The Ministry of Justice on June 15 published the appraisal dossier for the second draft of a Decree detailing and implementing several articles of the Law on High Technology.
In this version, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) reviewed and proposed incentive mechanisms and policies at the highest level to facilitate business investment, research, and development of science and technology. The draft aims to promote the growth of high technology, strategic technologies, and strategic technological products.
Notably, Article 44 of the draft stipulates regulations on land use fees and land rent to supplement incentive policies for exemptions and reductions. Accordingly, the MoST proposed an additional incentive: a "total land rent exemption for the entire lease term for strategic technology R&D centers, high-tech R&D centers, and strategic technology enterprises."
Explaining this proposal, the submission report stated that these centers are key entities that require prioritized incentive policies and support to conduct research and development (R&D) activities and manufacture strategic technological products. This move is intended to institutionalize the Party's directions in Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW regarding "fast and sustainable development, and gradually achieving technological autonomy, especially in strategic technologies."
However, under current land incentive policies, these centers are not yet treated equitably compared to similar entities, such as institutes and innovation centers for the digital technology industry or research facilities of science and technology enterprises. Therefore, to ensure policy consistency and fairness between these centers and corporate scientific research facilities, and to avoid negatively impacting investment attraction, the draft adds the aforementioned regulations.
Additionally, the draft stipulates a "full land rent exemption for the entire lease term for land areas subleased to investment projects involving high-tech or strategic technology activities."
For other land areas, the proposal includes a 15-year land rent exemption followed by a 50% reduction for the remainder of the lease term (excluding land used for shared infrastructure in high-tech zones as regulated in Clause 5, Article 95 of Decree No. 102/2024/ND-CP, dated July 30, 2024, which provides detailed regulations on the implementation of the Land Law).
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