New Investment Law should cut red tape: NA

While discussing Government proposals as well as the verification report of the National Assembly Economic Committee, they concurred with the latter's assessment that a revised Investment Law was needed to improve policies and speed up administrative reforms.

The deputies also mentioned the need to enhance State management of investment, clarify the fields that the State prioritises for investment and improve investment certificate granting procedures.

The deputies proposed that the drafting committee examines other legal documents to ensure their provisions are consistent with the revisions proposed to the current Investment Law.

Deputy Vu Tien Loc and other deputies also remarked that amendments to the Enterprise Law and Investment Law would have a direct impact on the performance of all businesses in Vietnam.

They said they expect the revised investment law to offer "breakthrough solutions" for improving the business climate in Vietnam and help the country make full use of opportunities arising from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement currently under negotiation.

Loc wanted the drafting committee to consider eliminating several procedures related to investment registration and the issuance of investment certificates.

He suggested that the very need for an investment certificate could be removed except for projects that need to be strictly controlled by the State through rigorous registration procedures. The proposed revisions do not mention this distinction, he noted.

Loc said investors should have the right to invest in State-owned projects, but they should be strictly managed by authorised agencies to avoid harm to public benefit.

Agreeing with Loc, deputies Nguyen Phi Thuong and Mai Anh Tuyet said the revised law should also ensure that once investors fulfill conditions related to land-use incentives, they are not required to deal with further administrative procedures.

Deputies Le Cong Dinh and Nguyen Thi Nguyet Huong said the draft committee should make sure that the regulations on investment incentives are clear.

Deputy Nguyen Van Canh wanted the draft committee to clarify provisions on incentives for indigenous products saying this was of crucial importance for the domestic economy.

He said Vietnam has set itself the target of becoming an industrialised country by 2020, but it was still not making hi-tech products for export.

He said the government should clarify regulations regarding 100% locally-made products that are meant for local consumption or exports.

The ongoing seventh session of the National Assembly also passed the revised Law on Customs with 92.37% of the vote.

Consisting of eight chapters and 104 articles, the revised law aims to make the national Customs department a professional, modern, transparent and effective agency.

Environment law

Later in the afternoon, more than 86% of National Assembly deputies approved a draft revised Environment Protection Law.

The revised law contains 20 chapters and 170 articles stating that protecting the environment is the responsibility of all agencies, organisations, households and individuals.

It says that organisations and individuals who benefit from the environment are responsible for providing financial support for environment protection activities.

The law says that environmental protection should be in harmony with economic development, social protection, biodiversity preservation and adapting to climate change. It also says environment protection needs to be related to appropriate use of natural resources and waste reduction.

The new law also says that the national environment protection plan contains ans assessment of the current environmental status, environmental management, environmental and climate change forecast and waste management, among others.