Decree No. 66/2020/ND-CP Amending and supplementing some articles of Decree No. 68/2017/ND-CP dated May 25, 2017 of the Government on management and development of industrial clusters

DECREE

AMENDING AND COMPLEMENTING CERTAIN ARTICLES OF THE DECREE NO. 68/2017/NĐ-CP ON MANAGEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT OF INDUSTRIAL ZONES ISSUED ON MAY 25, 2017 BY THE GOVERNMENT

||| Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government dated June 19, 2015;

Pursuant to the Planning Law dated November 24, 2017;

Pursuant to Resolution No. 751/2019/UBTVQH14 dated August 16, 2019 of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly interpreting certain articles of the Law on Planning;

At the proposal of the Minister of Industry and Trade;

The Government promulgates this Decree amending and supplementing certain articles of Decree No. 68/2017/NĐ-CP dated May 25, 2017 of the Government on management and development of industrial zones.

Article 1. Amending and supplementing certain provisions of the Governmental Decree No.

1. Clause 1 of Article 1 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

"Article 1. Scope of Regulation and Applicability

1. This Decree stipulates the development plan for industrial zones; establishment and expansion of industrial zones; investment in construction of technical infrastructure and production and business activities within industrial zones; preferential policies and support for the development of industrial zones and state administration over industrial zones.”

2. Clause 11 of Article 2 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

"Article 2. Interpretation of Terms

11. The development plan for industrial zones refers to the arrangement and distribution of space for the rational development of industrial zones linked with management policies and solutions, synchronous investment in technical infrastructure at the provincial level during each period based on environmental protection, land conservation, efficient land use, and other local resources and assets.

The development plan for industrial zones is a component of the provincial planning, constructed and integrated into the provincial planning in accordance with the law on planning.”

3. Article 5 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

Article 5. Development Plan for Industrial Zones

1. Basis for developing the development plan for industrial clusters:

a) Vietnam's industrial development strategy, priority industry and sector development strategies on the territory;

b) Economic and social development orientation, regional planning, and technical and specialized planning on the territory;

c) Land area requirements to attract and relocate organizations and individuals on the territory to invest in production and business within industrial zones;

d) Ability to mobilize investment capital from enterprises, the State, and other legitimate sources to construct technical infrastructure systems in industrial zones on the territory;

đ) Environmental protection requirements, efficient and economical use of land and other resources of the locality.

2. Main contents of the development plan for industrial clusters:

a) Legal basis and necessity for developing the development plan for industrial clusters;

b) Evaluation of the implementation of the objectives and contents of Vietnam's industrial development strategy, priority industry and sector development strategies on the territory; forecasted goals and needs for the development of key and priority industries, and prediction of favorable and unfavorable factors affecting the development of industrial zones during the planning period; forecasted land area requirements for organizations and individuals investing in industrial zones;

c) Evaluation of the current status, progress, and effectiveness of technical infrastructure construction in industrial zones on the territory; investment attraction situation, occupancy rate, and industrial zone management; evaluation of production and business operations, environmental protection measures, economic and social benefits of each industrial zone; achievements, limitations, and causes;

d) Construction of development scenarios for industrial zones on the territory; each scenario includes explanations for each industrial zone including name, location, area, land status based on the principle of limiting the use of land already planned for rice cultivation, protective forest, and special-use forest; industry and trade activities (orientation towards industries and trades with interconnection within the product and service value chain); justification for adjusting the development plan for industrial zones; investment attraction solutions, projected timeline for establishment, infrastructure investment, occupancy, and job creation for local labor; assessment of connectivity with external socio-economic infrastructure and favorable and unfavorable factors;

đ) Evaluation of favorable and unfavorable factors of the development scenarios for industrial zones; proposal of an optimal scenario as the development plan along with a list of proposed industrial zones to be developed, including name, location, area, industry and trade activities, infrastructure investment schedule, and displayed on a map;

e) Solutions for mobilizing investment capital for infrastructure, mechanisms, and policies to support the development of industrial zones; solutions for assessing and handling the current environmental status, predicting impacts, and environmental management measures for industrial zones proposed in the development plan, especially those already established and operating on the territory, and implementation organization.

3. Funding for the construction and period of the development plan for industrial zones shall be implemented according to the regulations on provincial planning.”

4. Article 6 is amended and supplemented as follows:

Article 6. Construction and Integration of the Development Plan for Industrial Zones into Provincial Planning

1. The Department of Industry and Trade shall take the lead and coordinate with relevant departments, district people's committees, and units to construct and complete the development plan for industrial zones on the territory in accordance with Article 5; submit a report to the provincial people's committee on the development plan for industrial zones.

