Notable documents of Vietnam in the previous week (from October 14 to October 20, 2024)

10 vehicles exempted from expressway tolls in Vietnam from October 10, 2024 

On October 10, 2024, the Government of Vietnam promulgated Decree No. 130/2024/ND-CP on the collection of expressway tolls regarding vehicles traveling on road expressways under established all-people ownership managed and utilized by the State as the owner's representative. 

According to the Decree, vehicles exempted from expressway tolls when traveling on road expressways managed and utilized by the State as the owner's representative include: 

- Ambulances. 

- Fire trucks of police agencies for fire prevention, firefighting, and rescue and fire trucks of other forces mobilized for firefighting tasks with emergency signals under the law. 

- Specialized vehicles for national defense. 

- Specialized vehicles of units of the organizational system of People’s Public Security Forces. 

- Funeral vehicles. 

- Convoys led by traffic police vehicles. 

- Vehicles of national defense forces in drills, mobile operations, weapon transport, and transport of weapons and equipment led by military specialized vehicles. 

- Automobiles of public security and national defense forces using national road tickets. 

- Dike protection vehicles and vehicles on emergency tasks of preparing and managing storms under the mobilization of competent authorities. 

- Vehicles transporting medicines, machinery, equipment, supplies, and goods to areas subject to calamities or areas with epidemics according to the law on emergencies during major calamities and dangerous epidemics.  

See more details in Decree No. 130/2024/ND-CP, effective as of October 10, 2024. 

Expenditures not included in reasonable and valid costs for determining medical service prices in Vietnam 

On October 17, 2024, the Minister of Health of Vietnam promulgated Circular No. 21/2024/TT-BYT on the pricing of medical services.  According to the Circular, expenditures not included in reasonable and valid costs for determining medical service prices include:  

- Expenditures not included in reasonable and valid costs for determining medical service prices shall comply with the current law on non-deductible expenditures when determining taxable income to calculate corporate income tax and other expenditures not included in the costs for establishing service costs according to relevant legal documents; 

- Other costs guaranteed by the state budget under the law, including the following allowances:

+ Preferential allowances, attractive allowances, allowances, and other incentives for health officials, public employees, contract employees, military health officials, and employees directly involved in health care at state health facilities in regions with extremely disadvantaged socio-economic conditions; 

+ Preferential allowances, seniority allowances, allowances, and payments for traveling costs for officials, public employees, and salary beneficiaries in armed forces (people's army and people's public security forces) working in regions with extremely disadvantaged socio-economic conditions; 

+ Specific allowances for officials and public employees working at Huu Nghi Hospital, Thong Nhat Hospital, Da Nang C Hospital of the Ministry of Health of Vietnam, Central Health Care Divisions 1, 2, 2B, 3, and 5, and Department A11 of hospitals affiliated with the Ministry of National Defense of Vietnam;

+ Specific allowances by occupations or jobs.

- Other costs included in the medical service prices. 

See more details in Circular No. 21/2024/TT-BYT, effective as of October 17, 2024. 

Vietnam’s regulation on documents determining locations for implementation of overseas petroleum projects from December 5, 2024

On October 15, 2024, the Government of Vietnam promulgated Decree No. 132/2024/ND-CP on outward investment in operations concerning petroleum.

According to the Decree, documents determining locations for the implementation of overseas petroleum projects include: 

- Overseas petroleum projects must have documents determining implementation locations. 

- A document determining the location for the implementation of an overseas petroleum project is one of the following documents, which contains the content of location determination: 

+ License or equivalent documents of the investment receiving country; 

+ Petroleum contract or written investment agreement with the foreign partner or written agreement on the receipt of the transfer of participation rights or partial or whole transfer of contributed capital of the economic organization conducting operations concerning petroleum abroad; 

+ Contract for land allocation or lease or decision on land allocation or lease of the competent authority or organization at the investment receiving country;

+ Notice of successful bid when participating in the overseas petroleum project or equivalent documents of the investment receiving country. 

See more details in Decree No. 132/2024/ND-CP, effective as of December 5, 2024. 

Men’s football to win rights to participate in World Cup according to Vietnam’s orientation toward 2045

On October 15, 2024, the Prime Minister of Vietnam promulgated Decision No. 1189/QD-TTg 2024 on approval for the strategy for developing Vietnam's gymnastics and sports by 2030, with a vision toward 2045, which stipulates the orientation toward 2045 as follows: 

- Gymnastics and sports movements develop evenly and diversely among subjects and areas; people develop the habit of regular physical exercises; 95% of students and soldiers in the armed forces meet physical training standards; the stature of Vietnamese youth reaches a high level in the region. 

- High sports achievements are regular and maintained within the top 2 of SEA Game periods, top 15 of ASIAD periods, and top 50 in Olympic periods; men’s football is in top 8 of Asia and wins the rights to participate in the World Cup; women’s football is in top 6 of Asia and wins the rights to participate in the World Cup. 

- The network of national sports facilities is modern and eligible for hosting ASIAD, with at least 50% of provinces and centrally affiliated cities having 3 basic sports works meeting the international competition organization standards, 100% of commune-level administrative divisions having sports works, and 100% of schools in the general education system having sports works. 

- The sports market is developed, and the sports economic situation reaches a high annual growth level, gradually and actively contributing to Vietnam's economic development.

- The majority of the specialized management operations are transferred to organizations and associations of gymnastics and sports. 

See more details in Decision No. 1189/QD-TTg, effective as of October 15, 2024. 

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