Advancing Industrial Complex Management and Development

To refine policies and legislation pertaining to the management and development of industrial complexes, and to ensure their sustainable, systematic, and effective planning and development, the Government issued Decree 32/2024/ND-CP on March 15, 2024, aiming to address the evolving socioeconomic development needs at the local level and promptly rectify emerging practical challenges in the field of industrial complex management and development.

Vam Cong Industrial Complex (Lap Vo, Dong Thap) is invested by Sao Mai Group

Decree 32/2024/ND-CP (replacing Decree 68/2017/ND-CP and Decree 66/2020/ND-CP) is scheduled to take effect from May 1, 2024, with six remarkable new contents and changes compared to the previous decrees on industrial complex management and development.

One, to comply with the current Land Law (Clause 2, Article 149) on land lease for industrial complex investment and operation and boost the work performance of industrial complexes invested by infrastructure developers, Decree 32/2024/ND-CP stipulates that infrastructure developers of industrial complexes are companies, cooperatives and organizations licensed to invest and operate industrial complex infrastructure.

As infrastructure investors of industrial complexes specified by Clause 2, Article 15 of Decree 68/2017/ND-CP, they will continue to operate until a decision on arrangement is made by competent authorities. They must fulfill all rights and obligations subject to investors of industrial complex infrastructure as per Decree 32/2024/ND-CP and related laws.

Two, to comply with the Investment Law, inherit and maintain principles and management contents as per Decree 68/2017/ND-CP and Decree 66/2020/ND-CP and to further institutionalize Party and State guidance on upgrading the business and investment environment, reforming administrative procedures, and strengthening the responsibility of local industry and trade authorities in industrial complex management, Decree 32/2024/ND-CP regulates procedures for establishing and expanding industrial clusters (including selecting infrastructure investors) and assigns responsibility to the Ministry of Planning and Investment to research and propose legal provisions on industrial complex infrastructure investment projects to competent agencies.

Three, decentralizing the deciding power to the Provincial People's Committee, enabling it to change the name, changing the location inside the district administrative boundary and increasing the area by at most 5 hectares as compared to the approved planning, in line with district-level land use planning and other plans. At the same time, it is important to update and report changed contents to the Prime Minister at the next provincial planning, preparation and approval period.

Four, assigning the decision-making power to the Provincial People's Committee, based on its authority and by law, to revise contents or annul the decision on industrial complex establishment and expansion to match actual local conditions.

Seafood processing at IDI Factory, Vam Cong Industrial Complex

In case industrial complex infrastructure projects are formed with the state budget, the Provincial People's Committee will assign and select infrastructure investors to manage, repair and operate industrial complexes. The budget for infrastructure construction at industrial complexes is not included in the land-renting price or infrastructure-using price. The cost of infrastructure management, repair and operation is included in the infrastructure-using price. Where any specialized law stipulates this content, such law will prevail.

Five, regarding investment incentives for infrastructure construction investment projects in industrial complexes and manufacturing and business investment projects in industrial complexes, Decree 32/2024/ND-CP provides that industrial complexes are areas with difficult socioeconomic conditions and investing in infrastructure construction in industrial complexes is a special industry entitled to investment incentives. The application of incentives for infrastructure construction investment projects in industrial complexes and manufacturing and business investment projects in industrial complexes is governed by specialized laws (e.g. land law, tax law, credit law and other relevant legal regulations) to ensure consistency and unity of the legal system. In case laws provide different incentive levels, the highest one will be applied.

Finally, Decree 32/2024/ND-CP continues to provide transitional regulations on industrial complexes established before the Prime Minister’s Decision 105/2009/QD-TTg dated August 19, 2009 on industrial complex management with simple, flexible application for localities given that general principles of industrial complex management are guaranteed (unifying contents of industrial complex establishment decisions, handling industrial complexes larger than 75 hectares, selecting infrastructure construction investors, and handling State-funded infrastructure, if any). According to the decree, the Provincial People's Committee is assigned to base on actual situations and performances of industrial complexes, review the current status of infrastructure construction investment and related legal regulations on industrial complexes to clarify necessity, regulatory compliance, feasibility and decision on industrial complex establishment.

Decree 32/2024/ND-CP is a legal basis for localities to further strengthen management and investment efficiency of industrial complex infrastructure construction and development; improve the business investment environment; and foster a strong shift in economic and labor structures towards rural industrialization advocated by the Party and the State.

By Dau Quang Thai, Vietnam Business Forum