If the project has been invested for over 20 years, but when it expires, can it be extended in Vietnam? When is the duration of the investment project in Vietnam calculated from?

If the project has been invested for over 20 years, but when it expires, can it be extended in Vietnam? 

Based on Article 44 of the 2020 Investment Law regarding the duration of investment projects as follows:

1. The duration of an investment project inside an economic zone shall not exceed 70 years.

2. The duration of an investment project outside an economic zone shall not exceed 50 years. The duration of an investment project in a disadvantaged area or extremely disadvantaged area or a project with large investment capital but with slow rate of capital recovery may be longer but shall not exceed 70 years.

3. If an investment project uses land allocated or leased out by the State, but the transfer of land is delayed, the delay shall not be included in the project duration or execution schedule.

4. Upon expiry of the duration of an investment project, if the investor wishes to keep executing the investment project and satisfies the conditions as prescribed by law, the duration of the investment project may be extended but shall not exceed the maximum prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article, except for the following investment projects:

a) Investment projects using obsolete, environment threatening or resource-intensive technologies;

b) Investment projects in which the investor must transfer assets without reimbursement to the State of Vietnam or the Vietnamese side.

5. The Government shall elaborate this Article.

Therefore, according to the current regulations compared to the case you mentioned, the investor can still continue the investment and request an adjustment of the implementation time if it does not fall under the excluded cases above.

If the project has been invested for over 20 years, but when it expires, can it be extended in Vietnam? When is the duration of the investment project in Vietnam calculated from? (Image from the Internet)

When is the duration of the investment project in Vietnam calculated from?

Based on Article 27 of Decree 31/2021/ND-CP regarding the duration of investment projects as follows:

1. The duration of an investment project specified in Clauses 1 and 2 Article 44 of the Law on Investment begins from the date on which the investor is issued with the decision on investor approval, decision on approval for both investment guidelines and investor or the investment registration certificate for the first time. For the investment project which uses land allocated or leased out by the State or is permitted by the State to repurpose land, its duration begins from the date on which the investor is issued with the decision on land allocation, decision on land lease or decision on land repurposing. If the investor has obtained the decision on land allocation, decision on land lease or decision on land repurposing but the transfer of land is delayed, the duration of the investment project begins from the date on which land is transferred on site.Therefore, the time for calculating the operating period of this investment project is from the moment the above decisions are issued.

Best Regards!