PPP Projects Decided by the Competent Authority and Decision Procedures

PPP projects decided by competent authorities and the decision-making process. (Illustrative image)

According to the Law on Investment in the form of Public-Private Partnership 2020, regulations on competent authorities to formulate investment policies for PPP projects and the decision-making process for such policies are as follows:

First, regarding the policies under the authority of competent authorities:

1. The National Assembly decides the investment policies for PPP projects under one of the following criteria:- Use of public-private investment capital of VND 10,000 billion or more;- Major environmental impact or potential severe environmental impact, including: nuclear power plants; use of land requiring the conversion of special-use forests, headwater protection forests, border protection forests from 50 ha or more; windbreak, sand-fixation or sea dike protection forests from 500 ha or more; production forests from 1,000 ha or more;- Use of land requiring the conversion of rice cultivation land from 02 crops or more with a scale of 500 ha or more;- Resettlement of 20,000 people or more in mountainous areas, 50,000 people or more in other areas;- Projects requiring special mechanisms and policies that need the National Assembly's decision.

2. The Prime Minister of the Government of Vietnam decides investment policies for PPP projects:- Resettlement of 10,000 people or more in mountainous areas, 20,000 people or more in other areas;- Projects using central budget funds managed by Ministries, central agencies, with total investment equivalent to group A projects as per public investment laws, projects using ODA loans and concessional loans from foreign donors;- New construction investment: airports; airport runways; international airport passenger terminals; airport cargo terminals with a capacity from 01 million tons/year or more;- New construction investment: special seaport wharves, areas within special ports; wharves, areas within Class I ports with total investment equivalent to group A projects as per public investment laws.

3. Ministers, heads of central agencies, and other agencies decide investment policies for PPP projects within their management scope, except for projects specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article.

4. Provincial People's Councils decide investment policies for PPP projects within local management scope, except for projects specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article.

5. In case of adjustment of investment policies for PPP projects, the authority to decide on adjusting such policies must follow the provisions of Clause 2, Article 18 of this Law.

Second, the specific procedures for deciding investment policies for PPP projects are as follows:

1. Investment policies for PPP projects under the authority of the National Assembly:- The unit preparing the PPP project formulates a pre-feasibility study report to submit to the competent authority and concurrently sends it to the Ministry of Planning and Investment;- The Minister of Planning and Investment proposes that the Prime Minister of the Government of Vietnam establish a State Appraisal Council;- The State Appraisal Council appraises the pre-feasibility study report. If the project uses public investment, the appraisal of funding sources and capital balancing capacity complies with public investment laws;- The Government of Vietnam completes the dossier for submission to the National Assembly for consideration and decision;- National Assembly's agencies appraise the dossier submitted by the Government of Vietnam;- The National Assembly considers and passes a resolution on the investment policies for the project.

2. Investment policies for PPP projects under the authority of the Prime Minister of the Government of Vietnam:- The unit preparing the PPP project formulates a pre-feasibility study report to submit to the competent authority and concurrently sends it to the Ministry of Planning and Investment;- The Minister of Planning and Investment proposes that the Prime Minister of the Government of Vietnam establish an Inter-agency Appraisal Council;- The Inter-agency Appraisal Council appraises the pre-feasibility study report;- The Ministry of Planning and Investment presides over appraising funding sources and capital balancing capacity for the central budget portion in accordance with public investment laws if the project uses central budget funds; sends the report to the Inter-agency Appraisal Council;- The specialized investment management agency at the local level presides over appraising funding sources and capital balancing capacity for the local budget portion in accordance with public investment laws; sends the report to the Inter-agency Appraisal Council;- The Inter-agency Appraisal Council completes and sends the appraisal report to the competent authority;- The competent authority completes the dossier for submission to the Prime Minister of the Government of Vietnam for consideration and decision;- The Prime Minister of the Government of Vietnam decides the investment policies for the project.

3. Investment policies for PPP projects under the authority of Ministers, heads of central agencies, and other agencies:- The unit preparing the PPP project formulates a pre-feasibility study report to submit to the Ministers, heads of central agencies, and other agencies for consideration and decision;- The grassroots appraisal council or the assigned unit appraises the pre-feasibility study report;- The specialized public investment management agency under the Ministry, central agency, or other agency presides over appraising funding sources and capital balancing capacity for public investment capital in accordance with public investment laws, in case the PPP project uses public investment capital; sends the report to the grassroots appraisal council or the assigned unit;- The grassroots appraisal council or the assigned unit completes and sends the appraisal report to the unit preparing the PPP project;- The unit preparing the PPP project completes the dossier for submission to the Ministers, heads of central agencies, and other agencies for consideration and decision;- Ministers, heads of central agencies, and other agencies decide the investment policies for the project.

4. Investment policies for PPP projects under the authority of the Provincial People's Council:- The unit preparing the PPP project formulates a pre-feasibility study report to submit to the Provincial People's Committee;- The grassroots appraisal council or the assigned unit appraises the pre-feasibility study report;- The specialized public investment management agency at the local level presides over appraising funding sources and capital balancing capacity for public investment capital in accordance with public investment laws, in case the PPP project uses public investment capital; sends the report to the grassroots appraisal council or the assigned unit;- The grassroots appraisal council or the assigned unit completes and sends the appraisal report to the unit preparing the PPP project;- The unit preparing the PPP project completes the dossier for submission to the Provincial People's Committee to submit to the Provincial People's Council for consideration and decision;- The Provincial People's Council decides the investment policies for the project.

5. For PPP projects that use regular expenditure sources, lawful revenues intended for regular expenditures of the state agency, public service provider to pay for PPP project enterprises, or use the state budget reserve to pay for revenue reduction parts, financial agencies at all levels appraise the budget balancing capacity in accordance with the state budget laws, and send the reports to the PPP project appraisal council or the assigned unit for synthesis and submission to the competent authority for decision on investment policies.

More details can be found in Law on Investment in the form of Public-Private Partnership 2020, effective from January 1, 2021.

Thanh Thao

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