New Policies Effective from Mid-June 2017 in Vietnam

1. Recognition of 12 types of legal land documents for applying for construction permits in Vietnam

According to Decree 53/2017/ND-CP, for the issuance of construction permits to be carried out in accordance with the law, organizations, households, and individuals need to provide one of the 12 types of legal documents to establish land use rights in construction permit application procedures.

Prominent types include:

- Certificate of Land Use Rights (GCN) issued under the provisions of the Land Law 1987, Land Law 1993, Law on amendments and supplements to the Land Law 2001, Land Law 2003.

- Certificate of Land Use Rights, ownership of houses, and other assets attached to the land under the provisions of the Land Law 2013, Law on amendments and supplements to a number of articles of laws related to basic construction investment, No. 38/2009/QH12.

- Certificate of ownership of a house and land use rights for homestead land;

- Documents on ranking historical-cultural relics, scenic spots;

- Land lease contract.

See details of 12 types of documents in Decree 53/2017/ND-CP effective from June 25, 2017.

2. Policies on land levy exemption and reduction in Economic Zones in Vietnam

The Government of Vietnam issued Decree 35/2017/ND-CP regulating the collection of land levy (SDD) in Economic Zones (EZ); land rent and water surface rent in EZs and High-Tech Zones.

Implementing exemption and reduction of land levy in EZs for the following projects:

- Projects where the state allocates land with the collection of land levy in EZs to invest in the construction of social housing to serve the living needs of workers according to the planning approved by a competent state agency;

- Projects investing in cemeteries and graveyards; households and individuals being allocated homestead land, recognized land use rights, or permitted to change the land use purpose to homestead land in EZs;

For projects where the state allocates land with the collection of land levy in EZs for investing in the construction of commercial housing for sale or combined sale and lease, land levy exemption or reduction does not apply.

See more in Decree 35/2017/ND-CP effective from June 20, 2017.

3. Increase in Credit Loan Amount for Students to 1.5 million VND/month in Vietnam

This is the content adjusted in Decision 751/QD-TTg by the Prime Minister of the Government of Vietnam on May 30, 2017, adjusting the loan amount for students in Clause 1, Article 5 of Decision 157/2007/QD-TTg dated September 27, 2007.

This adjustment increases the maximum credit loan amount for students from 1,250,000 VND to 1,500,000 VND/month per students.

Thus, the loan amount increases by 250,000 VND compared to the current regulation in Decision 07/QD-TTg dated January 5, 2016.

Decision 751/QD-TTg is effective from June 15, 2017, and applies to new disbursements from June 15, 2017.

4. Method of calculating wages for workers in community work style in Vietnam

On April 20, 2017, the Ministry of Labor - War Invalids and Social Affairs issued Circular 11/2017/TT-BLDTBXH (effective from June 15, 2017) guiding Decree 61/2015/ND-CP on support policies for job creation and the National Employment Fund.

The wages of workers in community work style are paid based on the agreement between the workers and the actual working time, volume, and quality of work of the workers. To be specific:

- Workers working full 8 hours/day and 26 days/month have their wages calculated on a monthly basis, not less than the regional minimum wage at the project or activity location;

- Workers working < 8 hours/day or < 26 days/month have their wages calculated on an hourly basis, not lower than the regional minimum wage at the project or activity location divided by 26 days and divided by 8 hours;

- Workers working overtime are paid hourly wages for overtime work.

In addition to the highlighted new policies mentioned above, Lawnet has also updated several other policies effective from mid-June 2017, such as:

6. Decree 52/2017/ND-CP on re-lending of foreign loans by the Government of Vietnam to provincial and central cities People’s Committees, effective from June 15, 2017;

7. Circular 33/2017/TT-BTC on policies for managing cash, valuable papers, and precious assets in the State Treasury system, effective from June 16, 2017;

8. Circular 36/2017/TT-BTC amending Circular 217/2013/TT-BTC on sanctions for administrative violations in the field of securities and securities market, effective from June 15, 2017;

9. Circular 06/2017/TT-BXD guiding specialized construction laboratory activities, effective from June 15, 2017.

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