The National Assembly Standing Committee discussed proposed changes to the Housing Law and the Land Law yesterday intended to make living and doing business in Viet Nam easier for Viet kieu, or overseas Vietnamese.

It was the third time the standing committee had discussed the proposed changes. The changes would be made through amendment of Article 126 of the Housing Law and Article 121 of the Land Law.

The change to the Housing Law would allow more overseas Vietnamese to own residences and liberalize the conditions applied to the ownership.

The change to the Land Law would provide overseas Vietnamese with the right to use land attached to their residence. But they would not be allowed to use their residences as security for raising capital.

• Photo : "Euro Land" project

National Assembly deputy chairman Nguyen Duc Kien told the committee the relevant agencies would have to collaborate and ensure the new law encouraged overseas Vietnamese to knit more closely with the country.

"Our country is small but the population is large so housing must be efficiently managed," he said.

Planning should encourage apartment buildings rather than houses.

Overseas Vietnamese, who owned their residences, must ensure the country's security and cooperate with its political system, he said. The revised laws were intended to allow overseas Vietnamese and their families to have accommodation in their hometowns.

Other laws already governed the sale of dwellings and land-use right. The deputy chairman asked the legislative revision committee to clarify the people who were the target of the laws and their circumstances.

People's Aspiration Committee chairman Tran The Vuong said the revision committee should consider the draft law very carefully because amendment of the two articles would basically change the rules governing overseas Vietnamese ownership of their residences.

The deputies asked the revision committee to ensure the proposed changes to Article 121 of the Land Law made the rules governing land-use by overseas Vietnamese stricter.

Law Committee chairman Nguyen Van Thuan said the definition of 'culturalist' was too vague when applied to people eligible to own land and should be clarified.

Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Nguyen Thanh Son said the proposed changes to the regulations for residence ownership would meet the demand of many overseas Vietnamese.

But the revised law must clarify their rights and duties to Viet Nam. The committee agreed to send the proposed draft laws to the assembly's plenary session next month.

Capital works

Later, the standing committee discussed proposed changes to 52 articles in eight laws and Resolution 66/2006/QH11 governing capital works.

These were the Construction. Investment, Bidding, Business, Corporate Income Tax, Land, Environment Protection and Fire Prevention and Fighting laws.

A Government's report provided by the committee says the amendments and supplements to the laws are necessary to:

• Eliminate obstructions to capital works;
• Unify the State's management of investment in capital works;
• Ensure regulations are not duplicated and arc consistent;
• Meet the requirements of administrative reform;
• Ensure an acceptable legal climate.

The revised laws are also intended to promote the participation and define the responsibilities of organisations and individuals in accordance with the law and international rules.

The Economic Committee agreed to quickly revise the articles of the laws governing basic capital works to eliminate obstacles to progress and increase the effectiveness of State-funded projects, as well as general construction.

National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong said the scope of the proposed changes was too wide.

Investment in basic capital works was very complex and included a variety of managements in many industries drawing on different capital sources, he said.

The chairman said in-depth analysis and a clear review of the impact and obstacles to basic capital works were needed.

Articles should be changed only after they had been thoroughly studied. NA Vice Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong said the lawmakers should focus on amending and supplementing the Construction and Bidding laws because they embodied the most important regulations for investment procedures and process.

She and other deputies also suggested changes in the Fire Prevention and Fighting and Environment Protection laws to remove obstacles in basic capital works investment.

The proposed changes must satisfy management requirements, she said.