Law on the Capital 2026, No. 02/2026/QH16

LAW

On the Capital^[1]

Pursuant to the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, which has a number of articles amended and supplemented under Resolution No. 203/2025/QH15;

The National Assembly promulgates the Law on the Capital.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of regulation

This Law provides the position and role of the Capital; mechanisms, policies, competence and responsibilities for the building, development and protection of the Capital.

Article 2. Position, role and symbol of the Capital

1. The Capital of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is Hanoi.

2. The Capital is the national political-administrative centre where the headquarters of central agencies of the Party, the State and socio-political organisations, and diplomatic representative missions and international organisations are located; and is a major centre for economy, culture, science, technology, innovation, digital transformation, education, training, healthcare and international integration.

3. The symbol of the Capital is the image of Khue Van Pavilion at the Temple of Literature - Quoc Tu Giam.

Article 3. Interpretation of terms

In this Law, the terms below are construed as follows:

1. Central urban area means an urban area that performs the principal functions of the Capital, including the historical inner-city area and adjacent areas identified in the Overall Master Plan on the Capital.

2. Historical inner-city area means an area for conservation of the cultural heritage of Thang Long-Hanoi and the traditional values of Hanoians as identified in the Overall Master Plan on the Capital.

3. Capital Region means an area for socio-economic development linkage, embracing Hanoi City (below referred to as the City) and provincial-level administrative units with administrative boundaries adjacent to the City.

4. Major and important project means one of the following types of projects:

a/ Public investment projects as defined in the law on public investment; investment projects as defined in the law on investment in the form of public-private partnership (below referred to as PPP projects) that are funded by local budgets or other lawful funding sources; investment projects as defined in the law on investment that need to be implemented immediately under the direction of the Political Bureau or the Secretariat of the Party Central Committee, the Government’s Party Committee, or the Executive Board of the City’s Party Committee;

b/ Public investment projects and PPP projects that are funded by local budgets or other lawful funding sources in the City or the Capital Region and satisfy the criteria for classification as national important projects in accordance with the law on public investment;

c/ Projects invested by strategic investors.

5. Low-altitude spaces or high-altitude spaces means spaces above the ground and water surface in the City’s administrative boundaries, with its scope, boundaries and altitude determined under the Master Plan on the Capital, that are used for management, exploitation and use in socio-economic development, science, technology, transport and urban management activities associated with the assurance of national defence, security and social order and safety.

6. TOD area means an area embracing railway stations and depots and their surrounding areas identified under relevant zoning plans or detailed plans for the construction of railways in association with urban renovation, embellishment and development investment.

Article 4. Principles of decentralisation and performance/exercise of decentralised tasks and powers

1. To ensure conformity with the Constitution and non-contravention of treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party.

2. To ensure thorough and comprehensive decentralisation and clear definition of the competence of the People’s Council, the People’s Committee and the Chairperson of the People’s Committee of the City; based on practical conditions, the People’s Council, the People’s Committee and the Chairperson of the People’s Committee of the City may delegate powers to agencies, organisations and individuals to continuously and regularly perform one or several of the tasks and powers assigned to the former in accordance with law, unless such delegation is prohibited by law. The decentralisation and delegation must not prejudice national defence, security and foreign affairs, ethnic and religious matters, or other fields directly related to the national sovereignty.

In addition to the tasks and powers provided in this Law, the People’s Councils, the People’s Committees and the Chairpersons of the People’s Committees at all levels of the City shall also perform other tasks and exercise other powers in accordance with other relevant laws.

3. To guarantee human rights, fundamental rights of citizens, social equity and sustainable development, and preserve the identity and cultural values of the Capital and the Capital Region; to refrain from causing adverse impacts on macroeconomic stability and national financial safety; to respect market rules.

4. To ensure the unified, uninterrupted and effective operation of the national administrative system; to ensure publicity, transparency, accountability, and effective control of power, and prevention and combat of corruption, waste and negative practices, in association with the examination, inspection and supervision responsibilities of competent agencies; to adopt mechanisms for monitoring, evaluation, examination and timely adjustment of decentralisation contents when the decentralised agencies, organisations or individuals ineffectively perform their assigned tasks and exercise their powers.

Article 5. Application of law

1. In case the provisions of the Law on the Capital and those of other laws or resolutions of the National Assembly are different with respect to the same matter, the Law on the Capital shall prevail, except the case specified in Clause 3 of this Article.

2. Legal documents detailing, and providing specific measures to organise and guide the implementation of, the Law on the Capital, and legal documents promulgated to exercise the competence assigned in the Law on the Capital (below referred to as the documents implementing the Law on the Capital) shall apply in case there are more than one legal document containing different provisions on the same matter.

3. In case legal documents, including also documents providing mechanisms and policies applicable to other subjects or localities, promulgated by central-level state agencies after the effective date of the Law on the Capital or the documents implementing the Law on the Capital, contain provisions on mechanisms or policies that are more preferential or favourable than those provided in the Law on the Capital or the documents implementing the Law on the Capital, the application thereof shall be decided by the People’s Council of the City.

Chapter II

ORGANISATION OF THE ADMINISTRATION, OFFICIAL-DUTY REGIME, AND PROMULGATION OF LEGAL DOCUMENTS

Article 6. Administrative units of the City

1. Administrative units of the City include communes, wards and special administrative-economic units.

2. Special administrative-economic units of the City shall be established under the National Assembly’s decisions to perform the role of functional urban areas under the Overall Master Plan on the Capital; be organised after a specific model, are entitled to outstanding mechanisms and policies, and implement new policies on local governance, investment attraction, and improvement of the competitiveness of the Capital.

Article 7. Tasks and powers regarding organisational apparatus and the official-duty regime

1. The People’s Council of the City has the competence to:

a/ Provide the proportion of full-time deputies of the People’s Council; the number, functions, tasks and powers of the Boards of the People’s Council of the City and of commune-level People’s Councils; and the number and criteria for determining the number of deputies of commune-level People’s Councils;

b/ Decide on the number and structure of members of the People’s Committee of the City; and provide the number and structure of members of commune-level People’s Committees;

c/ Provide the establishment, organisation and operation of villages and residential groups in conformity with the level of urbanisation and socio-economic development conditions of the Capital;

d/ Provide the number, establishment, reorganisation and dissolution of specialised agencies and other administrative organisations under the City’s management; to decide on renaming, and adjustment of functions, of specialised agencies and other administrative organisations under the City’s management;

dd/ Provide the establishment, reorganisation, dissolution, autonomy mechanism regarding organisational apparatus, personnel, finances and tasks of public non-business units under the City’s management;

e/ Adopt income policies applicable to cadres, civil servants, public employees and workers salaried by the budgets at all levels of the City (below referred to as the City’s budget); and provide the use of the City’s budget and other lawful financial sources for the implementation of such policies;

g/ Provide job positions of civil servants and public employees under the City’s management;

h/ Decide on state payrolls of agencies in the administration system of the City;

i/ Provide the management and employment of civil servants and public employees on the principle that heads of agencies or units directly employing civil servants and public employees shall carry out recruitment and evaluation;

k/ Provide the hiring, recruitment and appointment of heads of public non-business units and state enterprises under the City’s management.

2. The People’s Committee of the City has the competence to:

a/ Provide policies on and measures for organising the implementation of the digital administrative system and the digital official-duty regime;

b/ Provide mechanisms and measures to promote grassroots democracy and mobilise public participation in local governance, mechanisms for contractual assignment and other mechanisms to promote the self-governance of villages and residential groups.

3. The Chairperson of the People’s Committee of the City has the competence to establish, reorganise and dissolve public non-business units under the City’s management in accordance with regulations of the People’s Council of the City.

Article 8. Formulation and promulgation of legal documents

1. The documents implementing the Law on the Capital as referred to in Clause 2, Article 5 of this Law may have provisions different from those of legal documents promulgated by central-level state agencies.

2. In the course of performing tasks and exercising powers of local administrations in accordance with law, the People’s Council, the People’s Committee and the Chairperson of the People’s Committee of the City may promulgate legal documents in order to:

a/ Adjust the order, procedures and competence for the settlement of administrative procedures currently provided in legal documents issued by central-level state agencies for the purpose of performing the tasks and exercising the powers of agencies and organisations under the City, ensuring the satisfaction of administrative reform requirements, creating favourable conditions for individuals and organisations through simplification of administrative procedures, and facilitating the development of science, technology, innovation and digital transformation in the settlement of administrative procedures, without requiring additional dossier components, increasing the requirements and conditions or extending time limits for procedure settlement as compared to the currently applied ones;

b/ Provide specific measures suitable to development requirements of the Capital in order to organise and guide the implementation of laws and resolutions of the National Assembly in case such measures are different from, or are not yet provided in, regulations of the Government, the Prime Minister, ministries or ministerial-level agencies.

3. The promulgation of legal documents referred to in Clause 1 and Point b, Clause 2 of this Article must comply with the following provisions:

a/ Assessing the necessity, balance and reasonableness of the promulgation of the documents with provisions different from those issued by central-level state agencies or not yet provided in regulations of the Government, the Prime Minister, ministries or ministerial-level agencies; clearly identifying the objectives and expected results of the promulgation of the documents, as well as mechanisms for examination, supervision and accountability;

b/ Assessing the conformity of the documents with the provisions of Article 4 of this Law;

c/ Assessing impacts of policies in the draft documents;

d/ Carrying out consultation on the draft documents with central-level competent agencies and related agencies and organisations; soliciting opinions from subjects to be directly affected by the documents; carrying out public communication about the contents of the documents and posting dossiers of the draft documents and the contents on responses to and commentaries on opinions of agencies, organisations and individuals regarding draft documents;

dd/ Complying with the order and procedures specified in the law on promulgation of legal documents; refraining from applying fast-track order and procedures, except cases of suspension of the effect of the whole or part, or annulment, of the documents.

