Decision to suspend draft law on SEZs turns out to be a praiseworthy move

By An Chi - Jun 11, 2018 | 03:31 PM GMT+7

TheLEADERAccording to Dr. Nguyen Duc Thanh, the current draft law on Special Administrative-Economic Units has failed to do the single most important thing which is to create breakthroughs in the business environment and administrative institutions.

The recently overheated matter of a land lease term of 99 years applying at special economic zones on a trial basis has been affirmed to be shortened but the draft law on Special Administrative-Economic Units remains not to be approved in this plenary session of the National Assembly, but be moved to the sixth session of the XIV National Assembly.

This delay allows the Government to have more time to study and further improve the draft law to ensure it will meet the requirements and aspirations of the National Assembly deputies, voters and the people.

Dr. Nguyen Duc Thanh, Head of Vietnam Institute For Economic and Policy Research

In the recent interview with TheLEADER, Dr. Nguyen Duc Thanh, Head of Vietnam Institute For Economic and Policy Research, said that the decision of the Government is a very praiseworthy move.

According to Dr. Thanh, the current draft law has failed to do the single most important thing which is to create breakthroughs in the business environment and administrative institutions. At the same time, the draft law is too focusing on small details favoring small groups of interests, which is not good for a special economic zone.

Dr. Thanh suggested that when drafting the law on Special Administrative-Economic Units, the Government should create a common legal framework, making a simple and clear premise of special economic zones. 

Realistic investors with vision will be interested in whether there is a supply of high-quality labor in the region, a reliable and stable place to open large laboratories and a place to invest in large industrial or technological bases in SEZs rather than to know about the land lease term of 99 years or 50 years or about the casinos.

For instance, economist Pham Chi Lan once said, high-tech industry and casinos cannot be in the same place because there is no investor coming to the Silicon Valley to gamble or coming to Las Vegas to invest in high-tech.

Dr. Le Dang Doanh, former head of Central Institute for Economic Management - CIEM

Agreeing with Dr. Thanh's perspective, Dr. Le Dang Doanh, former head of Central Institute for Economic Management - CIEM, also welcomed the Government’s decision to delay the passage of the draft law on Special Administrative-Economic Units.

This action proves that the leaders of the Party and the Government have truly listened to the feedback and comments of the people, experts and members of the National Assembly and they have all intention to seriously review and amend the draft law in an open and receptive manner.

According to Dr. Doanh, there are still many controversial issues in the draft law. In order to complete the draft law, the Government should carefully consider studying the issues of institutional reform in order to attract qualified foreign investors.

At the same time, when building the SEZs, careful consideration should be given to ensure economic development and national security.