- In which cases do investors have to conduct procedures for the application for Investment Policy Approval before implementing the project?
No. | Type of project | Authority | Legal basis |
1 | Investment projects with a great effect on the environment or with a potentially serious effect on the environment, including: - Nuclear power plants; - Investment projects with a requirement for conversion of the land use purpose of special use forest land, of upstream protective forest or of border protection forest of 50 hectares or more; or of the protective forest as a windbreak, shelter from flying sand, or breakwater/protection from sea encroachment of 500 hectares or more; or productive forest of 1,000 hectares or more. | National Assembly | Article 30 of the Law on Investment 2020 |
2 | Investment projects with a requirement for conversion of the land use purpose for wet rice cultivation on two harvests in an area of 500 hectares or more. | ||
3 | Investment projects with a requirement for relocation and resettlement of 20,000 people or more in mountainous areas or 50,000 people or more in other areas. | ||
4 | Investment projects which require the application of a special mechanism or policy need to be decided by the National Assembly. | ||
5 | Investment projects regardless of capital sources in any one of the following cases: - Investment projects with a requirement for relocation and settlement of 10,000 people or more in mountainous areas and 20,000 people in other areas; - Investment projects for new construction of airfields and airports; landing runways of airfields and airports; international passenger terminals; cargo terminals of airfields and airports with a capacity of 1 million more tonnes per year; - New investment projects for passenger aviation transport business; - Investment projects for new construction of ports and wharves of specialized seaports; investment in new construction of ports and wharves with a scale of investment capital of 2,300 billion dongs or more within the category of Grade 1 seaports; - Investment projects for processing of petroleum; - Investment projects which include the business of betting and casinos, excluding the business in electronic games with prizes reserved for foreigners; - Investment projects on construction of residential housing (for sale, lease or lease purchase) and urban areas that use at least 300 hectares of land or with a population of at least 50,000 people; - Investment projects for construction and commercial operation of infrastructure in industrial zones and export processing zones; - Investment projects regardless of the area of land used or population within the safety perimeter of relics of level I recognized by the competent authority as the national and special national relics; or within the safety perimeter of relics of level II recognized by the competent authority as the special national relics under the World Heritage List. | Prime Minister of the Government | Article 31 of the Law on Investment 2020 is guided, amended and supplemented by Article 3 of the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Public Investment, the Law on Investment in the form of public-private partnership, the Law on Investment, the Law on Housing, the Law on Procurement, the Law on Electricity, the Law on Enterprises, the Law on Special Excise Duty and the Law on Enforcement of Civil Judgments 2022 |
6 | Investment projects of foreign investors in the following sectors: business of telecommunications services with network infrastructure; afforestation; publication, press. | ||
7 | Investment projects, at the same time, fall within the authority of two or more provincial people's committees to provide the investment policy approval. | ||
8 | Other investment projects are subject to the authority of the Prime Minister of the Government to provide investment policy approval or to make an investment decision as stipulated by law. | ||
9 | Investment projects requesting the State to allocate or lease land not via an auction or tendering for or on receipt of an assignment of a land use right, and investment projects requesting permission to convert land use purpose, except for cases of land allocation, land lease or permission to convert land use purpose by family households or individuals not within the category requiring approval from the provincial people's committee as prescribed by the law on land; | Provincial People’s Committee | Article 32 of the Law on Investment 2020 is guided, amended and supplemented by Article 3 of the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Public Investment, the Law on Investment in the form of public-private partnership, the Law on Investment, the Law on Housing, the Law on Procurement, the Law on Electricity, the Law on Enterprises, the Law on Excise Tax and the Law on Enforcement of Civil Judgments 2022 |
10 | Investment projects on construction of residential housing (for sale, lease, or lease purchase) and urban areas that use less than 300 hectares of land or with a population of less than 50,000 people. | ||
11 | Investment projects for the construction and commercial operation of golf courses. | ||
12 | Investment projects of foreign investors and of economic organizations with foreign investment capital implemented on islands or on border or coastal communes, wards or towns, and in other areas affecting national defense and security. | ||
13 | With respect to the investment projects prescribed in sub-clauses (a), (b,) and (d) of clause 1 Article 32 of the Investment Law 2020 and implemented in an industrial zone, export processing zone, high-tech zone, or economic zone in conformity with the master plan approved by the competent level. | The management board of industrial zone, export processing zone, high-tech zone, or economic zone | Clause 2 Article 32 of the Law on Investment 2020 |
- What do the contents of the appraisal of the request for investment policy approval include?
According to Clause 33 of the Law on Investment 2020, the appraisal of the request for investment policy approval comprises the following:
- Assessment of the conformity of the investment project with national-level master planning, regional planning, provincial planning, urban planning, and special economic-administrative unit planning (if any);
- Assessment of the land use requirements;
- Preliminary assessment of the socio-economic efficiency of the project; and preliminary assessment of environmental impact (if any) in accordance with the law on the protection of the environment;
- Assessment of investment incentives and conditions for entitlement to same (if any);
- Evaluation of the technology to be used in the investment project in the case of a project subject to appraisal or collection of opinions on technology in accordance with the law on technology transfer;
- Assessment of conformity of the investment project with urban development objectives and orientation, and residential housing development programs and plans; preliminary plan for phasing of investment to ensure the requirements on synchronism; preliminary structure of residential housing products and part of the land fund reserved for social residential housing development; preliminary plan for investment in construction and management of urban infrastructure inside and outside the project fence in the case of projects for the construction of residential houses and urban areas.
