ON MECHANISMS AND POLICIES ON ENCOURAGEMENT OF DEVELOPMENT OF INLAND  WATERWAY TRANSPORTATION

This Decision provides for the mechanisms and policies on encouragement of development of inland  waterway transportation in Vietnam;

This Decision applies to organizations, organs and individuals related to the activities of investment, training, management and operation in the field of inland  waterway transportation in Vietnam;

In this Decision, the following terms are construed as follows:

1. Inland waterway transportation infrastructure includes the inland waterway, passage protection corridor; port, inland waterway landing stage, anchoring area outside the port area; embankments, dams, inland waterway signals and other ancillary works.

2. Inland waterways are passages, dry lock and works helping waterways vehicles pass dams, waterfalls on river, canals, ditches or passages on lakes, ponds, lagoons, bays, coast, to the islands, connecting islands within internal waters of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam under the management and operation for transportation.

3. The inland waterway vehicles are boats, ships and other floating structures with without engine always operating on the inland waterway.

4. High-speed crafts are ships and boats with highest speed calculated by meter/second (m/s) or knot equal or greater than values calculated by the following formula:

V ³ 3,7 Δ^0,1667 (m/s)

or V ³ 7,1992 Δ^0,1667 (kt)

In which:

Δ: Volume of displacement corresponding to the highest design waterline (m³).

5. Container transportation on inland waterway is the use of inland waterway vehicles to transport containers on inland waterway routes.

6. Passenger transportation on inland waterway is the use of inland waterway vehicles to transport passengers on inland waterway routes.

7. Particularly poor communes, frontier communes, security area communes are the communes with criteria specified in Decision No. 2405/QD-TTg dated 10/12/2013 of the Prime Minister and have activities of inland waterway transportation.

1. The mechanisms and policies on development investment and maintenance of inland waterway transportation infrastructure are as follows:

a) Prioritizing the allocation of fund from the state budget to the adjustment and implementation of planning of inland waterway transportation development approved by the competent authority level in accordance with the balancing capacity of the state budget;

b) Prioritizing the access to the preferential loans: ODA loan and preferential capital for investment in inland waterway transportation infrastructure for passenger and container transportation;

c) For the income of businesses generated from the implementation of new investment projects of inland waterway transportation infrastructure, apply the provisions of Points b, Clause 1, Article 15 of Decree No. 218/2013/ND-CP dated 26/12/2013 of the Government defining and guiding the implementation of the Law on enterprise income tax.

2. The People’s Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities shall:

a) Based on the local resources, prioritize the allocation of fund for investment in infrastructure of river-crossing passenger landing stage in places with difficult economic conditions without investment in infrastructure of river-crossing passenger landing stage and conditions for development of other types of transportation;

b) Based on the current regulations, consider the exemption and reduction in land leasing rent or water surface leasing rent for investment in new building of inland waterway port, renovation of warehouse, open storage and pier system, water drainage and internal road system of inland waterway port; report to the Prime Minister on issues beyond their authorities;

c) Based on the local resources, consider the assistance of interest of capital loan at credit institutions for investment projects of inland waterway transportation infrastructure.

3. With respect to the management and maintenance of inland waterway: For the period from 2016 to 2020, prioritizing the allocation of economic non-business capital for the maintenance of inland waterway under the plan approved by the competent state organs with a annual minimum increase by 1.3 times compared to the funds allocated for the previous year to ensure the maintenance of infrastructure and improve the safety and reduce accidents of inland waterway transportation.

Encouraging the application of socialized implementation of dredging projects of inland waterway routes without using the state budget; the combined gathering of all dredged products shall comply with current regulations;

4. Piloting the implementation of mechanisms of management and maintenance of inland waterway within a period of 03 (three) years, from 2016 to the end of 2018. The fund for implementation is from the economic non-business capital of national inland waterway under the technical –economic norms approved by the comptent state organs, particularly as follows:

a) Applying the method of limited bidding to select contractors to manage and maintain the inland waterway on the routes of Son La lake (length: 175km) from the upstream of Son La hydropower dam to the downstream of Lai Chau hydropower dam, Vam Co Dong river route (length: 131 km) from the intersection of Vam Co Dong – Vam Co Tay rivers to Ben Keo port and Hong river route from Ba Lat ( float No. 0) to Viet Tri intersection (length: 253 km). Each route/passage has 01 (one) package;

b) Applying the method of order, plan preparation, design of working drawing upon implementation of dredging project to ensure the transportation of inland waterway on the rivers: Dao Ha Ly river, Nghen river, Len river, Lam river, Cua Dai – Cu Lao Cham route. The assessment of environmental impact is done 01 (one) time on 01 (one) route/passage.

c) Applying the method of order to prevent collision for bridges: Duong, Binh, Ho, Viet Tri, Ham Rong, Yen Xuan, Ky Lam railway bridge during flood season and regulation and control to ensure the transportation at the location: Km 19 of Kinh Thay river, Ghenh bridge of Dong Nai River, Hong Ngu bridge on Hong Ngu canal, An Long bridge on Thap Muoi No.1, Dong Lanh shoal area of Hieu river, Quan Lieu canal, Dao Ha Ly river, Mong Cai river, Den Han waterfall on Len river.

d) Applying the method of bidding under current regulations to carry out the management and maintenance of inland waterways for the national remaining inland waterway routes;

1. Exemption from registration fees for inland waterway vehicles such as high-speed crafts and inland waterway container transportation vehicles.

