On the afternoon of August 4, the Ministry of Finance organized a Conference to collect opinions on the draft Law on Procurement and Requisition of Assets (amended). The draft Law is built on the basis of summarizing the implementation of the Law in 2008 and summarizing the difficulties and obstacles reflected by ministries, branches, and localities in the process of implementation.
Presenting the draft content, Ms. Le Ngoc Lan - Deputy Chief of Office of the Department of Public Asset Management (Ministry of Finance) said that the Ministry of Finance proposed 5 major policy groups.
The draft focuses on completing regulations on cases of acquisition and requisition of assets; completing regulations on types of assets to be acquired and requisitioned in the direction of narrowing the scope of acquired assets and expanding the scope of acquired assets; completing regulations on authority and procedures for acquisition and requisition; completing regulations on determining the purchase price and compensation value when appropriating assets; and at the same time supplementing regulations on reporting, public disclosure, supervision, accountability and exemption from liability in the implementation process.
According to Ms. Lan, after the Law is promulgated, it is expected that there will be a Government decree detailing its implementation. The Ministry of Finance will take the lead in drafting the decree to submit to competent authorities along with the draft Law dossier; after the Law is passed by the National Assembly, it will complete the procedures to submit to the Government for promulgation, ensuring that the decree takes effect at the same time as the Law takes effect.
Ms. Lan also said that the implementation of the Law after promulgation does not generate additional organizational structure, staffing or regular budget. Ministries, branches and localities will implement it based on the effective use of existing resources within the assigned staffing scope.
Contributing opinions at the conference, Mr. Cam Anh Tuan - Deputy General Director of Vietnam Railways Corporation - proposed to clarify the relationship between the Law on Procurement and Requisition of Assets and the Railway Law.
According to Mr. Cam Anh Tuan, the same object, railway vehicles and infrastructure serving special tasks, can now be subject to the adjustment of two regulatory systems, so there needs to be a unified mechanism to avoid obstacles when real situations arise.
He also said that railway infrastructure is a public asset assigned by the State to enterprises for management, not an asset owned by enterprises. Therefore, Vietnam Railways Corporation proposed to clearly determine whether this type of asset is subject to requisition or not, and at the same time clarify the mechanism for repayment and compensation when implementing requisition.
Representatives of Vietnam Railways Corporation also noted the technical characteristics of the railway industry. After a period of requisition, locomotives, carriages or infrastructure cannot be put into operation immediately but must undergo inspection, testing and safety acceptance before resuming operation.
In addition, with Vietnam's 1,000 mm gauge, many locomotives and carriages have almost no popular trading market to use as a basis for price comparison. Therefore, it is necessary to study appropriate valuation methods for this specific type of asset.
Meanwhile, Mr. Nguyen Van Manh - Provincial Party Committee Member, Deputy Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Phu Tho province proposed that the draft Law study a sufficiently flexible mechanism for special emergency situations such as natural disasters, terrorism or serious incidents, ensuring that asset requisition can be carried out immediately when necessary to save people and property.
At the same time, Mr. Manh proposed considering the authorization mechanism in an emergency case so that the issuance of the requisition decision is not interrupted when the competent person is absent, and at the same time supplement control regulations to prevent abuse of the right to purchase and requisition assets.