4. The People’s Council of the City shall provide the determination of the competence for promulgating legal documents as referred to in Clause 2 of this Article and shall detail Clause 3 of this Article.

5. The People’s Council of the City shall provide the promulgation of legal resolutions in order to decide on the selection of applicable laws as referred to in Clause 3, Article 5 of this Law. Such a resolution must clearly state the provisions of the legal document selected for application, scope and subjects of application, time of application, and transitional provisions (if any).

Article 9. Pilot implementation of mechanisms and policies

1. The City may decide on pilot application of new mechanisms and policies in Hanoi city that are different from laws and resolutions of the National Assembly or related to matters not yet regulated by law.

The pilot implementation of mechanisms and policies shall not be carried out in the fields of national defence, security, foreign affairs and religion, and other fields directly related to national sovereignty in accordance with law.

2. The pilot implementation of mechanisms and policies must adhere to the following principles:

a/ Complying with the Constitution and treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party;

b/ Imposing no restriction of human rights, fundamental rights of citizens, or the lawful rights and interests of organisations and individuals; ensuring an equal investment and business environment, fair competition, publicity and transparency;

c/ Causing no prejudice to national defence, security or foreign affairs; ensuring social order and safety;

d/ Causing no adverse impacts on community health, social ethics or fine customs and traditions; not affecting the State’s national great unity policy or religious policies;

dd/ The pilot duration must not exceed 5 years and may be extended for no more than 5 years.

3. Scope of pilot implementation of mechanisms and policies:

a/ New models on the organisational apparatus of administrations at all levels of the City; advanced and modern governance and facilitating models; the official-duty and public employee regimes;

b/ New economic models based on science, technology, innovation, digital transformation, education, training, culture, health and health care;

c/ Eco-agriculture, hi-tech agriculture and urban agriculture models;

d/ Urban, rural and spatial management, and sustainable development models;

dd/ Methods of exploitation, mobilisation, allocation and efficient use of resources for the development and governance of the Capital;

e/ Solutions to address issues that seriously and directly affect the quality of life of residents or socio-economic development of the Capital;

g/ Other mechanisms and policies as directed by competent authorities.

4. Based on approval by competent authorities, the People’s Council of the City shall promulgate resolutions on pilot implementation of mechanisms and policies, clearly stating objectives, scope, subjects, content, duration, space and areas of the pilot implementation; expected results and impacts of the pilot implementation; rights, obligations and responsibilities of related agencies, organisations and individuals; risk management measures; control, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms; and conditions and procedures for adjustment, extension or termination of the pilot implementation.

5. The People’s Committee of the City shall:

a/ Propose the People’s Council of the City to promulgate resolutions on pilot implementation of mechanisms and policies.

In case of proposing pilot implementation of mechanisms and policies that are likely to exert impacts on the Capital Region, the People’s Committee of the City shall assess regional and national socio-economic impacts and consult the provincial-level People’s Committees of the concerned localities before submitting proposals to the People’s Council of the City for consideration and decision;

b/ Organise the implementation of resolutions on pilot implementation of mechanisms and policies, ensuring coordination among related agencies, organisations and individuals;

c/ Handle, or propose the handling of, matters arising during the pilot implementation; suspend the pilot implementation and report to the People’s Council of the City for consideration and decision in case the pilot implementation exerts negative impacts exceeding the anticipated level;

d/ Make evaluation reports on an annual basis or at the request of the People’s Council of the City and competent agencies on the progress and results of the pilot implementation;

dd/ Organise the evaluation of results of the pilot implementation, determine the level of achievement of objectives, efficiency and impacts on the development of the Capital and the Capital Region; and propose the People’s Council of the City to decide on extension or termination of the pilot implementation;

e/ Propose or recommend to competent agencies the amendment, supplementation or promulgation of legal documents for official implementation.

6. The formulation and promulgation of resolutions on pilot implementation of mechanisms and policies must comply with Clauses 3 and 4, Article 8 of this Law.

Chapter III

PLANNING, CONSTRUCTION, AND ORDER AND SAFETY OF THE CAPITAL

Article 10. Planning of the Capital

1. In the City, only one Overall Master Plan on the Capital shall be formulated on the basis of concretising contents of national-level master plans and regional master plans, integrating, incorporating and replacing the Master Plan on the Capital and the General Master Plan on the Capital. The Overall Master Plan on the Capital is as legally valid as a provincial master plan and a city’s general master plan in accordance with law.

2. The Overall Master Plan on the Capital may only be adjusted to serve national interests, particularly important public interests, or to meet national defence and security requirements; when there are major changes in natural or socio-economic conditions; or to meet the requirements of the Executive Board of the Party Committee of the City.

3. The People’s Council of the City has the competence to:

a/ Provide contents, dossier components, cost norms, order and procedures for the formulation, appraisal and approval of the Overall Master Plan on the Capital, and approve adjustments to the Overall Master Plan on the Capital.

The Overall Master Plan on the Capital and adjustments thereto are subject to consultation with the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of National Defence, the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, residential communities, and related agencies, organisations and individuals before being approved;

b/ Specify types of master plans, urban and rural planning activities, and architectural activities.

4. The People’s Committee of the City has the competence to decide on the list, roadmap and measures for relocation, of production establishments, working offices and establishments engaged in non-business activities located in the central urban area and other areas that fail to comply with the Overall Master Plan on the Capital and urban and rural master plans of the City, except the working offices of agencies of the Party, the State and the Vietnam Fatherland Front, and central-level socio-political organisations.

5. The Chairperson of the People’s Committee of the City has the competence to:

a/ Approve, or approve adjustments to, the Overall Master Plan on the Capital after it has been adopted by the People’s Council of the City;

b/ Organise the inventory of cultural heritage for works and work items before the relocation of production establishments, working offices and non-business establishments as referred to in Clause 4 of this Article.

Article 11. Management, exploitation and use of underground spaces, low-altitude spaces and high-altitude spaces

1. The management, exploitation and use of underground spaces, low-altitude spaces and high-altitude spaces must adhere to the following principles:

a/ Ensuring conformity with natural, meteorological, geological, geomorphological and hydrological conditions; ensuring safety during and after use;

b/ Ensuring conformity with the Overall Master Plan on the Capital;

c/ Ensuring national defence and security; giving priority to dual-use works that can be repurposed to meet national defence and security needs; conserving cultural spaces, environmental landscapes, historical-cultural relics and scenic places;

d/ Ensuring synchronous connectivity among works;

dd/ Encouraging and facilitating investment in projects on the exploitation and use of underground spaces, low-altitude spaces and high-altitude spaces.

2. Underground spaces, low-altitude spaces and high-altitude spaces shall be planned and functionally zoned for management, exploitation and use.

3. The People’s Council of the City shall provide:

a/ The formulation, appraisal, approval and adjustment of master plans on underground spaces, low-altitude spaces and high-altitude spaces after reaching agreement with the Ministry of National Defence, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Construction, and consulting other related ministries and ministerial-level agencies;

b/ The underground depth limit of land areas that land users in the City may use in conformity with relevant master plans without having to pay underground space use levy;

c/ The use of underground spaces beyond the depth limit specified in Point b of this Clause, and the payment of, exemption from, or reduction of, underground space use levy;

d/ Preferential and support policies to promote investment in and development of underground works and exploitation of low-altitude spaces and high-altitude spaces;

dd/ Revenues from the exploitation and use of underground spaces, low-altitude spaces and high-altitude spaces.

4. The People’s Committee of the City shall provide measures for the management, exploitation and use of underground spaces, low-altitude spaces and high-altitude spaces; and the management of infrastructure, technology and vehicles operating within underground spaces, low-altitude spaces and high-altitude spaces.

Article 12. Urban and housing development

1. Investment in the construction, renovation, embellishment and reconstruction of urban areas and housing development in the City must adhere to the following principles:

a/ Constructing urban areas, smart cities, multi-functional and multi-purpose cities, and social housing areas in a modern and convenient manner and in harmony with the construction of urban technical infrastructure and social infrastructure;

b/ Ensuring compliance with relevant master plans, architectural management regulations and urban designs; ensuring conformity with standards and technical regulations on construction and fire protection;

c/ Protecting cultural, historical and natural heritage as well as architecture and landscapes; protecting and developing greeneries and water surface areas;

d/ Ensuring the balance of interests of the people, the State and enterprises; giving priority to on-site resettlement; improving urban utilities and the living environment and livelihood of residents in areas subject to renovation and embellishment;

dd/ Giving priority to and encouraging organisations and residential communities to proactively propose and implement urban renovation, embellishment and reconstruction projects.

2. The People’s Council of the City shall provide:

a/ Policies, measures, criteria and conditions for the implementation of urban renovation, embellishment and reconstruction projects in the City;

b/ Policies on urban development in TOD areas following the compact city model under relevant master plans;

c/ Planning indicators on architecture, technical infrastructure and social infrastructure, and requirements on space and land use in TOD areas that are different from existing regulations or are not yet provided in national technical regulations on construction planning, on the basis of synchronised exploitation of underground spaces and low-altitude spaces, while ensuring conformity with indicators on technical infrastructure, social infrastructure and infrastructure connectivity within the areas; and reserving ground areas for public spaces and greeneries and for improvement of urban life quality;

d/ Revenues from additional floor areas of civil construction projects as a result of the increase of land-use coefficients and planning indicators; revenues from the exploitation of added value from land; revenues from the exploitation of local railway infrastructure assets; infrastructure improvement charge; public transport connectivity charge; and other revenues for the development of the local railway system and synchronised transport infrastructure connectivity in TOD areas;

dd/ Mechanisms and policies on housing investment, development and support in the City; incentives and support for the development of social housing, official residences, resettlement housing, workers’ accommodations and other types of housing;

e/ The use of the City’s budget to build essential technical infrastructure and social infrastructure serving housing projects in accordance with relevant master plans.

