THE COMPETENT AUTHORITY GRANTS FOR AN INVESTMENT REGISTRATION CERTIFICATE IN VIETNAM

When an investor establishes a company or implements a project in Vietnam, applying for an investment policy approval is an important stage in preparation for the implementation of an investment project. Only when investors are granted an investment registration certificate will they be eligible for an enterprise registration certificate. However, not all investment types are the same, so it is necessary to have different competent authorities to consider. The following article of Doanh Tri Firm will provide information on the authority to issue Investment Registration Certificates (IRC).

1. Legal basis:

- Law on Investment 2020;

- Law on Enterprise 2020;

- Decree No.31/2021/NĐ-CP;

- Decree No.115/2018/NĐ-CP;

- Circular No.81/2018/TT-BTC.

2. Contents of Investment Registration Certificate:

When implementing a project, the investor must be granted an Investment Certificate, the contents of the granted Investment Certificate will have the following contents:

(i) Name of the investment project;

(ii) Name of Investors;

(iii) Investment project code;

(iv) Location of the investment project, land use area;

(v) Objectives and scale of the investment project;

(vi) Investment capital of the investment project (including capital contributed by investors and mobilized capital);

(vii) Operational duration of the investment project;

(viii) Investment project implementation progress, including:

- Progress of capital contribution and mobilization of capital sources;

- The progress of the implementation of the main operational objectives of the investment project. In case the investment project is divided into phases, the progress of each stage must be specified.

(ix) Forms of incentives, investment support and bases and conditions for application (if any).

(x) Conditions for investors implementing investment projects (if any)

3. Cases in which the procedures for issuance of an Investment Registration Certificate must be carried out:

According to the provisions of Article 37 of the Law on Investment 2020, investors falling into one of the following two cases must carry out procedures for issuance of an Investment Registration Certificate:

(i) Investment projects of foreign investors;

(ii) Investment projects of economic organizations specified in Clause 1, Article 23 of this Law.

Cases in which the procedures for issuance of an Investment Registration Certificate are not required include:

(i) Investment projects of domestic investors;

(ii) Investment projects of economic organizations specified in Clause 2, Article 23 of this Law;

(iii) Investment in the form of capital contribution, share purchase, purchase of capital contribution of economic organizations.

4. Authority to approve investment policies:

Authority to approve investment policies of the National Assembly

The National Assembly approves investment policies for the following investment projects:

(i) Investment projects that have a great impact on the environment or have the potential to seriously affect the environment, including:

- Nuclear power plants;

- Investment projects requiring change of land use purpose of special-use forests, watershed protection forests or border protection forests of 50 hectares or more; protective forests against wind, flying sand and protection forests against waves and sea encroachment of 500 ha or more; production forests of 1,000 ha or more;

(ii) Investment projects that require change of land use purpose for wet rice cultivation from 02 crops or more with a scale of 500 hectares or more;

(iii) Investment projects that require migration and resettlement of 20,000 people or more in mountainous areas, and 50,000 or more people in other areas;

(iv) Investment projects that require the application of special mechanisms and policies need to be decided by the National Assembly.

Authority to approve investment policies of the Prime Minister

Except for investment projects specified in Article 30 of the Law on Investment 2020, the Prime Minister shall approve investment policies for the following investment projects:

(i) An investment project, regardless of capital source, falls into one of the following cases:

- Investment projects that require migration and resettlement of 10,000 people or more in mountainous areas, and 20,000 or more people in other areas;

- New construction investment projects: airports, airfields; runways of airports and airfields; passenger terminals of international airports; cargo terminals of airports or airfields with a capacity of 01 million tons/year or more;

- New investment project for passenger transport business by air;

- New construction investment projects: wharves, port areas belonging to special seaports; wharves and port areas with an investment capital of VND 2,300 billion or more, belonging to class I seaports;

- Oil and gas processing investment projects;

- Investment projects involving betting and casino business, except for the business of prize-winning electronic games for foreigners;

- Investment projects on construction of houses (for sale, lease, lease-purchase), urban areas in the following cases: investment projects with a land use scale of 50 hectares or more or with a scale of less than 50 hectares ha but the population size is 15,000 or more in urban areas; investment projects with a land use scale of 100 hectares or more or less than 100 hectares with a population of 10,000 or more in non-urban areas; investment projects regardless of the size of the land area and population within the protection scope of the relic recognized by the competent authority as a national relic or a special national relic;

- Investment projects on construction and business of infrastructure of industrial parks and export processing zones;

(ii) Investment projects of foreign investors in the field of telecommunications service business with network infrastructure, afforestation, publishing and press;

(iii) Investment projects concurrently under the authority to approve investment policies of 02 or more provincial-level People's Committees;

(iv) Other investment projects under the authority to approve investment policies or investment decisions of the Prime Minister in accordance with law.

Authority to approve investment policies of the Province – level People's Committee

(i) Except for the investment projects specified in Article 30 and Article 31 of this Law, the People's Committee shall approve investment policies for the following investment projects:

- An investment project that requires the State to allocate or lease land without auction, bidding or transfer, or an investment project with a request for permission to change the land use purpose, except for the case of land allocation , lease land, permit the change of land use purpose of households and individuals that are not subject to written approval of the provincial People's Committee in accordance with the law on land;

- Investment projects on construction of houses (for sale, lease, lease-purchase), urban areas in the following cases: investment projects with a land use scale of less than 50 hectares and a population size of less than 15,000 people in urban areas; investment projects with a land use scale of less than 100 hectares and a population of less than 10,000 people in non-urban areas; investment projects regardless of land area size, population in restricted development areas or historic inner cities (defined in urban planning projects) of special urban areas;

- Investment project on construction and business of golf course (golf);

- Investment projects of foreign investors, foreign-invested economic organizations implemented in islands and border communes, wards and townships; coastal communes, wards and towns; other areas affecting national defense and security.

(ii) For investment projects specified at Points a, b and d, Clause 1 of this Article, implemented in industrial parks, export processing zones, hi-tech parks, and economic zones in accordance with the approved planning. having the authority to approve, the Management Board of industrial parks, export processing zones, high-tech zones and economic zones shall approve the investment policy.

Authority to issue, amend and revoke Investment Registration Certificate

The Management Board of industrial parks, export processing zones, hi-tech zones and economic zones shall grant, adjust and revoke investment registration certificates for investment projects in industrial parks, export processing zones and industrial parks. hi-tech zones, economic zones, except for the case specified in Clause 3 of this Article.

The Department of Planning and Investment shall grant, adjust and revoke the Investment Registration Certificate for investment projects outside industrial parks, export processing zones, hi-tech zones and economic zones, except for the cases specified in Clause 1 of this Article. Clause 3 of this Article.

The investment registration agency where the investor implements the investment project, locates or is expected to set up an executive office to implement the investment project, issues, adjusts and revokes the Investment Registration Certificate for the project. the following investments:

(i) Investment projects implemented in 02 or more provincial-level administrative units;

(ii) Investment projects implemented inside and outside industrial parks, export processing zones, high-tech zones and economic zones;

(iii) Investment projects in industrial area, export processing zones, hi-tech zones, economic zones where the management board of industrial parks, export processing zones, hi-tech zones, economic zones has not yet been established or is not part of the management scope of the Management Board of industrial parks, export processing zones, high-tech zones and economic zones.

(iv) The agency receiving investment project dossiers is the agency competent to issue the Investment Registration Certificate, except for the cases specified in Articles 34 and 35 of this Law.

The above article is our firm's perspective towards the competent authority grants for an investment registration certificate in Vietnam. For more information and advice on this issue, please contact Doanh Tri Law Firm directly via:
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