NA raises monetary limit for national projects to $1.9b

Laws -   Deputies have decided to raise the minimum capital needing National Assembly approval for national projects from VND 20 trillion ($1.1billion) to VND 35 trillion ($1.9 billion).

This followed talks on changes to resolution 66/2006/QH11 passed in 2006 to meet with reality.

Deputy Tran Thi Quoc Khanh from Ha Noi said the present consumer price index (CPI) and inflation rate was much higher compared with 2006, making the move rational.

Nghiem Vu Khai, from the north-western province of Dien Bien, argued that due to the fast changing gross domestic product (GDP), investment capital coming from the State budget should be based on GDP.

"I propose that when project investment capital accounts for about 2 per cent of the GDP, such a project must be approved by the National Assembly," said Khai.

Echoing Khai's idea, Nguyen Minh Thuyet from the northern border province of Lang Son said the National Assembly had approved the spending of 2.3 per cent of the State Budget or 0.5 per cent of the GDP on science and technology - and about 20 per cent, or 6 per cent of GDP, on education.

"So any national project requiring investment capital from 2 per cent of the GDP must be approved by the National Assembly," said Thuyet.

The question of a proposal for Vietnamese companies to seek approval from the National Assembly when they wanted to buy a foreign company was rejected by deputy Tran Du Lich.

"The process of buying must go through negotiations behind closed doors," he said.

He said in other countries, the issue was discussed by a special committee of parliament behind closed doors. "So why don't we just do the same so companies are not deprived of their rights," said Lich.

He asked the National Assembly to consider if it was necessary to refer the matter to the NA Standing Committee to make sure negotiations were not detrimental to the nation's interest.

Deputy Nguyen Lan Dung, from the central highland province of Dak Lak, asked the National Assembly to think twice before making any decision on the use of agricultural land for national projects.

He cited figures from the 2009 environmental report by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment saying "at present there are 223 industrial parks established under the Prime Minister's decisions, of which 171 have already occupied 57,000 ha. Yet, so far, only 46 per cent of available land has got owners."

Dung warned "the rice land is getting smaller and smaller. We should not make our country, a major rice exporter, to become a rice importer."

Dinh Xuan Thao from the Cuu Long (Mekong) delta Province asked the National Assembly to thoroughly consider any decision to convert agricultural land to other purposes as "decisions will affect tens of thousands of farmers".

The Minister of Planning and Investment, Vo Hong Phuc, a deputy from the central province of Thanh Hoa, proposed that someone be assigned the job of managing land for rice farming.

"We should make the management role of the National Assembly or the Prime Minister clear," said Phuc.

At present, the Prime Minister has the final say on the conversion of agricultural land into industrial parks.