Decree No. 04/2008/ND-CP Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of Decree No. 92/2006/ND-CP dated September 7, 2006 of the Government on the establishment, approval, and management of comprehensive socio-economic development planning

 DECREE

Amending and supplementing some articles of Decree No. 92/2006/NĐ-CP dated September 7, 2006

of the Government on planning, approving and managing comprehensive socio-economic development plans

__________________________________

THE GOVERNMENT

Pursuant to the Law on the Organization of the Government dated December 25, 2001;

Considering the proposal of the Minister of Planning and Investment at the report No. 4320/TTr-BKH dated June 20, 2007, document No. 5222/BKH-CLPT dated July 23, 2007; opinions of relevant ministries, sectors, and localities,

DECREE:

Article 1. Amending and supplementing some articles of Decree No. 92/2006/NĐ-CP dated September 7, 2006 of the Government on planning, approving and managing comprehensive socio-economic development plans (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 92/2006/NĐ-CP) as follows:

1. Amending and supplementing Article 1 of Decree No. 92/2006/NĐ-CP as follows:

"Article 1Scope of Application

This Decree stipulates responsibilities and procedures for planning, reviewing, approving, and managing comprehensive socio-economic development plans of economic and social regions; comprehensive socio-economic development plans of special territories (key economic zones; economic zones, defense economic zones, industrial parks, export processing zones, science and technology parks nationwide; economic corridors, economic belts); comprehensive socio-economic development plans of provinces and centrally governed cities (hereinafter referred to as provincial level); comprehensive socio-economic development plans of districts, towns, and centrally governed towns under provinces (hereinafter referred to as district level); sectoral and field development plans, and major product development plans (excluding construction planning and land use planning)."

2. Repealing Clause 2 of Article 3 and Clause 1 of Article 4 of Decree No. 92/2006/NĐ-CP.

3. Amending and supplementing Clauses 2 and 3 of Article 4 of Decree No. 92/2006/NĐ-CP as follows:

"Article 4. Comprehensive socio-economic development plan

Comprehensive socio-economic development plan includes:

a) Comprehensive socio-economic development plans of economic and social regions, special territories (key economic zones; economic zones, defense economic zones, industrial parks, export processing zones, science and technology parks nationwide; economic corridors, economic belts); comprehensive socio-economic development plans of provinces.

b) To serve as a basis for land use planning and construction planning, the People's Committee at the district level shall take the lead and coordinate with relevant departments and agencies in the province to prepare comprehensive socio-economic development plans at the district level.

c) Sectoral and field development plans, and major product development plans throughout the country (as provided in Clause 14 of Article 1 of this Decree amending and supplementing Decree No. 92/2006/NĐ-CP).

d) For sectoral and field development plans, and major product development plans at the provincial level: based on development requirements in each period, such plans shall be decided by the Chairman of the People's Committee at the provincial level."

4. Amending and supplementing Clauses 1 and 2 of Article 6 of Decree No. 92/2006/NĐ-CP as follows:

"1. Ensuring consistency and unity between the five-year national socio-economic development strategy and plan, and between comprehensive socio-economic development plans and construction planning, land use planning.

2. Sectoral and field development plans, and major product development plans for regions and provinces must ensure unity. Comprehensive socio-economic development plans must meet national defense and security requirements. Ministries, sectors, localities, and competent agencies have the responsibility to cooperate, support, and provide necessary information to the agency responsible for implementing comprehensive socio-economic development planning for regions and provinces to submit for approval by the competent authority."

5. Supplementing Clause 6 to Article 6 of Decree No. 92/2006/NĐ-CP as follows:

"6. The agency assigned the task of preparing comprehensive socio-economic development plans must simultaneously prepare an environmental impact assessment report during the planning process."

6. Amending and supplementing Clause 1 of Article 10 of Decree No. 92/2006/NĐ-CP as follows:

"1. Delegating the preparation and submission for approval of comprehensive socio-economic development plans.

a) The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall take the lead and coordinate with relevant ministries, agencies, and localities to organize the preparation and submission to the Prime Minister for approval of comprehensive socio-economic development plans for economic and social regions and special territories (as provided in Clause 9 of Article 1 of this Decree amending and supplementing Decree No. 92/2006/NĐ-CP).

b) Ministries managing sectors and fields shall take the lead and coordinate with relevant agencies and localities to organize the preparation and approval of sectoral and field development plans, and major product development plans within their jurisdiction (excluding sectoral and field development plans and major product development plans as provided in Clause 14 of Article 1 of this Decree).

c) The People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities shall take the lead and coordinate with relevant ministries and sectors to organize the preparation and submission to the Prime Minister for approval of comprehensive socio-economic development plans at the provincial level.

d) The People's Committees at the district level shall be responsible for organizing the preparation and submission to the Chairman of the People's Committee at the provincial level for approval of comprehensive socio-economic development plans at the district level.