2. The provincial people's committee shall direct the agency responsible for provincial planning to process and integrate the development plan for industrial zones into provincial planning, seek opinions on provincial planning (including the development plan for industrial zones) in accordance with the law on planning to finalize and submit to the competent authority for approval.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall provide comments on the suitability and compliance of the development plan for industrial zones with the provisions of provincial planning.

3. The content of the decision approving provincial planning shall include the development plan for industrial zones with a list of proposed industrial zones to be developed, including name, location, area, industry and trade activities, infrastructure investment schedule; implementation solutions and other related contents (if any).”

5. Article 7 is amended and supplemented as follows:

Article 7. Basis for Adjusting the Development Plan for Industrial Zones

1. There is an adjustment to Vietnam's industrial development strategy, priority industry and sector development strategies on the territory; regional planning, provincial planning, and other technical and specialized planning on the territory.

2. Adjustments to the land fund allocated for industrial cluster development shall be made to meet the demand for land leasing for production and business investment by organizations and individuals, and to align with the effectiveness of infrastructure investment construction and the leasing capacity of industrial clusters within the district level.

3. The investor responsible for constructing technical infrastructure for industrial clusters must be clearly identified; in cases where an industrial cluster is withdrawn from the development plan, a clear conversion plan for the industrial cluster must be established."

6. Article 8 is amended and supplemented as follows:

"Article 8. Contents of the report on adjusting the development plan for industrial clusters

1. Legal basis, necessity, and explanation of the grounds for adjusting the development plan for industrial clusters.

2. Evaluation of the progress and effectiveness of technical infrastructure investment, the situation of attracting investment, and the occupancy rate of industrial clusters within the area; production and business operations, economic and social benefits, environmental protection work, and environmental management measures of industrial clusters; achievements, shortcomings, and causes.

3. Assessment and forecast of the demand for production land to attract investment and relocation into industrial clusters, current land use status, investment capital sources, infrastructure development progress, connectivity with external infrastructure, legal personality, and the capacity of the investor; prediction of impacts, environmental management measures, and industrial cluster management for proposed supplementary industrial clusters in the development plan; assessment of the current status and effectiveness of infrastructure construction investment, objectives, contents, progress, and feasibility of the conversion plan for proposed withdrawn industrial clusters from the development plan.

4. Proposals for adjusting the development plan for industrial clusters, including a list of industrial clusters with their names, locations, areas, industries; anticipated investors, infrastructure development progress, and plans to fill industrial clusters.

5. Implementation solutions."

7. Article 9 is amended and supplemented as follows:

"Article 9. Construction and integration of adjustments to the development plan for industrial clusters into provincial planning adjustments

1. The People's Committee at the district level shall submit a proposal for adjusting the development plan for industrial clusters within its jurisdiction to the Department of Industry and Trade.

2. The Department of Industry and Trade shall take the lead and coordinate with relevant departments and units to complete the report on adjusting the development plan for industrial clusters within its jurisdiction according to Articles 7 and 8; it shall submit a report to the Provincial People's Committee regarding the adjustment of the development plan for industrial clusters.

3. The Provincial People's Committee shall direct the agency responsible for provincial planning to process and integrate adjustments to the development plan for industrial clusters into provincial planning adjustments, seek opinions on the provincial planning adjustments (including adjustments to the development plan for industrial clusters) in accordance with planning laws to finalize and submit to the competent authority for approval.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall provide comments on the suitability and compliance with conditions and regulations for the adjustment of the development plan for industrial clusters in accordance with provincial planning regulations.

4. For minor and frequent changes in the name, location, area, industry activities, infrastructure development progress, and other aspects of industrial clusters that do not alter the goals, essence, or increase the land usage area of the approved provincial planning development plan for industrial clusters or the land fund designated for industrial cluster development, the Provincial People's Committee shall submit a request to the Ministry of Industry and Trade for agreement to implement and update these changes in the provincial planning to report to the Prime Minister during the establishment and approval of the provincial planning.

5. The decision approving the adjustment of the provincial planning shall include the adjustment of the development plan for industrial clusters with a list of proposed industrial clusters for development, including their names, locations, areas, industry activities, and plans (if applicable).”