3. The People’s Committee of the City has the competence to:

a/ Provide the order and procedures for implementation of urban renovation, embellishment and reconstruction projects;

b/ Decide on measures to coerce the population relocation to serve urban renovation, embellishment and reconstruction projects; and decide on the list of projects and implementation roadmap;

c/ Decide on the conversion between types of commercial housing, social housing and resettlement housing in the City for flexible use to meet the actual needs of residents;

d/ Decide on measures to build, manage and use houses to achieve the objectives of social security and the development of the Capital.

Article 13. Development of transport, logistics and environmental protection infrastructure

1. The People’s Council of the City shall provide:

a/ Policies on investment and mobilisation of resources for the construction, development, maintenance and serving of technical infrastructure works, traffic safety works, traffic congestion prevention works and public underground works in the City;

b/ Policies on transport development; promotion and prioritisation of the development of mass transit systems; investment in the construction and operation of urban railways, buses, railway stations, bus terminals and multi-functional car parks; exploitation of underground spaces and transport in low-altitude spaces; restriction of personal vehicles in the central areas to mitigate traffic congestion and emissions; and application of congestion pricing;

c/ Policies on investment in the development of ring roads, logistics centres and public transport systems in the City, in connection with localities engaged in regional linkage and development with the Capital;

d/ Policies promoting the application of high technology in the management and operation of transport systems;

dd/ Policies on the management and exploitation of local roads and railways, ensuring traffic order and safety and urban civilisation;

e/ The scope of low-emission zones to restrict vehicles for improving air quality; and measures to be applied in low-emission zones according to an appropriate roadmap;

g/ Support policies for investment in the development of clean-energy transport and non-motorised transport infrastructure; support for the transition from fossil fuel-based vehicles to clean-energy vehicles; and measures to limit polluting vehicles;

h/ Policies and measures to support the relocation of production establishments in residential areas and those engaged in sectors or trades not promoted for development in rural craft villages;

i/ Policies and measures to reduce plastic emissions in production, business, service and daily-life activities in the City; support measures and incentives for treatment, production, business, service and consumption activities involving waste recycling activities using state-of-the-art techniques, and management of solid wastes throughout the course of waste generation, collection, transportation and treatment;

k/ Incentive and support policies for production and business activities in the City with the application of the circular economy model in the environmental industry and environmental services.

2. The People’s Committee of the City shall provide:

a/ Criteria for ecological industrial parks and cottage industry zones in the City, and roadmaps, mechanisms and policies to support the transformation of existing industrial parks and cottage industry zones into ecological industrial parks and cottage industry zones;

b/ The appraisal and approval of appraisal results of environmental impact assessment reports, and the issuance of environmental permits for investment projects and production, business and service establishments subject to investment policy decision or approval by competent agencies or persons of the City.

Article 14. Assurance of order and safety for the Capital

1. The sanctioning of administrative violations in the City must comply with the following provisions:

a/ The People’s Council of the City shall provide regulations on title holders who are competent, and the competence, to sanction administrative violations that are different from those provided in the law on handling of administrative violations; and policies on investment of resources to ensure centralised, unified and effective state management of food safety and urban order of the City;

b/ The People’s Council of the City shall specify levels of fines for administrative violations in the City that may be higher but must not exceed twice the general fine levels, and the corresponding competence to impose fines as specified by the Government for similar administrative violations in the fields of culture, advertising, land, construction, fire protection, food safety, road traffic, environmental protection, security, and social order and safety in the City.

2. The People’s Council of the City shall provide the suspension of the provision of electricity and water supply services for works and production or business establishments falling into the following cases in order to ensure security and social order and safety in the City:

a/ Works built in contravention of relevant master plans; works built without construction permits in case such permits are required under law or works built in contravention of construction permits; or works built in contravention of approved construction designs in case construction permits are not required;

b/ Works built on illegally encroached or occupied land areas as defined by the land law;

c/ Works subject to fire protection design approval or appraisal but executed without a certificate or a document on fire protection design approval or appraisal issued by the specialised management agency;

d/ Works executed in contravention of approved or appraised fire protection designs;

dd/ Construction works, parts of construction works, items of construction works, or production, business or service establishments that are put into operation without a document on approval of fire protection acceptance-testing results issued by the specialised management agency;

e/ Dance hall service and karaoke parlour service establishments that fail to satisfy fire protection conditions;

g/ Production or business establishments and construction works committing violations in the field of environmental protection but failing to comply with the requests to stop violating acts, competent agencies’ decisions on operation suspension, or remedial measures;

h/ Works subject to demolition for which a decision on urgent relocation has been issued by the competent agency.

3. Electricity and water supply service providers shall suspend service provision immediately upon request of the competent persons specified in Clause 5 of this Article, ensuring the law-specified scope, eligible subjects and duration of service provision. The right of electricity and water supply service providers to suspend the provision of electricity and water supply services in the cases specified in Clause 2 of this Article shall be notified to service users and stated in electricity and water supply service contracts.

4. The People’s Council of the City shall provide other specific measures for social order and safety assurance and environmental protection, and urgent administrative measures appropriate to the requirements of protecting the Capital, ensuring the effectiveness of urban management, and harmonising the requirement of maintaining security and social order with the protection of lawful rights and interests of organisations and individuals.

5. The Chairperson of the People’s Committee of the City and the Chairpersons of commune-level People’s Committees shall decide on application of the measures specified in Clauses 2 and 4 of this Article.

Chapter IV

SOCIO-CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT

Article 15. Development of culture, sports and tourism

1. The People’s Council of the City shall provide:

a/ Policies to promote and mobilise social resources and the use of state budget funds for the protection and development of culture and sports of the Capital; and support for individuals and organisations in renovating and protecting areas with cultural and historical values and valuable architectural works;

b/ Conditions and procedures for the conferment and revocation of the titles “Honorary Citizen of the Capital” and “Distinguished Citizen of the Capital” in order to honour individuals with outstanding merits and exceptionally excellent achievements contributing to the construction, development and protection of the Capital;

c/ The organisation, operation, management mechanisms, and preferential and support policies for the development of commercial and cultural zones, cultural industry centres, and other types of cultural organisations and institutions;

d/ Preferential and support policies for persons operating in the fields of culture and arts, artisans, practitioners of intangible cultural heritage, athletes and coaches;

dd/ Mechanisms for management and operation of advertising activities.

2. Based on original elements constituting relics and values of relics and heritage in the City, the People’s Committee of the City has the competence to:

a/ Provide requirements, conditions, management dossiers, and measures for protection, preservation, embellishment and restoration of relics, and for renovation of valuable architectural works, except relics and heritage recognised or inscribed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO);

b/ Provide mechanisms for public-private partnership in the management, exploitation and use of valuable architectural works;

c/ Decide on the preservation, embellishment and restoration of national relics and special national relics after consulting the central-level state management agency in charge of culture in accordance with the order and procedures specified by the People’s Council of the City.

3. Based on regulations of the People’s Committee of the City, the Chairperson of the People’s Committee of the City shall decide to:

a/ Approve lists of heritage sites, areas with cultural and historical values, and valuable architectural works in the City that require concentrated resources for protection and value promotion;

b/ Issue international tour operator licences to enterprises registered in the City;

c/ Recognise the classification of tourist accommodation establishments in the City.

Article 16. Development of education and training

1. The People’s Council of the City shall provide:

a/ Management mechanisms and financial mechanisms applicable to multi-level education institutions, high-quality education institutions, institutions engaged in joint education, and advanced and modern school models;

b/ Scholarship policies and mechanisms to encourage and support pupils, students, teachers and lecturers to study, or conduct research or visiting teaching, at foreign education institutions in key fields and disciplines.

2. The People’s Committee of the City has the competence to:

a/ Provide joint education activities between public and private early childhood education and general education institutions and foreign institutions;

b/ Supplement early childhood education and general education programmes, ensuring the satisfaction of the requirements on education objectives, student qualities and competencies to be achieved, and compulsory curricula of the national early childhood education and general education;

c/ Promulgate early childhood education and general education curricula for the education institutions specified in Point a, Clause 1 of this Article in conformity with the Capital’s education development objectives and requirements on education objectives, student qualities and competencies to be achieved, and compulsory curricula of the national early childhood education and general education;

d/ Specify criteria and conditions on physical facilities, administrators, teachers, teaching curricula, teaching methodologies and educational services for the education institutions specified in Point a, Clause 1 of this Article.

3. Based on regulations of the People’s Council of the City, the Chairperson of the People’s Committee of the City has the competence to:

a/ Decide on the establishment, merger, division, splitting, dissolution, renaming and licensing of operation of public universities and public colleges under the City’s management; and permit the establishment, merger, division, splitting, dissolution, renaming and licensing of private universities and private colleges in the City;

b/ Permit the establishment, merger, division, splitting, dissolution, renaming and licensing of operation of foreign-invested universities and colleges, and joint training with foreign institutions in the City after consulting the Ministry of Education and Training.

Article 17. Development of healthcare and social security systems

1. The People’s Council of the City shall provide:

a/ Policies on support from the City’s budget to pay medical examination and treatment costs not covered by the health insurance fund in accordance with an appropriate roadmap;

b/ Mobile medical examination and treatment and telehealth services and service prices with the application of digital technology;

c/ Policies on the development of pre-hospital emergency care systems and medical transport; pre-hospital emergency care service prices and co-payment rates for patients as service users for use as a basis for provision of payment support;

d/ Support policies for healthcare activities at all levels in the City; and the participation in supporting healthcare activities of the Capital, pre-hospital emergency care systems and medical transport of healthcare establishments in the City;

dd/ Periodical free health check-ups and screening examinations for residents of the Capital. Funds for health check-ups and screening examinations shall be covered by the City’s budget in accordance with an appropriate roadmap, and mobilised from social sources and other lawful sources in accordance with law;

e/ Social affairs, social security and social welfare policies of the Capital aimed at increasing beneficiaries and benefit levels, ensuring a diverse, comprehensive, modern and sustainable social security system with universal coverage, giving priority to disadvantaged persons, vulnerable persons, persons living in ethnic minority and mountainous areas, and persons in need of urgent assistance.