Besides, in case contents of appraisal of the request for investment policy approval and at the same time for investor approval, pursuant to clause 4 Article 33 of the Law on Investment 2020, state competent agencies shall conduct a further appraisal of the following contents:
- Ability to satisfy the conditions for land allocation or land lease in the case of land allocation or land lease not via auction of the land use right or tendering for investor selection; ability to satisfy the conditions for conversion of the land use purpose in the case of a project requiring conversion of the land use right;
- Assessment of satisfaction of the market approach conditions applicable to foreign investors (if any);
- Other conditions applicable to the investor in accordance with relevant laws.
- Procedures for the appraisal of the request for investment policy approval
- Application for the appraisal of the request for investment policy approval: Pursuant to clause 1 and clause 2, Article 33 of the Law on Investment 2020.
- Procedures for investment policy approval:
+ Procedures for investment policy approval by the National Assembly: Pursuant to Article 34 of the Law on Investment 2020.
+ Procedures for investment policy approval by the Government's Prime Minister: Pursuant to Article 35 of the Law on Investment 2020.
+ Procedures for investment policy approval by Provincial People’s Commitee: Pursuant to Article 36 of the Law on Investment 2020.
- What are regulations relevant to the selection of investors?
Pursuant to clause 1 Article 29 of the Law on Investment 2020, the investor selection is conducted by any one of the following methods:
- Auction of the land use right in accordance with the law on land
Pursuant to clause 2 Article 29 of Law on Investment 2020, prior to selecting the investor by land use right auction, projects shall apply for investment policy approval (except where the project is not subject to investment policy approval). Auction of the land use right to select the investor shall ensure assurance of independence, honesty, publicity, transparency, equality, objectivity and compliance with the law on land and law on property auction.
Pursuant to clause 1 Article 119 of the Land Law 2013, conditions for holding an auction of land use rights upon land allocation or land lease by the State: The annual district-level land use plan approved by a competent state agency is available; The land has been cleared or is land with attached assets owned by the State; The plan for holding the auction of land use rights approved by a competent state agency is available.
Pursuant to clause 3 Article 29 of the Law on Investment 2020, if an auction of the land use right is held but only one person registers to participate in the auction or if the auction is unsuccessful, the competent agency shall conduct procedures to approve an investor if such investor satisfies the conditions prescribed in the relevant law.
- Bidding to select an investor in accordance with regulations of law on bidding
Similar to the auction of the land use right and prior to selecting the investor through tendering, projects shall apply for investment policy approval (except where the project is not subject to investment policy approval).
A land-using investment project is subject to investor selection uses land if it satisfies the following conditions in Article 11 of Decree 25/2020/ND-CP amended by Decree 31/2021/ND-CP:
+ Projects on construction of urban areas and commercial housing; office buildings; commercial and services works shall be classified in accordance with regulations of law on construction. In the case of a project having multiple functions, the determination of whether the project uses land shall be carried out based on its main work or main work at the highest level if the project has multiple main works in accordance with regulations of law on construction.
+ The project is on the approved list of projects on land that needs expropriating in accordance with regulations of law on land, located in a land area that is currently being managed or used by the State but will be allocated or leased out by the provincial People’s Committee or economic zone management board to the approved investor.
+ The project belongs to a residential housing development program or plan in accordance with regulations of law on housing; an urban development program (if any) in accordance with regulations of law on urban development.
+ The project conforms to the socio-economic development plan or construction planning on a scale of 1/2.000 or 1/5.000 (if any); or the urban zoning planning a scale of 1/2.000 or 1/5.000 as prescribed by law.
+ The project is not qualified to hold a land use right auction in accordance with regulations of law on land.
+ Not fall into cases including self-execution (as only one investor is satisfied) and contractor selection in special circumstances.
Note: If only one investor registers to participate in the bidding, the competent authority shall approve the investor when satisfying the relevant conditions.
- Approval of an investor as prescribed in clauses 3 and 4 of Article 29 of the Law on Investment 2020:
With respect to an investment project requiring investment policy approval, the competent agency shall approve the investment policy and concurrently approve an investor not via an auction or bidding in the following cases:
+ The investor has the land use right, except for the case of land resumption by the State for purposes of national defense and security or the State resumes the land for socio-economic development in the national or community interest in accordance with the law on land;
+ The investor receives an assignment of, a capital contribution portion or lease of an agricultural land use right to implement an investment project for non-agricultural production or business, and the land is not subject to land resumption by the State in accordance with the law on land;
+ The investor implements the investment project in an industrial zone or high-tech zone;
+ Other cases are not subject to an auction or tendering in accordance with the law.
