This morning, November 23, the National Assembly discussed in groups the draft Law on Digital Technology Industry and the draft Law on Management and Investment of State Capital in Enterprises. Deputy Head of the Delegation of National Assembly Deputies of Quang Tri Province, Hoang Duc Thang, participated in the discussion.

National Assembly Deputy Hoang Duc Thang speaks at the discussion session on the morning of November 23 - Photo: NL

Regarding the draft Law on Digital Technology Industry, delegate Hoang Duc Thang said that currently in the cyberspace environment, the legal boundaries of Vietnamese law are difficult to clearly define, and regulating issues outside of Vietnam or not performed by Vietnamese people is a big challenge. Therefore, it is necessary to clearly stipulate the requirements for organizations and individuals (directly or indirectly) in Vietnam as well as Vietnamese citizens abroad who have activities in the digital technology industry to comply with Vietnamese law.

It is recommended that the drafting committee study and add the law's subjects of application to "domestic and foreign organizations with direct or indirect representative offices in Vietnam, foreign individuals regularly operating in Vietnam, and Vietnamese citizens in any country, if participating in or related to the digital technology industry in Vietnam".

Regarding the regulations on "Digital assets", the draft mentions "crypto assets", delegate Hoang Duc Thang said that there are currently some types of cryptocurrencies on the market that have not been recognized by Vietnamese law so far, including crypto assets in the law is suitable for practice, but strict regulations are needed to avoid confusion between "crypto assets" issued by the state and cryptocurrencies that are not recognized in the market today.

Regarding the draft Law on Management and Investment of State Capital in Enterprises, delegate Hoang Duc Thang agreed with the amendment of the law this time after more than 10 years of implementing the Law on Management and Use of State Capital Invested in Production and Business in Enterprises.

Going into the specific provisions of the draft law, delegates suggested that it is necessary to clearly define the legal status and responsibilities of capital investors and enterprises. If the provisions as drafted can lead to a situation where the state manages capital, enterprises in production and business activities are not proactive in capital but have to propose to the owner to "request" capital; will such provisions "tie the hands" of enterprises with state-invested capital?

The delegate also emphasized that the law needs to clarify the status of the representative of the state capital owner in the enterprise, specifically the representative of the capital owner is the administrative management agency, a non-commercial legal entity, the enterprise is a commercial legal entity. It is necessary to clearly define legal responsibility, to avoid loss and waste of state capital due to loss in production and business activities.

In the implementation of administrative reform in 2018, we have eliminated the function of representing the owner of state capital and assets at ministries, branches and localities to establish an agency representing the owner of state capital at enterprises, the State Capital Management Committee at enterprises, creating a one-stop shop for state capital management. Delegate Hoang Duc Thang suggested that there should be a summary assessment of the performance of this agency.

Regarding the regulations on the tasks, powers and responsibilities of ministries, ministerial-level agencies and provincial People's Committees, the draft stipulates the responsibilities of 5 types of agencies related to the management and investment of state capital in enterprises. Delegates suggested that the drafting committee study regulations focusing on a number of key management agencies, while other agencies play a coordinating role to avoid enterprises having to report and seek opinions from many agencies in managing business operations as well as being subject to inspection and examination by many agencies with the authority to do so, which causes difficulties for business operations.

Delegate Hoang Duc Thang also proposed to add more functions and roles of the State Audit agency in checking, supervising, inspecting, and evaluating the management and investment of state capital in enterprises; at the same time, the drafting committee needs to review, explain, and clarify some specialized concepts.

According to the 2024 law and ordinance making program, the above draft laws were submitted to the National Assembly for first comments at the 8th session and are expected to be considered and approved by the National Assembly at the 9th session (May 2025).

Cam Nhung - Nguyen Ly