shall be applied for continuing to implement the project.

4. Provisions on transition to those amending and supplementing the Bidding Law as follows:

a) For approved Bidding packages for contractor selection of which the dossiers of invitation for expression of interest, dossiers of invitation for prequalification, bidding dossiers and dossiers of requirements have been distributed before the effective date of this Law, the selection of a short list, selection of contractors, contract conclusion and performance management shall continue to be carried out in accordance with the Bidding Law No. 22/2023/QH15 and its guiding and detailing documents;

b) For the bidding package of which the contractor selection plan has been approved, but until the effective date of this Law, the dossiers of invitation for expression of interest, dossiers of invitation for prequalification, bidding dossiers and dossiers of requirements have not yet been distributed, and the contractor selection plan contains contents inconsistent with this Law, modifications of the contractor selection plan must be approved in accordance with this Law.

This Law was passed on November 29, 2024, by the XV^th National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam at its 8^th session.