đ) The People's Committees at the provincial level may delegate the responsibility for organizing the preparation and submission to the Chairman of the People's Committee at the provincial level for approval of sectoral and field development plans, and major product development plans of the province to the departments managing these sectors and fields."

7. Amending and supplementing Clauses 6 and 7 of Article 11 of Decree No. 92/2006/NĐ-CP as follows:

"6. Ministries, sectors, and People's Committees at the provincial level shall be responsible for reporting to the Prime Minister and sending documents to the Ministry of Planning and Investment about the results of planning, reviewing, and approving after the plan has been approved and the approval decision takes effect.

Departments, sectors, and People's Committees at the district level shall be responsible for reporting the results of planning, reviewing, and approving the plan to the Department of Planning and Investment for consolidation and reporting to the Chairman of the People's Committee at the provincial level.

7. After being approved, the head of the state management agency responsible for the plan shall organize the announcement and public disclosure of the plan (except for plans containing classified information) as follows:

a) The Minister of Planning and Investment shall be responsible for publicly announcing and disclosing in writing comprehensive socio-economic development plans for regions and special territories.

b) The Ministers managing sectors are responsible for publicly announcing and notifying in writing the sectoral master plans and key products under their management to the People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities and relevant ministries and sectors.

c) The Chairpersons of the People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities are responsible for publicly announcing and notifying the overall socio-economic development master plans at the provincial level.

d) The Heads of departments and sectors are responsible for publicly announcing and notifying the sectoral development master plans and key product areas at the provincial level.

đ) The Chairpersons of the People's Committees at the district level are responsible for publicly announcing and notifying the overall socio-economic development master plans at the district level.

The contents of the above types of master plans must be publicly announced and notified to create favorable conditions for citizens, businesses, domestic and foreign investors to easily access, study, and exploit them. At the same time, they serve as a basis for monitoring, supervising, and proposing necessary supplements; preventing situations where the implementation of the master plans deviates from the original plan.

8. Repeal Section 1 Chapter II of Decree No. 92/2006/NĐ-CP including Articles 12, 13, and 14.

9. Amend and supplement Clause 2 of Article 15 of Decree No. 92/2006/NĐ-CP as follows:

"2. Special territories

a) The Northern Key Economic Region, comprising 8 provinces and cities: Hanoi, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Hai Duong, Hung Yen, Ha Tay, Vinh Phuc, Bac Ninh.

b) The Central Key Economic Region, comprising 5 provinces and cities: Thua Thien Hue, Da Nang, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh.

c) The Southern Key Economic Region, comprising 8 provinces and cities: Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Binh Duong, Tay Ninh, Binh Phuoc, Long An, Tien Giang.

d) National economic zones, industrial parks, export processing zones, science and technology parks, economic corridors, and economic belts.

đ) National defense economic zones."

10. Amend and supplement Clause 1 of Article 17 of Decree No. 92/2006/NĐ-CP as follows:

"1. Results of implementing the national socio-economic development strategy in previous periods and results of researching and building the national socio-economic development strategy for the next period."

11. Repeal Clause 2 of Article 17 of Decree No. 92/2006/NĐ-CP.

12. Amend and supplement Clause 1 of Article 20 of Decree No. 92/2006/NĐ-CP as follows:

"1. Results of implementing the national socio-economic development strategy in previous periods and results of researching and building the national socio-economic development strategy for the next period."

13. Repeal Clause 2 of Article 20 of Decree No. 92/2006/NĐ-CP.

14. Amend and supplement Article 25 of Decree No. 92/2006/NĐ-CP as follows:

Article 25. The following industries, fields, and key products managed by ministries shall establish development master plans and submit them for approval by the Prime Minister:

1. Essential technical infrastructure, including: expressway systems, inter-regional and inter-provincial roads; railway systems; airport systems; industrial park systems; economic zone systems; seaport systems; regional water supply systems; special-class urban drainage and water supply systems; information technology infrastructure; hazardous waste treatment systems; irrigation systems; sea dykes; fishing port and anchorage systems for typhoon shelters.

2. Social infrastructure, including: university networks; provincial and regional hospital networks.

3. Key industries and products, including: electricity production; cement production; industrial explosives; fertilizer production; integrated utilization of water resources through exploration, exploitation, and use; mineral resource exploration, exploitation, and processing: limestone for cement production, coal, oil and gas, iron, bauxite, rare minerals (gold, silver, platinum, diamonds, rubies, sapphires (corundum), emeralds); special-use forests, protective forests, production forests.

