Which investment projects need to apply for policy approval?

Which investment projects need to apply for policy approval?

Approval of investment project policy is one of the necessary legal procedures for investors to implement the project. However, not all projects need approval of policy. So which investment projects need to apply for policy? Please join Siglaw to learn more in the article below:

Which investment projects need to apply for investment policy?

Investment projects subject to approval by the National Assembly

Projects within the scope of investment policy approval by the National Assembly are as follows according to Article 30 of the Investment Law 2020:

1️⃣Projects that have significant impacts on the environment or are likely to cause serious impacts on the environment, including:

  • Nuclear power plants.
  • Investment projects requiring conversion of land use purposes from special-use forests, upstream protection forests, border protection forests with an area of ​​50 hectares or more; windbreak protection forests, sand-blocking protection forests and wave-blocking and sea-encroachment protection forests with an area of ​​500 hectares or more; production forests with an area of ​​1,000 hectares or more.

2️⃣Investment projects requiring conversion of land use purposes for rice cultivation from 02 crops or more and with a scale of 500 hectares or more.

3️⃣Investment projects requiring relocation and resettlement of 20,000 or more people in mountainous areas or 50,000 or more people in other areas.

4️⃣Investment projects requiring the application of special mechanisms and policies that require the decision of the National Assembly.

Investment projects subject to approval in principle by the Prime Minister

Pursuant to Article 31 of the Investment Law 2020, the following projects must be approved in principle by the Prime Minister, except for projects under the approval authority of the National Assembly:

  • Investment projects requiring resettlement of 10,000 or more people in mountainous areas and 20,000 or more people in other areas.
  • Investment projects to build new facilities such as airports, airfields, runways of airports, airfields; passenger terminals of international airports; cargo terminals of airports, airfields with a capacity of 01 million tons/year or more.
  • New investment projects in the field of air passenger transport business.
  • Investment projects to build new facilities such as ports, port areas of special seaports; ports, port areas with an investment capital of 2,300 billion VND or more of type I seaports.
  • Investment projects to process oil and gas.
  • Investment projects with betting activities or casino activities, except for electronic games with prizes for foreigners.
  • Investment projects for housing construction (for sale, lease, lease-purchase), urban areas with a land use scale of 300 hectares or more or a population scale of 50,000 people or more.
  • Investment projects for construction and business of infrastructure of industrial parks and export processing zones.
  • Investment projects of foreign investors in the fields of telecommunications services with network infrastructure, afforestation, publishing, and press.
  • Investment projects that are simultaneously under the investment policy approval authority of at least 02 provincial People’s Committees or higher.
  • Other investment projects under the investment policy approval authority or investment decision of the Prime Minister according to the provisions of law.

Investment projects subject to approval in principle by the Provincial People’s Committee

According to Article 32 of the Investment Law 2020, the following projects must be approved in principle by the Provincial People’s Committee, except for projects subject to approval by the National Assembly and the Prime Minister:

  • Investment projects that request the Government to allocate or lease land without going through an auction, bidding process or receiving land transfers. This also includes investment projects that request changes in land use purposes, unless related to land allocation, land lease or changes in land use purposes of households and individuals, in which case written approval from the Provincial People’s Committee is required in accordance with the provisions of the law on land.
  • Investment projects to build houses for sale, lease or lease-purchase, urban areas with a land use scale of less than 300 hectares and a population scale of less than 50,000 people.
  • Investment projects to build and operate golf courses.
  • Investment projects of foreign investors or economic organizations with foreign investment capital, implemented in island areas, border communes, wards and towns; coastal communes, wards and towns; or in other areas that affect national defense and security.

It should be noted that, except for golf course construction and business investment projects, when implemented in industrial parks, export processing zones, high-tech zones, or economic zones in accordance with the planning approved by competent authorities, the Management Board of industrial parks, export processing zones, high-tech zones, or economic zones will approve the investment policy for these projects.

Procedure for obtaining approval for investment project policies

The procedure for obtaining approval for investment project policies in Vietnam is in accordance with the provisions of the Investment Law 2020 and related guiding documents. Below is a summary of this procedure:

✅Planning and feasibility study ⭐Before applying for approval in principle, investors need to conduct planning and feasibility studies on the project, including factors such as finance, technology, environment, society, etc.
✅Apply for approval in principle ⭐Investors need to submit an application for approval in principle to the investment management authority at the provincial or central level. The application for approval in principle includes information such as project description, financial scale, expected funding, socio-economic benefits, etc.
✅Review and decide on approval in principle ⭐The investment management authority will review the application and carry out inspection and evaluation steps to decide on approving or not approving the investment policy. During this process, this agency may request additional information or investigate the project further.
✅Approve the investment policy ⭐If the application is approved, the investment management authority approves the investment policy for the project. This step is the basis for carrying out the next steps of the project.
✅Establish the investment project ⭐After the investment policy is approved, the investor proceeds to prepare a more detailed investment project, including information on financial, technical, management, environmental, social plans, etc.
✅Apply for investment certificate approval ⭐The project needs to apply for an investment registration certificate approval from the investment management authority. The investor submits an application for investment certificate approval with related documents.
✅Review and decide to approve the investment certificate ⭐The investment management authority will review the application and carry out inspection and evaluation steps to decide on whether to approve or not to approve the investment certificate.
✅Issuance of investment certificate ⭐If the application is approved, the investment management authority will issue an investment certificate for the project. This certificate officially allows the investor to implement the project.
✅Implement the project ⭐After obtaining the investment certificate, the investor will carry out the project according to the approved plan.

This process may vary depending on each specific case and the latest legal regulations at the time of implementation. For more information, please contact Siglaw law firm for timely support.

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Expert advice on articles:

Lawyer Dung Le (Elena)

CEO of Siglaw Law Firm

Lawyer Le Dung has more than 10 years of experience providing legal advice to investors from more than 10 countries such as the US, Singapore, Canada, Denmark, Japan, Korea, China…