2. The People’s Committee of provinces and centrally-run cities shall base themselves on the local resources to:

a) Provide assistance of loan interest at credit institutions to the investment projects in new building of pulling and pushing inland waterway vehicles with load of 1,500 tons and engine capacity of 250 HP or more; the self-propelled inland waterway vehicles and the special-use inland waterway vehicles with load of 800 tons or more for transporting goods by inland waterway in accordance with the operation conditions of inland waterway routes;

b) Provide assistance of loan interest at credit institutions to the new building of inland waterway vehicles to transport passengers across rivers at the areas with difficult economic conditions without conditions to develop the other types of transportation.

The People’s Committee of provinces and centrally-run cities shall base themselves on the local resources to:

1. Provide price support or expense support for public transportation of passenger by inland waterway.

2. Give exemption from fare to children under 6 years old.

3. Reducing fare to people with meritorious services to the revolution, people with severe disability and particularly severe disability, the elderly, students as Vietnamese citizens.

Providing 100% of training and instruction fund assistance for the inland waterway vehicle operators in particularly poor communes, frontier communes and security area communes of provinces and centrally­-run cities.

1. All businessess must ensure the operational conditions in the field of inland waterway as prescribed by law.

2. The projects of investment in inland waterway vehicles and projects of inland waterway infrastructure must have their approved planning.

3. In case of the same time, some contents have some assistance policies from various programs or projects, the beneficiaries may choose the most profitable policy.

1. The Ministry of Transport

a) Assesses the implementation of this Decision and makes annual report to the Prime Minister on implementation result.

b) Implements the pilot management and maintenance of inland waterway specified in Clause 4, Article 4 of this Decision to ensure simple procedures to suit the actual requirements and strengthen the role, responsibilities and effective state management; organizes preliminary assessment and reports to the Prime Minister on implementation results;

c) Coordinates with the relevant Ministries, sectors and organs in providing instructions on order and procedures for encouraging the socialized dredging of inland waterway passages with combined gathering of all dredged products without use of state budget;

d) Coordinates with the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Planning and Investment to allocate annual budget for implementation of policies on development of inland waterway transportation;

dd) Coordinates with the Ministry of Finance in providing instructions on development of inland waterway transportation provided for in this Decision.

2. The Ministry of Finance

a) Coordinates with the relevant Ministries in providing instructions on exemption of registration fees for inland waterway vehicles such as high-speed crafts and inland waterway container transportation vehicles

b) Coordinates with the State Bank of Vietnam in providing instructions on assistance of loan interest at financial institutions for investment projects in inland waterway vehicles and transportation infrastructure.

c) Coordinates with the Ministries, sectors, People’s Committee of provincies and centrally-run cities in providing instructions on implementation of policies on exemption and reduction in land leasing rent or water surface leasing rent in the field of investment in new building of inalnd watwerway port, renovation of system of warehouse, open storage, pier, water drainage and internal road system of inland waterway ports.

d) Coordinates with the relevant Ministries and sectors in providing instructions on income of businesses generated from the implementation of new investment projects in inland waterway transportation infrastructure as stipulated under Point b, Clause 1, Article 15 of Decree No. 218/2013/ND-CP dated 26/12/2013 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of Law on enterprise income tax.

dd) Coordinates with the Ministry of Transport in allocating economic non-business capital to the maintenance of inland waterway for the period from 2016 to 2020 as stipulated by this Decree.

3. The Ministry of Planning and Investment

Coordinates the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Transport in balancing the state budget, prioritizing the allocation of capital for development of inland waterway transportation infrastructure by 2020.

4. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment

a) Provides instructions on allocation of land fund to the construction investment projects in inland waterway ports under the land use planning and land; on dossier to register the sand volume recovered during the implementation of dredging project in the form of gathering of all dredged products;

b) Provides instructions for the relevant organs and units on implementation of regulations on environmental protection concerning the dredging of inland waterway passages.

5. The State Bank of Viet Nam

Coordinates with the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Transport in providing instructions on assistance of capital loan at financial institutions for investment projects in inland waterway vehicles and transportation infrastructure.

6. People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities

a) Comply with the approved planning of inland waterway transportation development;

b) Issue the assistance rate of loan interest at financial institutions for investment in inland waterway vehicles and transportation infrastructure and assistance rate of fare for the users in their areas.

c) Coordinate with the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in allocation of land for construction projects of inland waterway ports under the planning of land use of the localities;

d) Coordinate with the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Transport in balancing the annual budget to develop the inland waterway transportation.

This Decision takes effect from 01/12/2015.

The Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level organs, Heads of governmental organs and Chairman of People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities are liable to execute this Decision. /.