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A comprehensive Vietnamese mining law went into effect September 1, 1996, seven years after the beginning of preparatory work for it. The Law on Minerals (Minerals Law), passed by the National Assembly on Manh 20, 1996, supersedes all pevious inconsistent legislation, including a myriad of ordinances, decrees and regulations enacted since 1989-with the Ordanance on Mineral Resources at the core.
After some delay implementing regulations to the Min erals Law have now been issued. Contained in a government decree dated November 1, 1996 (the Mining Decree), they replace the 1992 implementing regulations to the 1989 Ordinance on Mineral Resources. Further implementing regulations and guidelines, however remain to be issued to fill in a number of gaps in the new mining legislation. These include, among others:
- guidelines specifying the professional requirements for mining executives;
- investment incentives for foreign-invested mining ventures;
- the transfer and inheritance of mining rights;
- rules governing restricted mining areas; and
- government restrictions on the export of certain unprocessed minerals.
The new mining legislation has generated considerable interest among foreign mining companies. This is hardly surprising, given that Vietnam is perceived to be endowed with an abundance of metallic and nonmetallic minerals that are for the most part still awaiting exploration and exploitation.
The Minerals Law encourages foreign investment in the mining industry particularly to help develop a domestic minerals processing sector. Foreign investors hope that the law and its implementing regulations will create a more favorable and stable regulatory framework than previous legislation, and particularly that they will allow for streamlined licensing procedures.
So far most foreign mining projects in the country with the exception of the oil and gas industry-have been rather small scale, while big players have taken a waitand-see attitude. Excluding the oil and gas sector, foreign investment commitments in licensed mining projects totaled no more than $120 million by the end of 1995, less than one percent of the total investment capital committed by foreign investors in Vietnam.
The government intends to attract reputable and bigname mining investors. In September 1995, the Ministry of Industry issued a list of more than 30 mining projects for foreign investment mostly in the form of joint ventures and wholly foreign-owned enterprises. Another list published by the...