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| A bird’s eye view of Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park__Photo: Huy Hung/VNA |
The founding of hi-tech parks throughout the country is the realization of the Party’s orientation for development of such parks aimed at creating a favorable environment for absorbing high technologies from abroad, especially from multi-national corporations, mobilizing science and technology resources by attracting and rallying domestic and overseas Vietnamese scientific and technological intellectuals as well as foreign scientists for research, creation and transfer of technologies to production facilities. This also helps efficiently combine production with research, creation and transfer of high technologies and attract and train hi-tech human resources.
The enactment of the 2008 Law on High Technologies and guiding texts such as Government Decree 99/2003/ND-CP, and Prime Minister Decision 575/QD-TTg dated May 4, 2015, approving the Overall Master Plan on hi-tech agricultural parks and zones through 2020, with orientations toward 2030, has institutionalized the major policies on application and development of high technologies in the country. However, in the context of radically changing international and domestic realities which bring about numerous opportunities and challenges not ever seen, the above regulations have revealed not a few points no longer appropriate to the current development of hi-tech parks throughout the country.
On February 1, the Government issued Decree 10/2024/ND-CP on hi-tech parks (effective as of March 25, and superseding Decree 99/2003/ND-CP) in order to create a new legal framework for operation of hi-tech parks in compliance with the current laws on investment, land, planning, and technology transfer, and other relevant laws, and institutionalize a number of the Government-issued policies that have been efficiently implemented in several hi-tech parks, thereby unifying the management of hi-tech parks nationwide.
The new Decree is expected to address problems and limitations arising in the development of hi-tech parks over the recent years and create favorable conditions for efficient and sustainable development of hi-tech parks in the coming time.
Incentives and support for investment projects in hi-tech parks
The new regulation classifies hi-tech parks as areas eligible for investment incentives applicable to geographical areas with extremely difficult socio-economic conditions as specified in the investment law. As per Article 12 of the Decree, specific incentives and support levels for investment projects and activities in hi-tech parks will be provided in accordance with the regulations on investment, corporate income tax, import and export duties, land and credit and relevant regulations.
Hi-tech park management boards and related authorities are responsible for carrying out investment, enterprise, land, construction, environmental protection, labor, tax and customs-related administrative procedures and other relevant procedures under the single-window mechanism or inter-agency single-window mechanism; and providing assistance for investors in worker recruitment and other related issues in the course of investors’ operation in hi-tech parks.
Investment projects and activities in hi-tech parks are entitled to priority for participating in programs on support in worker training and recruitment, and research and application of high technologies and technology transfer; support for development of hi-tech industries and high technologies in agriculture; support for innovation enterprises and small- or medium-sized innovation startups; access to soft loans, and other support programs of the Government, ministries, sectors and localities.
Mechanisms to promote investment in technical and social infrastructure facilities of hi-tech parks
Article 23 of the Decree says that the State encourages experienced and capable entities and individuals to participate in building and commercially operating the entire or part of technical infrastructure systems of hi-tech parks. Investment projects on construction and commercial operation of hi-tech parks’ infrastructure will be exempted from land rentals and ground clearance compensations.
These projects are also given priority in getting access to the State’s investment credit loans and mobilizing capital in the forms specified under the regulations on enterprises and credit and relevant regulations.
Hi-tech park management boards and related agencies are responsible for settling first of all administrative formalities for owners of infrastructure investment projects and investment projects in zones exclusively for projects to build and commercially operate infrastructure facilities in order to facilitate investment attraction and other activities of such projects in hi-tech parks.
In addition to the aforesaid incentives, projects on building and commercial operation of infrastructure facilities in hi-tech parks are entitled to other incentives provided by the investment and land laws and relevant regulations and given priority for participating in schemes, programs and projects on pilot development of smart urban centers and enjoying other law-specified support policies.
Regarding policies on development of social infrastructure to serve hi-tech park workers, under Article 14 of the Decree, provincial-level People’s Committees are assigned to plan housing areas and social infrastructure systems adjacent to or surrounding hi-tech parks, thus ensuring convenient transport to directly serve hi-tech park workers, simultaneously with devising tentative plans on development of hi-tech parks upon the formulation of provincial master plans, ensuring the conformity of the park construction investment with practical demands and set schedules.
The State encourages experienced and capable entities and individuals to invest in building and commercially operating social infrastructure facilities. These facilities include cultural works, greenery and flower parks, and entertainment and recreation centers for public utility (excluding entertainment and recreation centers and theme parks with the construction intensity of architectural works exceeding 5 percent), which are invested in the form of public-private partnership or with mobilized social resources or voluntary contributions of organizations and individuals.
Investment projects to build houses, service works and public-utility facilities to directly serve hi-tech park workers are entitled to incentive and support policies under regulations on social housing and relevant regulations.
Policies on research and development of high technologies, incubation of high technologies and hi-tech enterprises and training of hi-tech human resources
As stated in Article 15 of the Decree, for hi-tech parks that have their technical infrastructure systems built with state budget funds, the state budget will provide allocations for these parks’ sub-zones with the functions of research, development and incubation of high technologies and hi-tech enterprises and training of hi-tech human resources for ground clearance and leveling and construction of technical infrastructure systems.
The state budget prioritizes investment in building in hi-tech parks institutions for research and development of high technologies, large-sized laboratories that are up to international standards for research, analysis, testing and inspection of high technologies, institutions for incubation of high technologies and hi-tech enterprises, institutions for training of hi-tech human resources, and other hi-tech information infrastructure facilities in order to facilitate access, use and exchange of information about high technologies.
The State gives priority to the use of official development assistance, concessional loans, technical assistance services, resources from national programs on science and technology development and high technologies, aid sources, and other lawful funding sources for building institutions for research and development of high technologies, incubation of high technologies and hi-tech enterprises and training of hi-tech human resources as well as providing support for projects and activities in these fields.
Policies toward export processing enterprises in hi-tech parks
In addition to the aforesaid investment incentives and support, export processing enterprises in hi-tech parks specified in Article 32.2 of the Decree that satisfy the customs inspection and supervision conditions and comply with the import duty and export duty law’s provisions applicable to non-tariff zones are entitled to other incentives and support under regulations exclusively applicable to export processing enterprises operating in industrial parks and economic zones in accordance with the regulations on industrial parks and economic zones.
If satisfying the customs inspection and supervision conditions and complying with regulations on non-tariff zones mentioned above before the effective date of the Decree (March 25), enterprises operating in hi-tech parks may be treated like those operating in industrial parks and economic zones from the date they are proven to satisfy such conditions and comply with such regulations.- (VLLF)