4. Development master plans for industries, fields, and special products related to national defense, security, and cultural traditions, cultural institutions, radio, television, decided by the Prime Minister.

5. In each period, for key industries, fields, and products not specified in Point 3, Clause 14, Article 1 of this Decree but which require development master plans, such decisions shall be made by the Prime Minister."

15. Amend and supplement Clause 1 of Article 27 of Decree No. 92/2006/NĐ-CP as follows:

"1. Results of implementing the national socio-economic development strategy in previous periods and results of researching and building the national socio-economic development strategy for the next period."

16. Repeal Clause 2 of Article 27 of Decree No. 92/2006/NĐ-CP.

17. Amend and supplement Article 31 of Decree No. 92/2006/NĐ-CP as follows:

"Article 31. Authority to review overall socio-economic development master plans

1. The agency responsible for preparing the master plan shall be responsible for establishing a Review Board to organize the review, specifically:

a) Master plans for industry development, field development, and key products managed by specialized ministries shall be reviewed by the Review Board established by those ministries.

b) Socio-economic region development master plans and special territory master plans shall be reviewed by the Review Board established by the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

c) National defense economic zone master plans shall be reviewed by the Review Board established by the Ministry of Defense.

d) Overall socio-economic development master plans at the provincial and centrally governed city levels, overall socio-economic development master plans at the district level, and industry, field, and key product development master plans at the provincial level shall be reviewed by the Review Board established by the provincial People's Committee.

2. During the review process, relevant ministries, sectors, and provincial and centrally governed city People's Committees must seek written opinions from related ministries, sectors, and localities.

3. Overall socio-economic development master plans related to national defense and security must involve the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Public Security in the review process.

Agencies tasked with organizing the review must seek written opinions from related ministries, sectors, and localities and may hire consulting organizations or individuals with the necessary expertise to participate in the review of planning projects when necessary. After completing the review, the reviewing agency shall prepare a review report, serving as the basis for the planning agency to complete the proposal and submit it for approval by the competent authority.

18. Amend and supplement Article 34 of Decree No. 92/2006/NĐ-CP as follows:

"Article 34. Authority to approve overall socio-economic development master plans

1. The Prime Minister approves: the planning for the development of industries, fields, and main products as stipulated in Clause 14, Article 1 of this Decree; the overall planning for the socio-economic development of socio-economic regions and special territories; the overall planning for the socio-economic development at the provincial level.

2. The Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, and Heads of government agencies approve: the planning for the development of industries, fields, and main products outside the scope defined in Clause 14, Article 1 of this Decree.

3. The Chairman of the People's Committee of the province approves: the overall planning for the socio-economic development at the district level; the planning for the development of industries, fields, and main products at the provincial level.

4. Prior to submitting the overall planning for approval by the Prime Minister, the Ministries, sectors, provinces, and centrally governed cities must seek written opinions from the Ministry of Planning and Investment regarding: the consistency with objectives, key projects, and the integration concerning scale, progress, steps, priority order, and the capacity to meet resource requirements for the planning.

For the planning for the development of industries, fields, and main products at the provincial level and the overall planning for the socio-economic development at the district level, prior to submitting for approval by the Chairman of the People's Committee of the province, the opinions of the Provincial Department of Planning and Investment must be sought regarding: the consistency with objectives, key projects, and the integration concerning scale, progress, steps, priority order, and the capacity to meet resource requirements for the planning."

Article 2. Effective Date

1. This Decree takes effect fifteen days after its publication in the Official Gazette.

2. Abolish previous regulations that conflict with the provisions of this Decree.

Article 3. Responsibility for Implementation

1. The Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of government agencies, Chairmen of the People's Committees of provinces, and centrally governed cities within their respective duties and authorities shall be responsible for implementing this Decree.

2. Annually, the Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, and provincial People's Committees shall be responsible for reporting on the implementation of the overall planning for socio-economic development and the planning for industries, fields, and main products under their jurisdiction to the Ministry of Planning and Investment for consolidation and reporting to the Prime Minister.

Annually, the Heads of provincial departments and sectors, and the Chairmen of district-level People's Committees shall be responsible for reporting on the implementation of the planning to the Provincial Department of Planning and Investment for consolidation and reporting to the Chairman of the People's Committee of the province.

3. The Ministries, sectors, and localities shall be responsible for consolidating and reorganizing their structures, strengthening specialized staff forces engaged in research, strategy, and planning work to meet the requirements of improving the quality of planning, review, and management of the overall socio-economic development planning during the period of industrialization, modernization, and international integration.

4. The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall take the lead and coordinate with relevant ministries and sectors to monitor, inspect, and supervise the implementation of this Decree./.