Circular No. 08/2024/TT-BKHCN stipulates certain criteria for high-tech research and development investment projects and high-tech application investment projects to produce high-tech products invested in high-tech zones.

CIRCULAR
Regulations on certain criteria for research and development facilities investment projects and high technology application investment projects to produce high technology products invested in high-tech zones

 high technology, investment projects applying high technology to produce high technology products invested in high-tech zones

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Pursuant to the High Technology Law dated November 13, 2008;

CamendWHEREAS, đ28/2023/N3. Amend Clause 3 Article 2 as follows:-CP of the Government dated February 2, 2023, stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Science and Technology;to10/2024/NJune 2024;-CP of the Government dated February 1, 2024, stipulating high-tech zones;amend  đAt the proposal of the Director of the Department of High Technology and the Director of the Legal Department;amendThe Minister of Science and Technology issues this Circular stipulating certain criteria for investment projects in research and development facilities and investment projects applying high technology to produce high technology products invested in high-tech zones.tob) Departments under the Ministry;oThis Circular stipulates the criteria for investment projects in research and development facilities and investment projects applying high technology to produce high technology products invested in high-tech zones as provided for in point d, Clause 2, Article 29 and point d, Clause 1, Article 32 of Decree No. 10/2024/NĐ-CP dated February 1, 2024 of the Government stipulating high-tech zones.

CamendWHEREAS, đThis Circular applies to state agencies, organizations, and individuals related to the implementation of investment projects in research and development facilities and investment projects applying high technology to produce high technology products at high-tech zones as stipulated in Article 1 of this Circular.3. Amend Clause 3 Article 2 as follows:-CP of the Government dated February 2, 2023, stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Science and Technology;toArticle 3. Criteria for investment projects in research and development facilitiesJune 2024;Investment projects in research and development facilities must comply with the principles and criteria prescribed in Clauses 1, 2, 3, and 4 of Article 28 and points a, b, c, and d of Clause 2 of Article 29 of Decree No. 10/2024/NĐ-CP dated February 1, 2024 of the Government stipulating high-tech zones, and must also meet the following criteria:amend1. The number of employees with relevant expertise and experience suitable for the research and development activities of the investment project who have indefinite-term labor contracts or fixed-term labor contracts of one year or more directly participating in the implementation of research and development activities must account for at least 70% of the total number of employees of the project, of which the number of employees holding bachelor's degrees or higher must account for at least 85%; đ2. Each main field of research and development of the investment project must have at least one (01) direct participant in research and development activities with a minimum of five (05) years of experience in conducting research and development activities in that field;

3. The total expenditure for research and development activities annually must reach at least 80% of the annual operational expenditures of the investment project. The contents of the expenditure for research and development activities under this clause are stipulated in Clause 1 of Article 5 of this Circular;

4. There must be sufficient machinery and equipment necessary to serve research and development activities appropriate to the fields of research and development of the investment project and arranged in working spaces ensuring occupational safety and health standards as prescribed by Vietnamese law. high-tech research and development facilities, investment projects applying high-tech to produce high-tech products investing in high-tech zones.vào khu công nghệ cao.

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

This Circular stipulates criteria for investment projects in high-tech research and development facilities, investment projects applying high-tech to produce high-tech products investing in high-tech zones as specified in Point d Clause 2 Article 29 and Point d Clause 1 Article 32 Decree No. 10/2024/NĐ-CP dated February 1, 2024 of the Government on high-tech zones.

Article 2. Applicability

This Circular applies to state agencies, organizations, and individuals related to the implementation of investment projects in high-tech research and development facilities, investment projects applying high-tech to produce high-tech products in high-tech zones as specified in Article 1 of this Circular.

Article 3. Criteria for investment projects in high-tech research and development facilities

Investment projects in high-tech research and development facilities must comply with the principles and criteria prescribed in Clauses 1, 2, 3, 4 Article 28 and Points a, b, c, d Clause 2 Article 29 Decree No. 10/2024/NĐ-CP dated February 1, 2024 of the Government on high-tech zones, and at the same time meet the following criteria:

1. The number of employees with relevant expertise and experience suitable for the research and development activities of the investment project who have indefinite-term labor contracts or fixed-term labor contracts of one year or more directly participating in the research and development activities must reach at least seventy percent (70%) of the total number of employees of the project, of which the number of employees holding bachelor's degrees or higher must reach at least eighty-five percent (85%);

2. Each main field of research and development of the investment project must have at least one (01) direct participant in the research and development activities with a minimum of five (05) years of experience in conducting research and development activities in that field;

3. Total annual expenditure for research and development activities must reach at least eighty percent (80%) of the annual operational expenditures of the investment project. The contents of the expenditure for research and development activities under this clause are regulated in Clause 1 Article 5 of this Circular;

4. Must have complete machinery and equipment necessary to serve research and development activities appropriate to the fields of research and development of the investment project and arranged in working spaces ensuring occupational safety and health standards as prescribed by Vietnamese law.

