Hanoi (VNA) – The 15th National Assembly on May 13 heard a proposal and verification report on a draft resolution aimed at transforming the northern port city of Hai Phong through pilot special mechanisms and policies.
Presented at the NA’s 9th session in Hanoi, the proposal seeks to replace an earlier resolution and drive high growth across the Red River Delta for the 2026-2030 period, aligned with the goals set by the Politburo and the Party Central Committee.
Minister of Finance Nguyen Van Thang, who presented the draft resolution, said it is designed to tackle bottlenecks, create breakthroughs with regional spillover effects.
The draft resolution introduces several innovative financial and state budget management measures. Notably, it allows Hai Phong city to borrow through local government bonds, loans from domestic financial institutions and other entities, and re-lent funds from the Government’s foreign loans, with annual borrowing and budget overspending capped by the legislature under the Law on State Budget.
To spur innovation and entrepreneurship, the draft offers a range of tax incentives for startups, including a five-year corporate income tax exemption, a five-year exemption on income from capital transfers in innovative startups, and a five-year personal income tax break for experts, scientists, and startup employees in Hai Phong.
A centrepiece of the draft is the proposed establishment of a Free Trade Zone (FTZ) in Hai Phong city. This FTZ will be accompanied by several special preferential policies, including simplified administrative procedures for investment and business registration, export-import processes, immigration, temporary residence, and work permits.
Additionally, the FTZ will feature streamlined rules for land use and construction investment, optimised investment incentives such as land and water surface rent reductions, and tax breaks. It will also facilitate other investment and business activities, including permission for foreign bank branches to open transaction offices within the FTZ outside of their branch headquarters.
Phan Van Mai, Chairman of the NA's Committee for Economic and Financial Affairs, delivered a verification report endorsing the draft resolution’s political, legal, and practical foundations. However, he urged careful assessment of the FTZ’s economic, budgetary, and regional impacts.
Robust oversight and risk management, he insisted, are crucial to safeguard transparency, financial stability, and social order. And accountability, he added, must be pinned down, with clear roles for those steering this experiment./.
