NA authorities caution on free trade zone establishment proposal
NA authorities caution on free trade zone establishment proposal
The National Assembly’s Committee for Financial and Budgetary Affairs (CFBA) said the Government needs to further scrutinise its draft resolution on allowing some localities to establish free trade zones.
The Government also needs to report the proposal to the Politburo for approval before submitting it to the National Assembly.
The committee made the statement during a meeting of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee this week to give opinions on the Government’s draft resolutions on piloting free trade zones with a number of specific mechanisms and policies for development of Hai Phong City and Nghe An and Thua Thien-Hue provinces.
The draft suggested the NA stipulates piloting four specific mechanisms and policies related to land, planning, government organisation, investment incentives and taxes for Thua Thien-Hue; nine and seven specific policies for Nghe An and Hai Phong, respectively.
According to the draft, the Government asked for the approval of studying and building a free trade area in Hai Phong based on successful models in the world, and in line with demand on socio-economic development in the future.
Assessing the draft, CFBA’s chairman Bui Phu Cuong said based on the provisions of the nation’s current legal system, free trade zones are a completely new model in Viet Nam so there are no written legal regulations on the issue.
The regulation of the formation of a free trade zone is an important issue as it is related not only to the economy but also national defence, security, international integration, political and social stability.
Regulations on the establishment of free trade zones will have great impacts on the country so the CFBA believed the Government should report to the Politburo for consideration and approval before submitting it to the National Assembly, Cuong said.
Besides, Cuong said the Government should make more detailed plans on the legal basis, feasibility, and practicality behind the implementation of specific mechanisms and policies for free trade zones as they remain unclear in the draft.
Especially, he noted, as the model succeeded in some countries but failed in others, it should be further scrutinised to minimise disadvantageous impacts on the economy.
