Contribute to perfecting the legal corridor for PPP cooperation in innovation

(Chinhphu.vn) - The draft Decree on public-private partnership (PPP) in science and technology, innovation and digital transformation developed by the Ministry of Finance is attracting great attention. This is expected to be an important legal tool to promote innovation in growth models and sustainable development.

Minister of Finance Nguyen Van Thang speaks at the Conference - Photo: VGP/HT

Public-Private Partnership: A New Driving Force for Innovation

On June 21, the Ministry of Finance held a conference to collect opinions on the Draft Decree regulating the public-private partnership (PPP) mechanism in the fields of science and technology, innovation and digital transformation. Minister Nguyen Van Thang affirmed: This is an important political task, aiming to realize the major orientations in Resolution No. 57 of the Politburo.

According to the head of the Ministry of Finance, although the PPP Law exists, there is not enough basis to effectively implement this model in the field of science and technology. The main reasons are the lack of flexible mechanisms, complicated procedures, lack of appropriate incentives and most importantly, the confidence of private investors has not been consolidated.

This draft expands the definition of public-private partnership, adds more forms beyond the PPP Law, adds superior incentives and strong decentralization to ensure flexibility and suitability for specific situations. The selection of investors is also expanded with forms such as appointment, open bidding, competitive negotiation and selection in special cases.

Notably, the draft also emphasizes the risk-sharing mechanism. Specifically, in the first 3 years of operation, if the investor's revenue is lower than the approved financial plan, the State will compensate 100% of the difference. If the revenue drops below 50%, the investor can terminate the contract and the State will pay all the invested costs.

Removing institutional bottlenecks, unblocking private investment flows

According to Mr. Pham Thy Hung - Deputy Director of the Bidding Management Department (Ministry of Finance), a new point of the draft is to allow the use of public assets for joint ventures and associations, and at the same time decentralize approval authority to public service units instead of the Minister or Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee as at present. This is to shorten time, simplify procedures and increase initiative.

Regarding financial resources, in addition to the state budget and science and technology funds, the draft also clearly stipulates the research funding mechanism, encouraging contributions from organizations, individuals and private enterprises. In addition, international organizations such as the World Bank and ADB can also participate in co-financing research and innovation projects with high commercialization potential.

In particular, the three-way cooperation model between the State – Schools – Enterprises is considered a highlight. Accordingly, the State plays the role of strategic coordination and ensures intellectual property rights; educational institutions and research institutes will conduct research, and enterprises will provide finance, human resources and data.

In summary, the representative of the Ministry of Finance outlined four major orientations for the development of the Decree. Firstly, expanding and supplementing other forms of public-private partnership in addition to those stipulated in the PPP Law and the Law on Management and Use of Public Assets. For each form of cooperation, the Decree also orients appropriate product and service groups and implementing entities to create favorable conditions for application.

Second, specify mechanisms and policies for incentives, support, and guarantees for outstanding investment.

Third, strong decentralization, maximum simplification of processes, shortening of procedures, streamlining of content to suit the characteristics of science and technology, innovation and digital transformation, creating conditions for fast, flexible and effective implementation.

Fourth, clearly define the responsibilities of state management agencies, host organizations and investors: ensure transparency, efficiency and risk control in implementation.

Conference to collect opinions on the Draft Decree regulating the public-private partnership (PPP) mechanism in the fields of science, technology, innovation and digital transformation - Photo: VGP/HT

At the Conference, representatives of many ministries and large enterprises such as Viettel, VNPT, FPT, CMC, Vingroup... basically agreed with the objectives of the Decree. All opinions emphasized the need to remove legal obstacles in the management of public assets, especially scientific and technological assets - which are very difficult to value.

Although they agreed on the policy, many delegates also frankly pointed out the major challenges in implementation. One of the biggest challenges is valuing scientific and technological assets - which have many intangible elements such as inventions, research results, and basic technologies.

There are cases of mispricing that can lead to serious consequences, both legally and in terms of social trust. Therefore, transparency and standardization of valuation methods are key requirements.

In addition, many delegates proposed flexible models such as: the State leases research infrastructure invested by the private sector; or the State invests and leases operations to enterprises. The models of mixed research institutes, with enterprises investing and the State funding research tasks, are also highly appreciated for their practicality.

Minister Nguyen Van Thang requested the Bidding Management Department to maximally absorb opinions from all parties to ensure feasibility, transparency and consistency with laws such as the Budget Law, PPP Law, Science and Technology Law, Digital Technology Law, etc.

"The Ministry of Finance identifies this as an important and urgent task, demonstrating the Ministry's political responsibility in realizing the Party's guidelines on growth model innovation, financial mechanism reform, and quickly turning science, technology, innovation and digital transformation into truly central driving forces for economic growth and sustainable development of the country. The Central Steering Committee and the General Secretary have directed the urgent development of this Decree to create a clear legal corridor, promoting cooperation between the State, enterprises and research centers. This is an important step to remove the remaining limitations in the relationship between the State and enterprises in this field," Minister Nguyen Van Thang emphasized.

Mr. Minh

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/gop-y-hoan-thien-hanh-lang-phap-ly-cho-hop-tac-ppp-trong-doi-moi-sang-tao-102250621184904362.htm