2. Based on regulations of the People’s Committee of the City, the Chairperson of the People’s Committee of the City has the competence to:

a/ Decide to permit medical examination and treatment establishments under the City’s professional management to apply special-category techniques;

b/ Recognise practice licences issued by foreign authorities as a basis for issuance of medical examination and treatment practice licences in Vietnam.

Chapter V

DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, INNOVATION AND DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Article 18. Development of science, technology, innovation and digital transformation

1. The People’s Council of the City shall provide mechanisms and policies on the development of science, technology, innovation and digital transformation in conformity with the development conditions of the Capital and the following requirements:

a/ Science, technology, innovation and digital transformation shall be integrated into the formulation of policies on, and state management and development of, socio-economic sectors and fields of the Capital; priority shall be given to addressing major issues of the City; and exceptional policies shall be adopted to attract and employ human resources for science, technology, innovation and digital transformation;

b/ Priority shall be given to the implementation of the regulatory sandbox mechanism in the fields of science, technology, innovation and digital transformation as a basis for application of effective models nationwide;

c/ Risk management shall be performed in science, technology, innovation and digital transformation activities in the City;

d/ State budget funds for science, technology, innovation and digital transformation shall be allocated and used in a flexible, timely, effective and transparent manner, based on outcomes associated with economic growth objectives, development of the digital economy and digital society, and improvement of productivity and urban management efficiency.

2. The People’s Council of the City shall provide:

a/ Preferential and support mechanisms and policies for infrastructure development and organisations operating in the fields of science, technology, innovation and digital transformation in the City;

b/ Preferential and support mechanisms and policies for scientific research and technological development; technology transfer and intellectual property rights protection; innovative entrepreneurship, innovation, digital transformation, and commercialisation of scientific and technological products and research outcomes; production, trading and export of digital technology products; and development of digital assets;

c/ The establishment, organisational structure, operation and management of the Science, Technology and Innovation Development Fund of the City;

d/ The establishment, organisational structure, operation and management of the Venture Capital Fund using the City’s budget to invest in innovative entrepreneurship and support the innovative start-up ecosystem; and the allocation of the City’s budget for contribution to the charter capital to the Venture Capital Fund.

The management and use of capital sources of the Venture Capital Fund must follow market principles, accept risks, and ensure publicity, transparency and efficiency;

dd/ The use of science and technology development funds of enterprises, organisations and public non-business units to make contributions to the Science, Technology and Innovation Development Fund of the City; and priority policies in support of enterprises, organisations and public non-business units that have contributed to the Science, Technology and Innovation Development Fund of the City for the implementation of projects and schemes on development of science, technology and innovation;

e/ Cases involving direct assignment or contractor appointment for tasks and projects on science, technology, innovation and digital transformation, and digital technology application projects funded by the City’s budget;

g/ The establishment of, or participation in the establishment of, enterprises; participation in the management and administration of, and the contribution of capital to, enterprises for the commercialisation of scientific research and technological development outcomes under intellectual property rights of public higher education institutions, public vocational education institutions and other public science and technology organisations under the City’s management, and of public employees working at such institutions and organisations.

3. The People’s Committee of the City has the competence to:

a/ Provide lump-sum expenditure mechanisms in the performance of science, technology and innovation tasks funded by the City’s budget;

b/ Provide the mobilisation and use of resources from donations, support, public-private partnership and other forms in the field of science, technology, innovation and digital transformation;

c/ Provide advanced governance methods based on digital data, application of digital technology and artificial intelligence; and mechanism for public-private data sharing under data exploitation contracts;

d/ Provide safety assurance, risk management, and the application of artificial intelligence in the state management work in the City;

dd/ Promulgate technical regulations and declare standards in various fields for application in the City that are higher than or not yet provided in national technical regulations or standards; and select, recognise and apply advanced and modern international, regional and foreign standards.

The implementation of this Point’s provisions must ensure interoperability and technical, managerial and data connectivity with central-level state management agencies, other localities and the system of national technical regulations and standards; and must not pose barriers to production, business and trade activities.

4. Organisations and individuals performing science, technology, innovation and digital transformation tasks funded by the City’s budget may apply fast-track contractor appointment procedures to select service and goods providers, except cases of direct procurement in accordance with law.

5. Expenditures for research and development activities of enterprises, organisations and non-business units in the City in accordance with law shall be included in deductible expenses upon the determination of taxable income at a rate of 200% of actual costs, ensuring that, after applying such expenditure levels, the enterprises, organisations or non-business units do not suffer loss.

The use of science and technology development funds of enterprises, organisations and non-business units as specified in Point dd, Clause 2 of this Article shall be considered proper in accordance with the law on science, technology and innovation.

Article 19. Regulatory sandbox mechanism

1. The People’s Council of the City shall provide:

a/ Criteria and conditions for selection, and the order and procedures for permitting, adjusting, terminating and completing the implementation of the regulatory sandbox mechanism for technologies, processes, solutions, products, services, new business models and other models;

b/ Mechanisms for guiding and controlling the implementation of the regulatory sandbox mechanism; mechanisms for protecting participants in the regulatory sandbox mechanism; and the rights, obligations and responsibilities of agencies, organisations and individuals during the implementation of the regulatory sandbox mechanism;

c/ Policies to encourage, support and finance activities involving the implementation of the regulatory sandbox mechanism; funding sources for the operation of agencies, organisations and individuals participating in the approval, guidance and control of the implementation of the regulatory sandbox mechanism; and the use of databases of state agencies, infrastructure and public assets to facilitate the implementation of the regulatory sandbox mechanism;

d/ Priority policies for procurement and investment from the City’s budget and support for market development for regulatory sandbox projects that are assessed as effective.

2. The People’s Committee of the City has the following tasks and powers:

a/ To decide to permit the implementation of the regulatory sandbox mechanism and promulgate pilot regulations for each regulatory sandbox project; to decide on temporary non-application of certain provisions within the limited scope of the regulatory sandbox mechanism for specific projects in case such provisions are not specific enough or no longer appropriate; to adjust the scope of the regulatory sandbox mechanism, suspend, extend or terminate implementation of the regulatory sandbox mechanism;

b/ To notify related state management agencies; to guide and control the process of implementation of the regulatory sandbox mechanism;

c/ To report to the People’s Council of the City on the progress and results of the implementation of the regulatory sandbox mechanism; to propose competent agencies to improve laws in relevant fields and contents.

3. The implementation of the regulatory sandbox mechanism must satisfy the requirements on national defence, security, social order and safety, public interests, and protection of interests of persons participating in the implementation of the regulatory sandbox mechanism.

Article 20. Development of hi-tech parks

1. Hi-tech parks in the City include hi-tech parks, digital technology parks, hi-tech agricultural zones, and other types of concentrated and linked zones for the application and development of high technologies in various fields.

2. The People’s Council of the City shall provide:

a/ The establishment, adjustment, construction investment, management and development of hi-tech parks; and the functions and tasks of hi-tech parks;

b/ Incentive and support mechanisms and policies and support resources for the development of infrastructure of hi-tech parks, investment projects and activities in hi-tech parks;

c/ Mechanisms, policies and models on the management and governance of hi-tech parks, and other contents serving the development of hi-tech parks in the City;

d/ Mechanisms and policies for the development of hi-tech urban areas in the City.

3. The Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park is the country’s and the Capital’s key area for hi-tech research, development, testing and application, training of hi-tech human resources, production of hi-tech products and innovation; and is a place for testing and pilot implementation of mechanisms and policies on the management and development of high technologies and hi-tech parks nationwide.

4. The agency managing the City’s hi-tech parks shall perform state management functions and other functions regarding hi-tech parks in accordance with regulations of the People’s Committee of the City.

Chapter VI

RESOURCES FOR DEVELOPMENT OF THE CAPITAL

Article 21. Management and use of finances and budgets

1. The central budget shall provide target transfers to the City’s budget with the whole increased amounts from shared revenues between the central budget and the City’s budget as compared to the estimates assigned by the Prime Minister, after having paid bonuses for amounts exceeding the estimated revenues in accordance with the law on the state budget, for:

a/ Revenues from corporate income tax (excluding corporate income tax from oil and gas exploration and extraction activities and top-up corporate income tax in accordance with the Global Anti-Base Erosion Model Rules);

b/ Revenues from personal income tax;

c/ Revenues from excise tax, excluding refunded excise tax amounts (if any) and excise tax amounts from imported goods;

d/ Revenues from environmental protection tax.

2. The central budget shall provide target transfers to the City’s budget with the whole increased amounts from the revenue amounts totally belonging to the central budget in the City as compared to the estimates assigned by the Prime Minister, for:

a/ Revenues from export duty, import duty and top-up import duty;

b/ Revenues from excise tax on imported goods;

c/ Charges from services performed by central-level state agencies (excluding charges from oil and gas exploration and extraction activities). Charges collected from services performed by public non-business units and organisations assigned by competent agencies to provide public services shall be remitted into the state budget in accordance with law;

d/ Fees collected by central-level state agencies, excluding the registration fee in accordance with the law on the state budget.

3. The central budget’s target transfers to the City’s budget as specified in Clause 1 or 2 of this Article must not exceed the total increased amounts of central budget revenues in the City as compared to the previous year’s actual revenues and must ensure that the central budget does not suffer revenue shortfall. The determination of the target transfers shall be based on the total of revenues but not each revenue. When necessary, the Government shall decide on an appropriate level of target transfers in conformity with state budget administration requirements, ensuring the leading role of the central budget.

