On the morning of August 12, the Ministry of Information and Communications held a working session with relevant ministries and branches to collect opinions to complete the draft Law on Digital Technology Industry before submitting to the Government and National Assembly.

Attending the meeting were Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Bui Hoang Phuong, representatives of the Government Office, Ministry of Planning & Investment (MPI), Ministry of Finance and Department of Information Technology and Communications Industry (Ministry of Information and Communications) - the unit in charge of drafting.

Previously, according to the Prime Minister's assignment, the Ministry of Information and Communications chaired and coordinated with ministries, ministerial-level agencies, localities and relevant agencies and organizations to develop the Digital Technology Industry Law project.

The Law on Digital Technology Industry was drafted to resolve shortcomings and inadequacies in implementing regulations on the IT industry in the Law on Information Technology. This legal document also aims to propose breakthrough policies to promote development, while limiting risks, if any, in digital technology industrial activities.

According to the draft report, the Law on Digital Technology Industry will create a legal corridor to promote the development of the digital technology industry, turning this into an economic sector that contributes greatly to the country.

The Law on Digital Technology Industry aims to transform Vietnamese digital technology enterprises mainly from assembling and processing to creating, designing, integrating, manufacturing and mastering core technology; Create a market for the digital technology industry and promote the development of domestically designed and produced digital technology products.

The scope of regulation of the Law on Digital Technology Industry includes: Digital technology industry activities, digital technology products and services; ensure the development of the digital technology industry; rights and responsibilities of organizations and individuals participating and related to the digital technology industry.

This Law does not regulate the production and provision of digital technology products and services specifically used for national defense, security, and cipher purposes. The subjects of application of the Law on Digital Technology Industry are expected to be agencies, organizations and individuals participating in or related to the digital technology industry.

Before the deadline for submitting to the Government is approaching, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Bui Hoang Phuong said that the Ministry of Information and Communications wants to invite representatives of ministries and branches to exchange, discuss and directly comment on the draft Law on Digital Technology Industry.

Sharing about the draft Law on Digital Technology Industry, Ms. Pham Thuy Hanh, Deputy Director of the Department of Law, Government Office said that the draft needs to focus on two major policy areas, one is the issue of investment incentives, the other is the experimental licensing mechanism.

"To develop the digital technology industry, the most important issue is investment incentives, investment procedures, policies, tax incentives, related policies,... in the direction of supporting the Ministry of Information and Communications to offer incentives at the highest level because these are the industries that need to be developed and opened during this period", Deputy Director of the Department of Law, Government Office commented.

Commenting from the perspective of an agency that is building a specific incentive mechanism for a number of new technology industries and source technologies, Mr. Do Van Su, Deputy Director of the Foreign Investment Department (Ministry of Planning and Investment), proposed the need to develop policies for "digital technology parks" in the Law on Digital Technology Industry to be consistent with the Law on Industrial Parks and Economic Zones drafted by the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Regarding preferential policies in digital technology parks, the representative of the Ministry of Planning and Investment suggested that the unit in charge of drafting the Law on Digital Technology Industry should hire a specialized consulting company to review each clause and regulation of the law.

At the meeting, representatives of relevant ministries and branches also mentioned many specific issues mentioned in the Law on Digital Technology Industry such as investment incentives for the semiconductor industry, VAT issues, research testing mechanisms, policies for digital assets, etc. In response to the sharing of experts, the working session helped clarify many issues related to the Law on Digital Technology Industry.