PM requests for review on PPP investment mechanism

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has just issued Letter No. 87 / VPCP-CN requesting the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance to study and review the reflection of the Viet Nam Public Procurement the Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) investment mechanism.

On 24/12/2018, the Viet Nam Public Procurement’s website posted an article with the headline "No shortage of money, no shortage of plans, only shortage of mechanism", in which, Mr. Dominic Scriven - Chairman of Dragon Capital stated that "Capital from the domestic and foreign private sector is not lacking. The Vietnamese capital market is quite large. Investment forms and plans are not lacking, either. Most importantly, inadequate mechanism is still in short to open up and attract this type of capital,…as long as the ask-give mechanism still exists, given the context of a young market economy like Viet Nam, it should not be surprising about the slow disbursement issue of PPP projects".

Also according to the article, despite positive results over the past few years, PPP investment attraction has not been as expected, especially PPP investment is not attractive enough to foreign investors. Without a breakthrough mechanism, the demand for investment resources for infrastructure will not be met. The main cause roots from overlaps between laws and a lack of clear regulations on the State's support mechanism for PPP projects.

With great demand for investment attraction, red carpet should have been rolled out for investors to participate in PPP projects. Instead, there are so many barriers caused by legal obstacles.

The Prime Minister has requested the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance to study and propose solutions regarding this issue.