The revenues specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article exclude revenues not assigned to the City for collection management, revenues not arising in the City but only accounted for payment in the City, revenues permitted by competent authorities for use for specific expenditure items, accounting entries of revenue and expenditure, and revenues retained by spending units for management through the state budget in accordance with law.

The revenues specified in Points a, c, d and dd, Clause 4 of this Article may not be used for determination of balancing transfers from the central budget to the City’s budget.

4. The City’s budget is entitled to retain the whole of the following revenues:

a/ Land use levy under the City’s management;

b/ Land rental under the City’s management;

c/ Revenues from carbon credit transactions and greenhouse gas emission reduction results under programmes and projects under the carbon credit exchange and offset mechanisms funded by the City’s budget;

d/ Revenues from charges and fees promulgated by the People’s Council of the City that are not on the list of charges and fees provided by the law on charges and fees;

dd/ Other revenues specified in this Law and not yet specified in the law on the state budget.

5. The People’s Council of the City has the competence to:

a/ Specify items of expenditures from the funding source for implementation of the City’s salary policies;

b/ Specify items of expenditures from the source of the City’s increased budget revenues, the source for payment of bonuses for amounts exceeding estimates of shared revenues between the central budget and the City’s budget, and the source of target transfers from the central budget’s increased revenues as specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article, in addition to the expenditure items specified in the law on the state budget;

c/ Provide the issuance of municipal bonds, project bonds, construction bonds, urban bonds and green bonds; and the borrowing of loans from credit institutions and the state treasury;

d/ Provide financial autonomy in terms of administrative management expenditures for state agencies, agencies of the Communist Party of Vietnam, and agencies of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committees at all levels under the City’s management;

dd/ Provide the provision of guarantee for public non-business units under the City’s management to borrow loans from credit institutions for procurement of hi-tech equipment;

e/ Provide the arrangement, reorganisation and establishment of off-budget state financial funds, and the reform of their organisational models and operational mechanisms into multi-purpose and multi-functional ones, ensuring streamlined structure and efficiency;

g/ Provide, or assign the People’s Committee of the City to provide, regimes, standards, norms and lump-sum expenditure mechanisms for other expenditure items funded by the City’s budget that are different from or not yet provided in documents of superior state agencies;

h/ Provide the use by commune-level People’s Councils of commune-level budgets to support other commune-level administrative units in the City;

i/ Provide the allocation of public investment capital within the total capital amount under the annual public investment plan to perform planning tasks, investment preparation tasks and project implementation tasks for projects included in the medium-term public investment list, account-finalisation of completed projects and urgent projects when emergency orders are approved by competent persons, regardless of the annual capital level assigned to each project; and the allocation of funds from the recurrent expenditure source to proactively allocate and assign estimates for the performance of planning tasks, investment preparation tasks, account-finalisation of completed projects and other necessary tasks in the budget year.

The allocation of capital must meet the requirements on discipline and order in the disbursement of funds and must not give rise to capital construction arrears;

k/ Decide on the structure of the City’s budget expenditures in conformity with local socio-economic development tasks; and the use of budget surpluses and budget funds of the City;

l/ Decide on the use of the City’s budget to implement investment projects, works and projects outside the City;

m/ Decide on the use of the City’s budget to support central agencies and other localities in the country or foreign countries.

6. The People’s Committee of the City has the competence to:

a/ Promulgate techno-economic norms and cost norms in various fields; unit prices and prices for non-business services applicable to the Capital that are not yet provided in or are different from regulations of central-level state agencies, except prices and service prices falling within the competence of the People’s Council of the City in accordance with this Law and other relevant laws;

b/ Decide on the establishment, and promulgate regulations on the management and use of, the Capital’s Reward Fund in accordance with regulations of the People’s Council of the City.

The financial sources of the Reward Fund come from increased amounts of annual tax and charge revenues compared to the City’s budget estimates and other lawful financial sources as decided by the People’s Council of the City;

c/ Decide on flexible management of the use of the City’s budget for development investment expenditure and recurrent expenditures within the City’s total budget approved annually by the People’s Council of the City, and report thereon to the People’s Council of the City at the nearest session and at the year-end regular session.

Article 22. Investment-related competence

1. The People’s Council of the City has the competence to:

a/ Decide on investment policy for public investment projects and PPP projects subject to the National Assembly’s investment policy decision and funded by the budget and other lawful sources of the City, except investment projects on nuclear power plants;

b/ Decide on investment policy for public investment projects and PPP projects in the City that are funded by the central budget, official development assistance (ODA) or concessional foreign loans and are subject to investment policy decision by the National Assembly or the Prime Minister when assigned by the National Assembly or the Prime Minister; decide on adjustments to investment policy for public investment and PPP projects for which investment policy has been decided by the National Assembly or the Prime Minister and for which the People’s Committee of the City has been assigned to act as the managing agency, provided that such adjustments do not result in an increase in investment capital from the central budget, ODA or foreign concessional loans.

2. The Chairperson of the People’s Committee of the City has the competence to:

a/ Decide on investment policy for projects falling within the competence of the People’s Committee of the City in accordance with the laws on public investment and investment in the form of public-private partnership;

b/ Approve investment policy for investment projects subject to investment policy approval in accordance with the law on investment, except investment projects on nuclear power plants, investment projects of foreign investors in the fields of provision of telecommunications services with network infrastructure, publication and press, projects in the fields of national defence and security classified as top secret, and projects in hi-tech parks and other functional zones in the City in accordance with the law on investment.

3. For the investment projects specified in Clause 4, Article 3 of this Law for which it is required to apply special mechanisms and policies that are different from those provided in laws and resolutions of the National Assembly or ordinances and resolutions of the National Assembly Standing Committee, the People’s Council of the City may, after obtaining consent of competent authorities and consulting central-level competent agencies, decide on such special mechanisms and policies. The People’s Council of the City shall report thereon to the National Assembly Standing Committee and to the National Assembly at the nearest sessions.

4. The selection of investors for implementation of projects and contractors for implementation of bidding packages of projects specified in Clause 4, Article 3 of this Law may be conducted in the form of selection of investors and contractors in special cases.

5. The People’s Council of the City shall provide:

a/ Dossiers, appraisal contents, order and procedures for deciding on investment policy, approving investment policy, adjusting investment policy, and approving adjustments to investment policy for the projects specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article, as well as public investment projects and PPP projects subject to investment policy decision by the People’s Council of the City, and projects attracting strategic investors;

b/ Criteria, conditions, dossiers, order and procedures for selecting investors and contractors as specified in Clause 4 of this Article;

c/ Cases, competence, order and procedures for implementing urgent investment projects and issuing orders for urgent work construction in the City;

d/ Criteria, conditions, order and procedures for identifying projects that need to be implemented immediately as specified in Point a, Clause 4, Article 3 of this Law, for submission to competent authorities for consideration and decision.

6. For projects decided or approved by competent agencies of the City in accordance with the laws on public investment, investment, investment in the form of public-private partnership, housing, and bidding, that are determined as delayed by the effective date of this Law, the People’s Council of the City shall provide or decide on special policies and measures that are different from those specified by law, in order to remove difficulties and obstacles, ensuring compliance with the following principles and requirements:

a/ There must be inspection or examination conclusions or legally effective court judgments, identifying that the violations or wrongdoings are attributable to the fault of state management agencies, or jointly attributable to state management agencies and investors or project owners; competent authorities shall consider removing difficulties and obstacles only in case the projects remain delayed even though such conclusions or judgments have been implemented;

b/ For projects currently undergoing criminal, administrative or civil proceedings, this Clause may only be applied after there is a legally effective judgment or a decision to terminate the case; in case the legally effective judgment provides handling measures different from those in regulations issued by the People’s Council of the City under this Clause, the judgment shall prevail;

c/ Violators shall be strictly handled in accordance with the Party’s regulations and the State’s laws, ensuring remediation of consequences of economic violations and recovery of material benefits obtained through violations; wrongdoings shall not be legalised while preventing occurrence of new wrongdoings; examination and supervision shall be carried out, and organisations and individuals that take advantage of the implementation of this Clause for committing corruption or negative practices or concealing violations shall be strictly handled;

d/ Ensuring conformity with objective realities and specific historical circumstances; ensuring the balance between the State’s interests, lawful rights and interests of related parties, and legitimate interests of bona fide third parties in the overall national interests in accordance with law; ensuring security and social order and safety, and minimising disputes and complaints, especially those involving foreign elements;

dd/ Projects shall be classified according to the criterion on cause of delay; solutions shall be decided in conformity with the legal status, financial obligations, extent of violations, and probability of continued implementation of each project;

e/ Project information shall be fully disclosed, including difficulties and obstacles, and all procedures and decisions related to project handling; reports shall be sent to the Government before December 31 every year in case of application of policies and measures different from those provided in regulations of the Government, the Prime Minister, ministers or heads of ministerial-level agencies, or to the National Assembly Standing Committee in case of application of policies and measures different those provided in regulations of the National Assembly or the National Assembly Standing Committee;

g/ The handling of delayed projects under this Clause shall be completed before July 1, 2030.

Article 23. Management, use and exploitation of public assets and infrastructure assets

1. Within the scope of the City’s management, the People’s Committee of the City shall provide:

a/ The management, use, operation and exploitation of public assets at public non-business units for commercial purpose, lease, joint venture, association or other purposes;

b/ The lease, lease-purchase or purchase of works and assets invested in, constructed or created from business investment activities or from non-state budget sources for the purpose of management, use, operation, exploitation or formation of public assets, serving socio-economic development, provision of public services and products, social welfare and other public purposes;

c/ The transfer of the right to collect use charges, the definite-term transfer of the exploitation right, lease of the exploitation right, or other forms in the management, use, operation and exploitation of infrastructure assets, works and other public assets invested in and managed by the State, or the works and assets specified in Point b of this Clause.