Article 4. Criteria for high-tech investment projects to produce high-tech products

High-tech investment projects to produce high-tech products must comply with the principles and criteria stipulated in Clauses 1, 2, 3, 4 of Article 28 and Points a, b, c, d of Clause 1 of Article 32 of Decree No. 10/2024/NĐ-CP dated February 1, 2024 of the Government on high-tech zones, while also meeting the following criteria:

1. The products of the investment project must belong to the List of Encouraged High-Tech Products issued together with the Decision of

2. The number of workers who have been granted educational certificates or vocational training certificates or university degrees must account for at least 75% of the total number of workers in the investment project;

3. The number of workers with a college degree or higher directly participating in research, development, and application activities of the investment project must meet the following requirements:

a) For investment projects with a capital investment scale of VND 6,000 billion or more, implementing disbursement of at least VND 6,000 billion within three years from the date of issuance of the Investment Registration Certificate or approval of the investment proposal, and having a total workforce of 3,000 people or more: must account for at least 2.5% of the total workforce of the investment project;

b) For other cases: must account for at least 5% of the total workforce of the investment project;

c) The number of workers directly participating in research, development, and application activities of the investment project as specified in this clause must have indefinite-term labor contracts or labor contracts with a term of one year or more to directly participate in research, development, and application activities of the investment project, wherein the proportion of workers with a college degree does not exceed 30%.

4. The ratio of total expenditure for research, development, and application of technology annually to the annual revenue of the investment project must meet the following requirements:

a) For investment projects with a capital investment scale of VND 6,000 billion or more, implementing disbursement of at least VND 6,000 billion within three years from the date of issuance of the Investment Registration Certificate or approval of the investment proposal, or investment projects with annual revenue reaching at least VND 10,000 billion within the latest three years from the year of revenue: must be at least 0.5%;

b) For other cases: must be at least 1%.

The content of expenditures for research, development, and application of technology as stipulated in this clause shall be regulated in Article 5 of this Circular.

5. The technological production lines of the project must be invested in a synchronized manner, reaching advanced levels, organized according to specialized and automated methods, including at least one-third (one third) of the number of automatic equipment controlled by programs; arranged in working spaces ensuring occupational safety and health standards as prescribed by Vietnamese law. Priority is given to new investments of 100%.

Article 5. Content of expenditures for high-tech research and development activities stipulated in Clause 3 of Article 3; research, development, and application of technology stipulated in Clause 4 of Article 4 of this Circular

1. The content of expenditures for high-tech research and development activities stipulated in Clause 3 of Article 3, and research, development, and application of technology stipulated in Clause 4 of Article 4 of this Circular (hereinafter referred to collectively as research and development activities) annually of the investment project includes:

a) Annual depreciation of infrastructure serving directly for research and development activities including: research facilities, testing and trial facilities; research, testing, and trial equipment; sample products, software, documents, data, information serving research;

b) Expenditures for regular research and development activities annually include: salaries and allowances similar to salaries (bonuses, subsidies, travel expenses, business trip fees) for workers directly participating in research and development activities as stipulated in Clause 1 of Article 3 and Clause 3 of Article 4 of this Circular; payment for experts' comments, reviews, and evaluations of research results; expenditures for scientific conferences and seminars related to research and development content; rental costs for facilities and equipment serving research, testing, and trials, product testing and development; maintenance and repair costs for infrastructure serving research and development activities; other regular expenditures (purchase of tools, materials, raw materials, consumables, chemicals, energy, communication, office supplies, labor protection equipment, inexpensive items quickly consumed for research and development);

c) Annual training costs include: long-term or short-term training costs within the country or abroad for workers directly participating in research and development activities as stipulated in Clause 1 of Article 3 and Clause 3 of Article 4 of this Circular; cooperation, sponsorship, and support costs for training and research activities (or scholarships, equipment, machinery) for scientific and technological organizations and training institutions in Vietnam;

d) Costs for receiving intellectual property rights and transferring technology certified by competent state agencies with a Technology Transfer Registration Certificate (except where laws on technology transfer do not require registration) directly serving research and development activities at the investment project; costs for implementing procedures to establish intellectual property rights for intellectual assets from research and development activities of the investment project.

2. The following contents of expenditures shall not be considered as costs for research and development activities of high-tech investment projects to produce high-tech products stipulated in Clause 4 of Article 4 of this Circular: costs for product quality inspection or periodic material, material, fuel, energy inspections unrelated to research and development; costs for regularly collecting data unrelated to research and development; costs for effectiveness surveys or management research; costs for market research and advertising sales.

Article 6. Effectiveness

1. This Circular takes effect from December 23, 2024.

2. Decision No. 27/2006/QĐ-BKHCN dated December 18, 2006, of the Minister of Science and Technology on issuing the "Regulations on Standards for Determining High-Tech Product Production Projects" shall cease to be effective from the date this Circular takes effect.

3. For cases where investment projects have submitted applications to complete administrative procedures related to investment before the date this Circular takes effect but have not yet received results of such administrative procedures and the Management Board of the High-Tech Zone is still examining the standards based on Decision No. 27/2006/QĐ-BKHCN dated December 18, 2006, of the Minister of Science and Technology on issuing the "Regulations on Standards for Determining High-Tech Product Production Projects," investors may choose to continue implementing according to the provisions of Decision No. 27/2006/QĐ-BKHCN dated December 18, 2006, of the Minister of Science and Technology or apply the provisions of this Circular to complete their application documents.

4. During implementation, if there are difficulties or obstacles, relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals are requested to promptly reflect them in writing to the Ministry of Science and Technology for research and consideration to amend and supplement accordingly.