New measures to control greenhouse gas emissions in Vietnam

In this January 2022, three new legal documents have been issued regarding the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and protection of the ozone layer, including:

· Decree 6 of the Government dated and effective from 7 January 2022 (Decree 6/2022);

· Circular 1 of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) dated and effective from 7 January 2022 regarding response to climate change (Circular 1/2022); and

· Decision 1 of Prime Minister regarding issuance of list of greenhouse gas emitting sectors and establishments subject to greenhouse gas inventory dated and effective from 18 January 2022 (Decision 1/2022).

The legislation seems to a step to implement Vietnam’s commitment to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 in the COP26.

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Allocating Sea Area for Offshore Wind Power Projects In Vietnam

Applicability of Decree 11/2021

It is likely that an offshore wind power project (Offshore WPP) will need to follow the procedures under Decree 11/2021 in order to be allocated with the necessary sea area for development and operation of the Offshore WPP. This is because:

Under the current wind power development regime of Vietnam, an Offshore WPP is defined as a grid-connected wind power project with wind power turbines constructed and operated “from the average lowest seawater line over several years off the coast” (nằm ngoài đường mép nước biển thấp nhất trung bình trong nhiều năm ra ngoài khơi);
Decree 11/2021 applies to the allocation of certain sea area “from the average lowest seawater line over several years off the coast” for exploitation and use of “sea resource” (tài nguyên biển); and
Sea resource is defined to include biological and non-biological resource of the water mass, the [sea] bed and the soil beneath the seabed.

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New Decree 31/2021 guiding the implementation of the Investment Law 2020 on the Market Entry of Foreign Investors

The Government has issued Decree 31/2021/ND-CP (Decree 31/2021) which becomes effective on the signing date, 26 March 2021. Decree 31/2021 provides certain appreciable provisions guiding the negative list approach and the application of market entry conditions of the Investment Law 2020. These implementing provisions (as discussed in this post) are expected to provide more certainty and transparency to foreign investors.

This post is written by Ha Thi Dung.

Please download the full pdf version Here

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New Draft Decree Implementing the Investment Law 2020

In October 2020, the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) published a draft decree implementing the Investment Law 2020 (Investment Decree). The Investment Decree will replace Decree 118/2015 implementing Investment Law 2014. Some major changes provided in the Investment Decree are discussed below:

· Government guarantee - The Investment Decree clarifies that the investment assurance under Article 11.2 of the Investment Law 2020 may include (1) guarantee on foreign exchange availability, and (2) guarantee on contractual performance by Government authorities or State-owned enterprises. The clarification seems to revert to the provisions under Investment Law 2014 on government guarantees, which are removed in the Investment Law 2020.

However, it is not clear if the Government can issue such clarification in form of a government Decree since the Investment Law 2020 does not allow Government authorities to provide investment incentives to investors which are not provided in the Investment Law 2020 without the National Assembly’s approval. Guarantees on foreign exchange availability and contractual performance could also be viewed as a type of investment incentives.

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Vietnam Business Law