2. The promulgation and implementation of the provisions of Clause 1 of this Article must adhere to the following principles:

a/ Effective and proper management, use, operation and exploitation of assets in conformity with their functions, standards, norms and regimes; prevention and combat of corruption, waste, negative practices, group interests and localism;

b/ Equality and voluntariness in agreements with project owners or owners of works and assets in the lease, lease-purchase or purchase of works and assets invested in, constructed or created from business investment activities or from non-state budget sources;

c/ Disclosure of information and contractual commitments on the transfer of the right to collect use charges, the definite-term transfer of the exploitation right, lease of the exploitation right or other forms in the management, use, operation and exploitation of infrastructure assets, works and other public assets, except confidential information as defined by law;

d/ Assurance of supervision, inspection, examination and audit; and timely and strict handling of violations in accordance with law.

Article 24. Management, protection and use of natural resources

1. Cases of land recovery in the City:

a/ Cases of land recovery as specified by the land law;

b/ Land recovery for the implementation of socio-economic development projects serving national or public interests as specified in Point a, Clause 4, Article 3 of this Law;

c/ Land recovery in areas adjacent to roads and urban railway stations and depots simultaneously with land recovery for the construction of new roads or urban railways or the expansion of existing roads under relevant master plans.

2. The People’s Council of the City has the competence to:

a/ Provide land allocation, land lease and land repurposing; and land use levy and land rental exemption or reduction.

Land repurposing must comply with land use master plans and plans, ensure publicity, transparency and efficiency, and must not result in losses, corruption, waste, negative practices, group interests or localism;

b/ Provide the contribution of land use rights and readjustment of certain land areas for urban and rural embellishment and reconstruction under the Capital’s master plan;

c/ Provide policies on compensation and support upon land recovery by the State;

d/ Provide the use of riverbank and alluvial areas for construction of works and housing at appropriate ratios under the Overall Master Plan on the Capital, dyke and flood preparedness master plans of rivers with dykes, and other relevant master plans; and the construction of works reserved for public spaces and public-utility works in the remaining riverbank and alluvial areas without raising the elevation of such areas so as not to obstruct water flows;

dd/ Provide the use and exploitation of agricultural land areas in riverbank and alluvial areas along rivers with dykes for agricultural production, eco-agriculture production, and agriculture combined with tourism and experiential education, ensuring that construction on such agricultural land complies with dyke and flood preparedness master plans and other relevant master plans;

e/ Specify conditions, order and procedures for issuance of construction permits, types of works and proportion of agricultural land areas permitted to be used for construction of works directly serving agricultural production, processing, preservation, display and introduction of products, tourism landscapes and experiential education in agricultural production areas;

g/ Provide the management, protection, exploitation, use and sustainable development of all forest areas in the City, ensuring consistency and connectivity of ecosystems, in close association with inter-regional ecological spaces;

h/ Provide the development of urban greeneries under relevant master plans for land areas managed by the State’s agencies or organisations but not yet allocated, leased or used;

i/ Decide on land use indicators;

k/ Decide on cases of land recovery as specified in Points b and c, Clause 1 of this Article.

The land recovery must ensure the harmony of interests of people, the State and enterprises, must not result in losses, corruption, waste, negative practices, group interests or localism, and must ensure security and social order and safety.

3. The People’s Committee of the City shall specify the order and procedures for land recovery as referred to in Points b and c, Clause 1 of this Article.

Article 25. Attraction, employment and development of human resources

1. The People’s Council of the City shall provide policies on attraction, employment, training, further training and development of high-quality human resources for agencies, organisations, units and enterprises in the City, including:

a/ Policies on income, salary, bonus and other remuneration regimes;

b/ Policies on housing, residence and necessary working conditions;

c/ Specific mechanisms to attract and employ experts, scientists, managers, chief engineers, chief architects and persons with high qualifications and expertise in the Capital’s sectors prioritised for development;

d/ Policies on the development of human resources for the digital technology industry and other key sectors.

2. The People’s Council of the City shall provide policies and the use of the City’s budget to:

a/ Provide funding support and invest in physical facilities and equipment for key education and training institutions in the City;

b/ Social policies on housing for cadres, civil servants and public employees in the City;

c/ Provide part of funding for training, further training and improvement of professional qualifications, expertise and occupational skills at home and at overseas training institutions for cadres, civil servants, public employees and workers under the City’s management;

d/ Invest in the modernisation of key and high-quality colleges up to regional or international standards in line with priority sector development orientations; and implement tuition support policies for learners pursuing key occupations and professions and those approaching regional and international advanced levels.

Article 26. Investment attraction, incentives and support, and enterprise development

1. Investment projects in the City that are eligible for incentives and support include:

a/ Investment projects in the field of sports; projects on establishment of cultural industry centres; and projects in cultural industries on the lists decided by the People’s Committee of the City;

b/ Investment projects on establishment of early childhood education institutions, high-quality education institutions and multi-level education institutions; early childhood institutions and general education institutions in areas with socio-economic difficulties; and training institutions for persons with disabilities and disadvantaged children;

c/ Investment projects on establishment of high-quality and modern medical examination and treatment establishments; and medical examination and treatment establishments in areas with socio-economic difficulties;

d/ Investment projects in non-public social assistance establishments, private drug rehabilitation facilities, and facilities providing home- or community-based voluntary drug rehabilitation services;

dd/ Projects on high technology, information technology, digital technology, innovation and innovative entrepreneurship in science and technology fields of the Capital;

e/ Projects applying high and advanced technologies in the fields of environmental protection, climate change response and waste and wastewater treatment; projects on construction and commercial operation of hi-tech infrastructure; hi-tech agriculture projects; projects on the development of traditional craft villages; and projects investing in animal slaughter facilities meeting national standards on veterinary hygiene.

2. Enterprises, organisations and individuals implementing the projects specified in Points a, b, c, dd and e, Clause 1 of this Article are entitled to the following incentives and support:

a/ Exemption from land rental and water surface rental for 10 years, and a 50% reduction of land rental and water surface rental for the remaining term of a project.

Innovative start-up enterprises, science and technology organisations, and intermediary organisations supporting innovative entrepreneurship are entitled to a 50% reduction of rental for production and business premises at the City’s innovation centres;

b/ Income from project implementation is entitled to a corporate income tax rate of 5%, including exemption from corporate income tax for 4 years and a 50% reduction of payable income tax amounts for the subsequent 9 years.

The period of tax exemption or reduction for income of enterprises implementing the investment projects under this Clause shall be calculated from the first year in which taxable income is generated from an investment project.

3. Enterprises, organisations and individuals investing in the projects specified in Point d, Clause 1 of this Article are entitled to the following incentives and support:

a/ Exemption from land use levy upon establishment; exemption from corporate income tax for income from activities of non-public social assistance establishments, private drug rehabilitation facilities and facilities providing home- or community-based voluntary drug rehabilitation services;

b/ Loan interest rate support from the City’s budget for the first 5 years in accordance with regulations of the People’s Council of the City;

c/ Support amounts and donations from organisations and enterprises for activities of counselling, communication, drug prevention and control, drug rehabilitation, development of new models for drug rehabilitation and post-rehabilitation management, and amounts as encouragement for enterprises, organisations and individuals that have recorded achievements in drug prevention and control shall, when accounted, be regarded as lawful expenses of enterprises.

Support amounts and donations from individuals for activities of counselling, communication, drug prevention and control, drug rehabilitation, development of new models for drug rehabilitation and post-rehabilitation management, and amounts as encouragement for organisations and individuals that have recorded achievements in drug prevention and control shall be deducted from taxable income for individuals residing in the City.

4. Enterprises, organisations and individuals investing in underground car park or multi-storey car park projects are entitled to the following incentives and support:

a/ Exemption from land rental and underground space use levy for the entire project duration;

b/ Support equal to 100% of payable import duty amounts for equipment and technological lines directly serving such projects using high technology;

c/ Use of up to 25% of the total floor area of a project under relevant master plans, for investment in and provision of services supporting car parking activities;

d/ Loan interest rate support from the City’s budget for the first 5 years in accordance with regulations of the People’s Council of the City.

5. Strategic investors are entitled to the following incentives and support:

a/ Land rental and water surface rental exemption or reduction under regulations of the People’s Council of the City;

b/ Priority regime in customs and tax procedures in accordance with law for exported and imported goods of investment projects implemented in the City when meeting the conditions for application of the priority regime in accordance with the customs and tax laws, except conditions on import-export turnover;

c/ Support for human resource development; infrastructure and social infrastructure works; support for payment of costs of hi-tech products; support for research and development;

d/ Other incentives and support as decided by the People’s Council of the City to meet urgent requirements in attracting strategic investors.

6. Innovative start-up enterprises in the field of science and technology of the Capital are entitled to the following incentives and support:

a/ Exemption from corporate income tax for 5 years from the time taxable income amounts are generated for income from innovative start-up activities of innovative start-up enterprises, science and technology organisations, innovation centres and intermediary organisations supporting innovative entrepreneurship in the City;

b/ Exemption from personal income tax and corporate income tax for individuals and organisations earning income from the transfer of capital contributions or the right to contribute capital to innovative start-up enterprises in the City;

c/ Exemption from certain criteria in the evaluation of prequalification dossiers, bid dossiers and dossiers of proposals regarding capacity and experience of contractors when participating in bidding for bidding packages of the City, including requirements on revenue, financial resources and similar contracts and other requirements, as suitable to the specific characteristics of innovative start-up enterprises.

Upon the evaluation and ranking of bid dossiers and dossiers of proposals, contractors that are innovative start-up enterprises operating in the City are entitled to incentives like contractors supplying goods with domestic production costs accounting for 25% or more as specified by the bidding law; methods of calculation of incentives must comply with law.

