The Draft Decree guiding the implementation of Resolution 198/2025/QH15 on private economic development was developed by the Ministry of Finance to specify special mechanisms and policies to promote the development of the private economic sector, in the spirit of Resolution No. 198/2025/QH15 issued by the National Assembly on May 17, 2025.

However, through review, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) has pointed out many points that need to be improved to ensure feasibility and effectiveness.

Land rent refund procedures are still vague

One of the problems pointed out by VCCI is the regulation on support for land access (Article 4). The draft states that investors in industrial park and industrial cluster infrastructure will be refunded land rent from the central and local budgets.

However, this regulation does not clearly state the refund procedure. VCCI analyzed that this could make businesses confused, not knowing which agency to carry out the procedure with and what the process is.

"From the perspective of the investor, they only need to know that they will be refunded from the state budget. The division of funds between the central and local levels is an internal business of the management agency," the VCCI document stated.

VCCI made some comments on the Draft Decree guiding the implementation of Resolution 198/2025/QH15 on private economic development.

To resolve the problem, VCCI proposed to amend the regulations in the direction of "reimbursement from the state budget" and add specific regulations on procedures to make it easier for businesses to implement.

Regarding the policy to support small and medium-sized enterprises renting houses and land that are public assets (Article 5), VCCI found that the regulations are still unclear. Specifically, the draft allows businesses to reduce rent but lacks guidance on procedures to enjoy this incentive.

In addition, assigning provincial-level People's Committees to regulate the procedures for leasing public assets may create overlaps and inconsistencies with the regulations on price listing methods stated in Decree 108/2024/ND-CP, causing difficulties in the application process.

Many other support policies need to be clarified

VCCI also provided detailed comments on many other important contents in the draft. Specifically, regarding support for science and technology (Article 8), VCCI believes that the way of calculating interest on the part of the Science and Technology Development Fund used for the wrong purpose is unreasonable. Calculating interest from the time of setting up the Fund instead of from the time of spending for the wrong purpose will cause disadvantages for businesses. In addition, training costs for large enterprises to support small enterprises should be calculated based on actual costs, instead of applying the provisions of the Labor Code, which are not suitable for this case.

Regarding the provision of free digital platforms (Article 9), the draft stipulates that the State will provide free accounting software, digital signatures, etc. to micro, small enterprises and business households. However, there are no instructions on how these subjects can access and receive this support.

Regarding free training (Article 10), the draft cites training support under Decree 80/2021/ND-CP. However, Decree 80 only applies to small and medium-sized enterprises, omitting business households and individual businesses. VCCI suggests that it is necessary to add separate regulations for these subjects to ensure inclusive policies.

Regarding the role of business associations (Article 13), according to VCCI, it is not enough to stipulate the role of associations at the level of "coordination". To promote effectiveness, it is necessary to identify associations as an entity carrying out support activities and have a mechanism to allocate state budget for implementation, helping the policy to be closer to businesses.

Regarding the responsibilities of businesses (Article 14), the requirement that businesses "provide information upon request of support agencies" is too broad and unclear. VCCI proposes to either remove this provision, or clarify the type of information and specific cases that must be provided to avoid abuse.

VCCI's comments are expected to help the drafting agency complete the draft Decree, ensuring that the policies to support the private economy when issued will be truly clear, transparent and easy to implement, creating a strong driving force for business development.