On November 10, the National Assembly listened to the presentation by Minister of Justice Le Thanh Long about the amendment to the 2012 Capital Law.

The draft amended law includes seven chapters with 59 articles (3 chapters and 32 articles more than the 2012 law) and mentions nine major policies, including the restructuring of the capital city’s apparatus to make it operate in a streamlined, professional, and effective way.

Deputy director of the Hanoi Department of Justice Nguyen Cong Anh talked to VietNamNet about the draft law.

What is your assessment about the impact of the Capital Law enforcement on Hanoi?

After 10 years of enforcement, the 2012 Capital Law has had a positive impact on the city’s socio-economic development. The law has allowed the city to establish legal tools for building and managing capital city planning, thereby contributing to a more orderly and neat urban landscape. The city has a higher authority to set penalties on the violations of construction and land laws.

Hanoi has gained achievements in developing culture and the cultural and spiritual life of the city’s residents has been improved, while cultural and historical heritage sites have been better preserved and embellished.

Hanoi continues to lead the country in developing education and training, and improving the quality of human resources. The State's social security policies are implemented properly, sufficiently and promptly; Hanoi has issued specific and unique policies on social welfare; and ensured political stability, national defense, security and social order.

The city’s growth rate has been increasing year after year, actively contributing to the country’s GDP growth. Hanoi’s GRDP (gross regional domestic product) in 2020 reached VND1.02 quadrillion, while the GRDP per capita was $5,325, or 1.92 times higher than the country’s average level.

In 2016-2020, Hanoi made up more than 16 percent of GDP, 18.5 percent of the state budget collections, 20 percent of revenue from domestic sources and 8.6 percent of the country’s total export turnover.

Which problems do you think need to be solved when compiling the amended Capital  Law?

In my opinion, many provisions of the 2012 Capital Law are general, not clear enough, and difficult to be applied. After the 2012 Capital Law took effect, many other laws were enacted, including the Land Law, Housing Law, Residence Law and others, which contain provisions overlapping with the Capital Law.

The relocation and post-relocation land fund management have not been strictly implemented according to the Prime Minister’s Decision 130/QD-TTg dated January 23, 2015. The application of standards and regulations in planning a number of public works in traffic, construction, water supply and drainage in the inner city remains unsystematic.

Environmental regulations on wastewater, emissions and noise in the capital have been issued, but the application is ineffective. Policies on science and technology development have been mentioned in the law, but they have not been effectively implemented. 

There are many issues not mentioned in the 2012 law, including specificity in the organizational structure of the capital’s government, and agricultural and rural development policies. The law doesn’t contain provisions about a management mechanism which coordinates cooperation among cities/provinces within the capital area.

The Steering Committee for Planning and Investment in the Hanoi Capital Region has been established but it operates ineffectively.

Regarding transportation, the current land bank reserved for transport development is still too small compared to requirements. Meanwhile, the difficulties in expanding transport routes in the inner city area, plus the high costs of compensation for site clearance to expand roads, have put pressure on the city’s budget. 

Which policies do you think the amended Capital Law needs to create a specific and outstanding mechanism for Hanoi’s development?

I believe that one of the extremely important issues that needs changes in the amended law is decentralization.

The new law needs to concretize specific mechanisms and policies for prompt application. Regarding legislative authorization, it is necessary to decentralize this wok to competent agencies in accordance with current laws to ensure feasibility and uniformity. While applying decentralization, it is necessary to clarify the responsibilities Hanoi authorities have to take, as well as the mechanism to inspect and supervise law enforcement.

Hanoi needs to be given specific mechanisms and policies to optimize the capital city’s resources, and pay attention to attracting talents.

Quang Phong