7. Individuals participating in science, technology and innovation activities of the City are entitled to the following incentives and support:

a/ Exemption from personal income tax for 5 years for income from salaries and wages of experts, scientists, persons with special talents and innovative start-up individuals working in innovative start-up enterprises, science and technology organisations, innovation centres and intermediary organisations supporting innovative entrepreneurship in the City;

b/ Income from the performance of key science and technology tasks of the Capital, as included in the lists decided by the People’s Committee of the City, which is not liable to personal income tax.

Key science and technology fields of the Capital include digital technology, information and communications technology, biotechnology, new materials technology, manufacturing-automation technology, environmental technology, carbon emission reduction, and climate change response and other fields as decided by the People’s Council of the City.

8. The People’s Council of the City shall provide:

a/ The list of sectors and trades prioritised for attraction of strategic investors of the Capital; and criteria and conditions of strategic investors;

b/ Cases in which strategic investors are not entitled to incentives due to failure to meet the conditions on capital and capital disbursement progress or other conditions, and failure to fulfil commitments to the City; and the obligation to refund the received incentive amounts;

c/ Criteria, conditions, dossiers, order and procedures for implementing incentives and support as specified in Clauses 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 of this Article, and other incentives and support based on the City’s budget capacity;

d/ Support policies for enterprises in the private economic sector in the City based on business lines, tax and charge contributions and other state budget remittances; job placement outcomes; and fulfilment of corporate social responsibility.

9. Powers of the People’s Council of the City and the Chairperson of the People’s Committee of the City for the State-invested enterprises under the City’s management:

a/ The People’s Council of the City may decide on the list of enterprises in which the State holds shares or capital contributions and invests state capital in enterprises; and provide mechanisms for payment of salaries, remuneration and bonuses for the owner’s direct representatives, supervisors and representatives of state capital amounts in enterprises;

b/ The Chairperson of the People’s Committee of the City may decide on the investment of state capital in enterprises based on the list decided by the People’s Council of the City; investment capital sources include the local budget and after-tax profits retained for reinvestment and enterprise development; levels of salaries, remuneration and bonuses shall be based on evaluated business efficiency, productivity and capital preservation of enterprises.

Article 27. Development of free economic zones, free trade areas and new economic types

1. Free economic zones and free trade areas in the City shall be established by the People’s Committee of the City after being approved by the People’s Council of the City.

Mechanisms and policies on the organisation and operation of free economic zones and free trade areas must comply with regulations of the People’s Council of the City.

2. The People’s Council of the City shall provide the scope, conditions, sectors, trades, fields of operation, management measures, assurance of security and social order and safety, and other arising matters for the development of:

a/ Business investment activities for products and services serving the needs of the elderly, and supporting and promoting the employment of elderly persons, in association with sustainable urban development, social security, healthcare, innovation and socio-economic development of the Capital and the Capital Region;

b/ Business investment activities for products and services organised and operated during the night time in order to effectively exploit urban potential and promote economic, cultural and tourism development;

c/ Business investment activities for products and services organised and operated in low-altitude spaces and high-altitude spaces;

d/ Urban economy, creative economy and service sectors with high added value; and business investment activities for new products and services.

Chapter VII

REGIONAL LINKAGE AND DEVELOPMENT

Article 28. Objectives and principles of regional linkage and development

1. Hanoi is the core, the centre of connectivity, the driving force for promoting linkage and development, and a growth pole of the Capital Region, the Red River Delta Region, the Northern Midlands and Mountainous Region and the country.

2. The State shall prioritise resources to promote regional linkage and development between Hanoi city and localities in the Capital Region (below referred to as Capital Region linkage and development), and between Hanoi city and other localities in the Red River Delta Region and the Northern Midlands and Mountainous Region (below referred to as regional linkage and development).

3. Regional linkage and development and Capital Region linkage and development must adhere to the following principles:

a/ Consensus, publicity, transparency, and balance of interests between Hanoi city and other localities;

b/ Coordination and linkage in development through linkage and development programmes, plans and projects;

c/ Ensuring consistency in the organisation of development spaces, investment in shared technical infrastructure, and implementation of regional linkage and development between Hanoi city and other localities; conformity with national-level master plans, the Overall Master Plan on the Capital, and provincial master plans.

4. The planning of and investment in regional linkage and development projects and Capital Region linkage and development projects must satisfy the following requirements:

a/ Linkage and unification on standards and technical regulations on transport infrastructure and shared infrastructure among localities;

b/ Coordination in the exploitation of mineral resources; management of the environment and water resources; treatment of air pollution and water pollution; and disease control;

c/ Development of production and supply chains for products and services in the fields of industry, agriculture, logistics, science, technology, education, training, healthcare, labour, culture and tourism.

Article 29. Investment in and management of regional linkage and development projects and Capital Region linkage and development projects

1. Proposal and implementation of regional linkage and development projects and Capital Region linkage and development projects:

a/ The People’s Committees of Hanoi city and related localities shall report to the same-level People’s Councils for consideration and consensus on the implementation of the projects;

b/ The People’s Committees of Hanoi city and the localities participating in the projects shall agree to select one provincial-level People’s Committee to act as the managing agency for implementation of the projects.

2. Central budget and local budget funds shall be allocated for the implementation of regional linkage and development projects and Capital Region linkage and development projects using state budget funds in accordance with the following provisions:

a/ The central budget shall allocate funds for the projects;

b/ Priority shall be given to allocating funds from the increased amounts of central budget revenues for investment in regional linkage and development projects and Capital Region linkage and development projects ahead of other programmes, tasks and projects;

c/ The Prime Minister shall decide on the list of projects eligible for the central budget’s support as specified in this Article at the proposal of the People’s Committee of Hanoi city.

3. Localities participating in the implementation of regional linkage and development projects and Capital Region linkage and development projects have the following rights:

a/ To apply the Law on the Capital and the documents implementing the Law on the Capital for the formulation, appraisal, approval and implementation of regional linkage and development projects and Capital Region linkage and development projects in accordance with resolutions of the provincial-level People’s Councils of such localities after reaching agreement with the People’s Council of Hanoi city;

b/ Localities in the Capital Region may use their budgets to invest directly in Capital Region linkage and development projects in other localities in the Capital Region in order to address issues relating to transport infrastructure, environment, clean water supply, water drainage and other works serving common interests.

4. The Capital Region Development Fund:

a/ The Capital Region Development Fund is an off-budget state financial fund established under the decision of the People’s Council of Hanoi city after reaching agreement with the provincial-level People’s Councils of the localities in the Capital Region;

b/ The Fund’s financial resources come from the central budget, budgets of localities in the Capital Region, resources from donations and support, and other lawful financial sources;

c/ The Fund shall be used to invest in Capital Region linkage and development projects, with priority given to regional-level projects on transport infrastructure and other important infrastructure, projects on environmental pollution treatment, mineral extraction, incident and disaster response, and disease control.

5. Localities engaged in regional linkage and development and Capital Region linkage and development have the following tasks and powers:

a/ To coordinate with Hanoi city in formulating, and organising the implementation of, programmes, plans and projects;

b/ To balance local budget funds for project implementation in the localities; to contribute funding for maintenance, repair and operation of shared infrastructure facilities corresponding to the level of use and benefits;

c/ To share environmental costs, including costs of control, mitigation and remediation of environmental pollution related to the localities;

d/ To provide information and data serving regional linkage and development and Capital Region linkage and development;

dd/ To coordinate with one another in supervision, examination and inspection of the implementation of regulations on regional linkage and development and Capital Region linkage and development.

Article 30. Environmental protection in the Capital Region

1. Coordination in environmental protection in the Capital Region must address inter-provincial issues, including management and improvement of air quality by affected air area; wastewater management by river basin and drainage systems; and solid waste management throughout the chain of waste generation, collection, transportation and treatment.

The People’s Committee of Hanoi city shall act as the coordinating body in the Capital Region coordination mechanism on environmental protection, on the basis of ensuring the harmony of interests, sharing of responsibilities and compliance with law.

2. The Capital Region coordination mechanism for environmental protection must have the following principal contents:

a/ Sharing, interconnection and joint use of data on the environment, waste sources and emission sources;

b/ Establishment of inter-regional environmental pollution monitoring and supervision systems;

c/ Formulation and implementation of regional environmental plans suitable to each environmental component;

d/ Coordination in examination, supervision, inspection, and handling of environmental violations relating to emission sources exerting inter-regional impacts;

dd/ Mobilisation, allocation and shared use of resources for tasks, schemes and projects on inter-regional environmental protection.

3. After reaching agreement with the provincial-level People’s Committees of the localities in the Capital Region, the People’s Committee of Hanoi city shall formulate coordination mechanisms, provide coordination contents, define responsibilities of stakeholders and adopt mechanisms for monitoring the implementation of regional coordination in environmental management.

4. On the basis of agreement among the localities within the Capital Region, Hanoi city and other localities in the Capital Region may provide environmental protection measures that are stricter than those in regulations of competent state agencies, specifically as follows:

a/ Provincial-level People’s Councils shall provide subjects and discharge thresholds of wastewater, dust and industrial emissions required to apply automatic and continuous monitoring measures; and higher environmental protection charge rates applicable to wastewater, dust and industrial emissions;

b/ Provincial-level People’s Committees shall provide environmental technical regulations on waste and roadmaps for application.

The promulgation of legal documents by the provincial-level People’s Councils and People’s Committees of other localities in the Capital Region as defined in this Clause must comply with the law on the promulgation of legal documents.

Chapter VIII

SUPERVISION, EXAMINATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY

Article 31. Responsibilities of the National Assembly, National Assembly agencies, National Assembly deputies’ delegations and National Assembly deputies

1. The National Assembly shall consider reports on implementation of the Law on the Capital at the proposal of the National Assembly Standing Committee or the Government.

2. The National Assembly Standing Committee shall:

a/ Oversee the implementation of the Law on the Capital;

b/ Decide to annul the whole or part of documents promulgated by the People’s Council of the City in accordance with this Law, in pursuance to law or to ensure national interests, national defence and security and external affairs;

c/ Consider reports of the People’s Council of the City on the implementation of the Law on the Capital.

