Quang Ngai "kills" dozens of slow-progressing projects

Although dozens of projects that were not implemented on schedule have been "terminated", handling these projects is still a difficult problem for Quang Ngai province.

According to the People's Committee of Quang Ngai province, up to now, the province has recorded 67 investment projects approved by the Provincial People's Committee (except for economic zones and industrial parks) that are not being implemented on schedule, with a total registered investment capital of VND 9,221 billion and a land use area of 824 hectares. Of which, 13/67 projects have leased land; 54/67 projects have not leased land.

The reason is that in the process of implementing procedures after approving the investment policy, many projects are not implemented on schedule as prescribed in the granted investment certificate/investment policy decision.

Quang Ngai Provincial People's Committee recognized that the typical causes leading to slow progress are problems with land regulations, mainly concentrated in projects in the agricultural sector; problems due to land areas managed by the State in the project area; problems in negotiating, compensating, and supporting people with land in the project area; problems due to changes in socio-economic development orientation and implementation after inspection conclusions...

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Mr. Tran Phuoc Hien said that recently, the Department of Planning and Investment has always proactively reviewed, urged and warned investors whose projects are not on schedule.

“After reviewing, in some cases where investors were slow to implement, the Department of Planning and Investment presided over and coordinated with local authorities and relevant agencies to review and, based on investment laws, advise the Provincial People's Committee to promptly handle. Specifically, from 2021 to present, the Provincial People's Committee has terminated the legal validity of investment policies and revoked 61 projects that were not implemented on schedule,” said Mr. Hien.

According to the leaders of Quang Ngai province, for some projects that were not implemented on schedule due to objective reasons and the investors were still determined to implement, when the investors proposed to the competent authority to adjust the project investment policy, the Department of Planning and Investment promptly coordinated with the local authorities and related units to appraise and advise the Provincial People's Committee to consider and adjust the project according to the provisions of the law on investment. Along with that, the People's Committee of Quang Ngai province established an interdisciplinary inspection team to conduct field inspections, work directly with many investors, hold meetings and report to the Provincial People's Committee on handling options.

However, in the process of handling slow-progressing projects, the province faces a number of difficulties and obstacles, such as regulations on terminating investment projects that are not specific and depend on other specialized laws.

“The province’s professional agencies recognize that the handling of investment projects that are not on schedule currently has many problems, and the legal regulations are still unclear, and also determined that terminating the investment policy of the projects mainly based on the voluntary spirit of the investors is feasible and fastest. However, through the working process, some investors have not agreed to voluntarily terminate the project activities, with the main reason being that the investors have spent money to carry out related procedures after the investment policy decision,” said Mr. Hien.

Currently, for projects that have been allocated land or leased land, but are slow to implement, the Provincial People's Committee has directed the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and the People's Committees of districts, towns and cities to review and advise the Provincial People's Committee to consider and handle them according to regulations.

Some projects have not been allocated land or leased land due to legal problems (focused on the agricultural sector). The Department of Natural Resources and Environment is coordinating with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to determine the feasibility of accessing land and advise the Provincial People's Committee to handle it according to regulations.

According to the Department of Planning and Investment, this agency is continuing to strengthen investment monitoring and evaluation; reviewing slow-progressing projects and advising the Provincial People's Committee to handle them according to regulations. In particular, for projects that investors are still actively implementing, the Department of Planning and Investment will guide investors to carry out procedures to submit to competent authorities for consideration and adjustment of project progress according to investment laws to have a basis for implementing other related procedures.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment is consulting with competent authorities to promulgate the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Investment Law, including a draft regulation amending and supplementing Article 48 of the 2020 Investment Law on termination of investment project activities.

Therefore, after the competent authority issues the above regulations, the Department of Planning and Investment will review and advise the Provincial People's Committee to handle each specific project, ensuring strictness and compliance with current legal regulations.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/quang-ngai-khai-tu-hang-chuc-du-an-cham-tien-do-d238500.html