8. Point a Clause 1 Article 10 is amended and supplemented as follows:

"Article 10. Conditions for establishing and expanding industrial clusters

1. Conditions for establishing an industrial cluster:

a) Being included in the development plan for industrial clusters within the approved provincial planning;"

9. Clause 3 Article 15 is amended and supplemented as follows:

"Article 15. Investor for constructing technical infrastructure for industrial clusters

3. Enterprises and cooperatives are encouraged and prioritized as investors for constructing technical infrastructure for industrial clusters when they have application documents for establishing and expanding industrial clusters that comply with this Decree.

During the review process stipulated in Clause 3 Article 12, the Department of Industry and Trade shall report to the Provincial People's Committee to establish an Investment Selection Committee (comprising the Chairman of the Committee as the leadership of the Provincial People's Committee, the Deputy Chairman as the leadership of the Department of Industry and Trade, and representatives of some related departments and agencies as members) to score with a maximum of 100 points for criteria: investment construction infrastructure plan (maximum 15 points); management and protection of the environment plan for industrial clusters (maximum 15 points); enterprise capacity and experience (maximum 30 points), and financial investment construction infrastructure plan (maximum 40 points).

Enterprises and cooperatives scoring 50 points or more shall be considered and decided by the Provincial People's Committee to be assigned as investors for constructing technical infrastructure in the decision on establishing and expanding industrial clusters (in cases where two or more enterprises and cooperatives apply to be investors for constructing technical infrastructure, the one with the highest score shall be assigned). During implementation, if the investor does not commence the infrastructure construction project within 12 months from the date of establishment or expansion of the industrial cluster or stops or delays the project by 12 months compared to the progress specified in the decision on establishing and expanding the industrial cluster, the Provincial People's Committee shall consider extending the deadline or deciding to select another investor.

In the case where an infrastructure development project for an industrial cluster is implemented under the public-private partnership model, the investor shall be selected in accordance with the laws on investment under the public-private partnership model. The time taken to select the investor in accordance with the laws on investment under the public-private partnership model shall not be included in the period for assessing the establishment and expansion of the industrial cluster.

10. Clause 1 of Article 35 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

“Article 35. Powers and responsibilities of the Ministry of Industry and Trade

1. To develop, issue, or propose competent authorities to issue programs, plans, mechanisms, policies, laws, certifications, confirmations related to industrial clusters; provide opinions on the suitability and compliance of development plans for industrial clusters with relevant contents and regulations.”

11. Clauses 1 and 2 of Article 42 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

“Article 42. Powers and responsibilities of the People's Committee of the province

1. To direct the development and integration into provincial planning, seek opinions on development plans for industrial clusters as prescribed to complete and submit to competent authorities for approval; decide on the establishment and expansion of industrial clusters, mechanisms, policies, and plans for developing industrial clusters; report to the Provincial People's Council on the Program to support investment in technical infrastructure for industrial clusters funded by local budgets (priority allocation of capital for construction and completion of environmental protection facilities in operational industrial clusters).

2. To issue Management Regulations for industrial clusters, handle procedures for implementing infrastructure development projects and production and business projects within industrial clusters under a single window mechanism; based on local conditions, delegate and specify the Department of Industry and Trade and the People's Committee of the district to primarily handle procedures for implementing infrastructure development and production and business activities within industrial clusters as stipulated in Clause 2 of Article 43 and Clause 3 of Article 44.”

Article 2. Changes in Terminology

1. Replace the term "PLANNING" with "DEVELOPMENT PLAN" in the name of Chapter II and replace it with "PLAN" in the title of Section 1 of Chapter II.

2. Replace the term "planning" with "development plan" in Article 4, Clause 1 of Article 33, Clauses 1 and 3 of Article 43, and replace it with "developing a development plan" in Clause 1 of Article 44; replace the term "agreed planning" with "industrial cluster development plan within the approved provincial planning" in Clause 4 of Article 12; replace the term "planning" with "industrial cluster development plan" in Clause 1 of Article 31 and Clause 5 of Article 35.

Article 3. Transitional Provisions

Industrial cluster development planning at the provincial level that has been approved by competent authorities before January 1, 2019, may continue to be adjusted and supplemented according to the management regulations for industrial cluster development planning as stipulated in Decree No. 68/2017/ND-CP until the provincial planning is approved in accordance with the law on planning.

Article 4. Effectiveness and Responsibility for Implementation

1. This Decree shall take effect from August 1, 2020.

2. Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of government-affiliated agencies, Chairpersons of provincial and centrally-run city People's Committees, and related organizations and individuals are responsible for implementing this Decree./.