3. The Ethnic Council and Committees of the National Assembly shall, within the ambit of their tasks and powers, oversee the implementation of specific mechanisms and policies and the promulgation of legal documents by the administration of the City under this Law; and propose competent agencies to handle issues arising in the course of implementation of the Law on the Capital.

4. Within the ambit of their tasks and powers, National Assembly deputies’ delegations and National Assembly deputies shall:

a/ Oversee the implementation of the Law on the Capital;

b/ Propose competent agencies to handle issues arising in the course of implementation of the Law on the Capital;

c/ Participate in improving mechanisms and policies on the building, development and protection of the Capital and the Capital Region.

Article 32. Responsibilities of the Government, the Prime Minister, ministries and ministerial-level agencies

1. The Government shall:

a/ Organise the monitoring, examination and inspection of the implementation of the Law on the Capital to ensure that the decentralisation and delegation of powers under this Law are carried out in a unified, lawful and effective manner;

b/ Direct the monitoring, evaluation and risk control regarding the implementation of the specific mechanisms and policies of the Capital.

2. The Prime Minister shall:

a/ Direct interdisciplinary coordination and handle inter-regional and interdisciplinary issues arising in the course of implementing the specific mechanisms and policies of the Capital;

b/ Suspend the implementation of the whole or part of documents promulgated by the People’s Council of the City in accordance with this Law; and suspend the implementation of, or annul, the whole or part of documents promulgated by the People’s Committee or the Chairperson of the People’s Committee of the City in accordance with this Law, in pursuance to law or to ensure national interests, national defence and security and foreign affairs.

3. Ministries and ministerial-level agencies shall:

a/ Perform sector- and field-based state management of activities in the City in accordance with regulations and in line with provisions on decentralisation and delegation of powers to the administration of the City;

b/ Coordinate with the People’s Committee of the City and provincial-level People’s Committees of the localities engaged in regional linkage and development activities and Capital Region linkage and development activities in formulating, organising the implementation of, and evaluating, specific mechanisms and policies;

c/ Provide professional guidance; examine and inspect the implementation of laws, and specific mechanisms and policies provided in this Law according to their competence;

d/ Propose the Prime Minister to suspend the implementation of, or annul, documents in accordance with Point b, Clause 2 of this Article.

Article 33. Responsibilities of the administration, agencies and organisations of the City

1. Within the ambit of their tasks and powers, People’s Councils, People’s Committees and Chairpersons of People’s Committees at all levels of the City shall:

a/ Promptly organise and ensure the implementation of the law on the Capital; and ensure resources for the implementation of the mechanisms and policies provided in this Law;

b/ Inspect, examine and supervise the implementation of the Law on the Capital within the scope of their management and bear responsibility for violations and weaknesses in the building, development and protection of the Capital;

c/ Ensure publicity and transparency and enhance accountability in the use of land areas, implementation of investment projects, administrative procedures and other contents as prescribed by law for the people to know, give their opinions and supervise the implementation of this Law;

d/ Refrain from delegation or authorisation for the powers provided in this Law, except the powers provided in Points b and c, Clause 3, Article 15 of this Law.

For the powers of the People’s Council, the People’s Committee and the Chairperson of the People’s Committee of the City provided in other legal documents, the delegation of powers and authorisation must comply with law.

2. The People’s Council of the City shall, within the ambit of its tasks and powers, implement Clause 1 of this Article, and has the following tasks and powers:

a/ To oversee the implementation of the Law on the Capital;

b/ To annually report on the implementation of the Law on the Capital to the National Assembly Standing Committee.

3. The People’s Committee of the City shall, within the ambit of its tasks and powers, implement Clause 1 of this Article, and has the following tasks and powers:

a/ To ensure safety and convenience for the activities of central bodies of the Party, the State, socio-political organisations, diplomatic missions and international organisations and for the organisation of national and international programmes and events in the City;

b/ To take the initiative in coordinating with and support localities in the Capital Region, the Red River delta, the northern midlands and mountainous region and the whole country through increasing forms of linkage and cooperation for mutual development;

c/ To create favourable conditions for agencies, organisations and individuals to effectively participate in the building, development and protection of the Capital;

d/ To propose the People’s Council of the City to consider and decide on the application of law in accordance with Clause 3, Article 5 of this Law;

dd/ To organise the evaluation of effectiveness of legal documents promulgated under Article 8 of this Law after 1 year of implementation; to conduct preliminary and final reviews of the implementation of such documents in accordance with law or at the request of the People’s Council of the City, the Prime Minister or the National Assembly Standing Committee;

e/ To annually report to the People’s Council of the City and the Government on the implementation of the Law on the Capital.

4. The Vietnam Fatherland Front Committees at all levels of the City and their member organisations shall conduct oversight and social criticism regarding the implementation of the Law on the Capital.

5. Within 7 days after promulgating a legal document under Article 8 or 9 of this Law, the People’s Council, the People’s Committee or the Chairperson of the People’s Committee of the City shall:

a/ Report to the National Assembly Standing Committee and the Government on matters falling within the competence of the National Assembly and the National Assembly Standing Committee;

b/ Report to the Government and the Prime Minister on matters falling within the competence of the Government and the Prime Minister;

c/ Report to ministries and ministerial-level agencies on matters falling within the competence of ministries and ministerial-level agencies.

6. Accountability of the administration of the City:

a/ To provide explanations at the request of competent state agencies about arising major issues that affect or impact the guarantee of national interests, national defence, security and external affairs, social order and safety, and the lawful rights and interests of organisations and individuals.

The content of explanations must cover the objectives, scope of impact, and evaluation of risks and socio-economic consequences of the application of specific mechanisms and policies; implementation results, efficiency of resource utilisation and impacts on the development of the Capital and national interests; and solutions to prevent, detect and handle limitations, shortcomings and wrongdoings arising in the course of exercising the powers and implementing specific mechanisms and policies;

b/ The content of explanations shall be publicised in accordance with law, ensuring the supervision by the people.

Article 34. Handling of violations, exclusion and exemption from legal liability

1. To strictly handle acts of corruption, personal gain seeking and harassment of cadres, civil servants and public employees, and other violations in the implementation of this Law.

2. Heads of agencies, organisations and units, cadres, civil servants, public employees, and persons participating in the formulation, promulgation and implementation of the Law on the Capital and documents promulgated under Articles 8 and 9 of this Law shall be excluded and exempted from legal liability in case they act without seeking personal gain and properly comply with the provisions on the competence, order and procedures during the performance of their tasks but damage still occurs.

Chapter IX

IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 35. Effect

1. This Law takes effect on July 1, 2026, except the case provided in Clause 2 of this Article.

2. Clause 4, Article 8 and Clause 6, Article 36 of this Law take effect on the date this Law is passed.

From the date this Law is passed, the formulation and promulgation of documents implementing the Law on the Capital must comply with this Law.

3. Law No. 39/2024/QH15 on the Capital, which has a number of articles amended and supplemented under Law No. 47/2024/QH15, Law No. 55/2024/QH15, Law No. 57/2024/QH15, Law No. 58/2024/QH15, Law No. 71/2025/QH15, Law No. 72/2025/QH15 and Law No. 95/2025/QH15, ceases to be effective on the effective date of this Law.

Article 36. Transitional provisions

1. Programmes, projects, schemes, tasks, master plans, plans, financial mechanisms, management mechanisms, autonomy mechanisms and off-budget state financial funds that have been approved and commence to be implemented before the effective date of this Law shall continue to be implemented under the promulgated decisions; in case they comply with the provisions of this Law, they shall be implemented under the mechanisms and competence provided in this Law without having to be re-approved.

2. Pilot, experimental and regulatory sandbox mechanisms and new governance models that are implemented before the effective date of this Law shall continue to be implemented under the approved plans; the People’s Council and the People’s Committee of the City may adjust the content, scope and duration of pilot implementation to ensure conformity with this Law without having to repeat the approval procedures.

3. Contents regarding administration organisation, apparatus organisation, the official-duty regime and job positions that are implemented before the effective date of this Law shall continue to be implemented until the People’s Council, the People’s Committee or the Chairperson of the People’s Committee of the City promulgates new regulations according to the competence provided in this Law.

4. Dossiers for settlement of administrative procedures that are complete and accurate and have been received by competent agencies before the effective date of this Law shall continue to be processed in accordance with law effective at the time of receipt.

5. Urban railway projects and TOD urban railway projects that undergo investment procedures in accordance with Resolution No. 188/2025/QH15 on pilot implementation of a number of specific and special mechanisms and policies to develop the urban railway network systems in Hanoi city and Ho Chi Minh City must continue to comply with such Resolution.

The People’s Council of Hanoi city shall decide on the adjustment and addition of urban railway projects in the City to the Appendix to Resolution No. 188/2025/QH15, based on the development demands of the City, and report on the implementation results to the Government.

6. Major and important projects that are being implemented under Resolution No. 258/2025/QH15 on pilot implementation of a number of specific mechanisms and policies to implement major and important projects in the Capital, before the effective date of this Law must continue to comply with Resolution No. 258/2025/QH15. In case investors or project owners fail to fully satisfy the conditions for construction commencement within 6 months from the commencement date specified in Clause 2, Article 5 of Resolution No. 258/2025/QH15, the People’s Council of the City shall consider and decide on the extension of the time limit for fully satisfying the conditions for construction commencement and bear responsibility therefor; the total extended duration must not exceed 6 months.

Major and important projects specified in Clause 2, Article 1 of Resolution No. 258/2025/QH15 that are implemented after the effective date of this Law must comply with this Law, unless the person competent to decide on investment policy or approve investment policy of the projects decides to apply Resolution No. 258/2025/QH15.

This Law was passed on April 23, 2026, by the 16^th National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam at its first session.-

Chairperson of the National Assembly
TRAN THANH MAN