Hanoi (VNA)– There have been some mixed ideas regarding the revision of the Law on PublicInvestment, with some lawmakers supporting the revision of only certain articles,and others that share the Government’s view that the law deserves morecomprehensive amendments.

A draft law amending and supplementing somearticles of the Law on Public Investment was brought under discussion on October23 as part of the ongoing sixth session of the 14th National Assembly (NA).

The Government reported that over the past threeyears since it took effect, aside from many positive outcomes, there remainsome shortcomings in the enforcement of the law and documents guiding itsimplementation.

Many new and complicated procedures have made itdifficult for agencies and localities to thoroughly grasp and consistentlyimplement regulations stipulated in the law, said Minister of Planning andInvestment Nguyen Chi Dung.

He noted that some regulations remain inflexibleor insufficient, meaning that they fail to match realistic situations. 

There are also some inconsistencies between theLaw on Public Investment and other laws, including those on state budget,construction, land, environmental protection, organisation of localadministration, and planning. They have caused confusion on how to comply with overlappinglaws, thus greatly affecting the implementation of many public investmentprojects, Minister Dung added.

Delivering a report verifying the draft law,Chairman of the NA Committee for Financial and Budgetary Affairs Nguyen Duc Haisaid the Law on Public Investment has proven to hold several flaws, especiallyin the procedures for verifying capital sources, allocating capital, andadjusting capital plans of projects, which has slowed down capitaldisbursement. Therefore, it is necessary to revise this law, he stated.

He said most members of his committee agreedwith the NA Standing Committee that only some articles should be revised orsupplemented. They attributed existing problems mainly to the lax enforcementof the law. Additionally, this law has only been implemented for three years –too short a period to precisely evaluate its effectiveness.

Hai provided some other perspectives on supportingthe Government’s proposal for comprehensively amending the Law on PublicInvestment, citing that many regulations have yet to match reality and as such,comprehensive revision is needed to create a steady legal basis and thoroughlydeal with difficulties and weaknesses in the state management of publicinvestment.

In the report, the NA Committee for Financialand Budgetary Affairs emphasised its viewpoint that the draft law mustinstitutionalise the Party’s guidelines on restructuring the economy andimproving public investment effectiveness in line with Resolution No.05-NQ/TWof the 12th Party Central Committee. 

It is necessary to build a steady and feasiblelegal framework that ensures consistency in the law system, promotes transparency,and reforms administrative procedures, Hai said.–VNA