Implementation of investment projects

1. The selection of investors to implement an investment project shall be carried out under one of the following forms:
(i) Holding land use right auctions (land allocation, state land lease);
(ii) Bidding for investor selection (for investment projects under the form of public-private partnerships - PPP);
The selection of investors to implement the project specified in items (i) and (ii) above shall be carried out after the approval of the investment policy, unless the project is not subject to investment policy approval.
(iii) Approving an investor to implement an investment project in the following cases. In these cases, the competent authority shall approve the investment policy at the same time with approving the investor without holding the land use right auction or bidding for investor selection:
- If a land use right auction is held but only one person registers for participation in the auction or the auction is unsuccessful;
- if bidding is conducted to select investors but only one investor registers for participation in the bidding;
- If the project is subject to investment policy approval in the following cases:
+ The investor already has the land use rights;
+ The investor is assigned with or receives the agricultural land use rights as contributed capital or leases the agricultural land use rights to execute an investment project on non-agricultural production or business and the land is not subject to land expropriation by the State;
+ The investor executes the investment project in an industrial or hi-tech park.

2. Authorization to approve investment policy
2.1. The National Assembly’s power to approve investment policies
The National Assembly shall approve investment policies for the following investment projects:
(i) Investment projects that exert great effects or potentially serious effects on the environment, including:
a) Nuclear power plants;
b) Projects that require repurposing of land of special-use forests, headwater protection forests or border protection forest of at least 50 hectares; of sand-fixing and windbreak coastal forests or protection forests for wave prevention of at least 500 hectares; of production forests of at least 1,000 hectares;
(ii) Investment projects that require repurposing of land meant for wet rice cultivation during with 2 or more crops of at least 500 hectares;
(iii) Investment projects that require relocation of 20,000 people or more in mountainous areas or 50,000 people or more in other areas;
(iv) Investment projects that require application of a special mechanism or policy that needs to be decided by the National Assembly.
2.2. The Prime Minister’s power to approve investment policies
The Prime Minister shall approve investment policies for the following investment projects:
(i) Investment projects regardless of capital sources in any one of the following cases:
a) Investment projects that require relocation of 10,000 people or more in mountainous areas or 20,000 people or more in other areas;
b) Investment projects on construction of: airports and aerodromes; runways of airports and aerodromes; international passenger terminals; cargo terminals of airports and aerodromes with a capacity of at least 1 million tons per year;
c) New investment projects in passenger air transport business;
d) Investment projects on construction of ports and wharves of special seaports; ports and wharves in which investment is at least VND 2,300 billion within the category of Class I seaports;
dd) Investment projects on petroleum processing;
e) Investment projects which involve betting and casino services, excluding business in prize-winning electronic games for foreigners;
g) Investment projects on construction of residential housing (for sale, lease or financial lease) and urban areas that use at least 50 hectares of land or less than 50 hectares of land but with a population of at least 15,000 people in an urban area; or that use at least 100 hectares of land or less than 100 hectares of land but with a population of at least 10,000 people in a non-urban area; or investment projects regardless of the area of land used or population within the safety perimeter of relics recognized by the competent authority as the national and special national relics;
h) Investment projects on construction and operation of infrastructure in industrial zones and export processing zones;
(ii) Investment projects of foreign investors in the fields of telecommunication services business with network infrastructure, afforestation, publication, press;
(iii) Investment projects which at the same time fall within the power of at least two provincial People's Committees to grant approval for investment guidelines;
(iv) Other investment projects subject to approval for their investment policies or subject to investment decision by the Prime Minister as prescribed by law.
 2.3. The power of provincial People’s Committees to approve investment policies
A Provincial People's Committees shall approve the investment policies for the following investment projects:
a) Investment projects that request the State to allocate or lease out land without auction or bidding for or receipt of land use rights, and investment projects that request permission to repurpose land, except for cases of allocation, lease or permission for repurposing of land of households or individuals not subject to the written approval by the provincial People's Committee;
b) Projects on construction of residential housing (for sale, lease or financial lease) and urban areas that use at least 50 hectares of land or less than 50 hectares of land but with a population of at least 15,000 people in an urban area; or that use at least 100 hectares of land or less than 100 hectares of land but with a population of at least 10,000 people in a non-urban area; or investment projects regardless of the area of land used or population within a restricted development area or within an historic inner area (determined in accordance with urban area planning projects) of a special urban area;
c) Projects on investment in construction and business of golf courses;
d) Investment projects of foreign investors and foreign-invested economic organizations implemented on islands or border or coastal communes, wards and towns; in other areas that affect the national defense and security.
The investment policies of the investment projects in Points a, b and d executed in industrial parks, export-processing zones, hi-tech zones and economic zones in conformity with planning approved by competent authorities shall be approved by management boards of such industrial parks, export-processing zones, hi-tech zones and economic zones.