Removing obstacles in the management of aviation infrastructure assets

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The Ministry of Finance is drafting a Decree regulating the management, use and exploitation of aviation infrastructure assets. In the photo: Van Don International Airport Photo: Internet

The Ministry of Finance is gathering comments on the draft Decree of the Government regulating the management, use and operation of aviation infrastructure assets.

After reviewing the implementation of legal regulations on the management, use and operation of aviation infrastructure assets, the Ministry of Finance identified a series of difficulties and inadequacies in the implementation. For example, the operation of aviation infrastructure assets stipulated in Decree No. 44 does not fully reflect the specific nature of this type of asset. Specifically, it is the regulation on assigning the aviation management agency (the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam) to operate them in the following ways: directly organizing operation; leasing operation rights; transferring operation rights for a limited period. However, the asset assignment to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam has not yet been implemented because the unit has not yet prepared the conditions for organizational structure and asset management and operation capacity.

Therefore, implementing the provisions of Decision 2007 of the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV), the enterprise assigned to manage and operate aviation infrastructure assets, instead of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, only operates by the method of directly exploit assigned assets, leading to complete dependence on the capacity of ACV, not covering the scope of exploited assets, exploitation methods... Therefore, it is necessary to amend the scope of exploited assets (full exploitation or partial exploitation, other exploitation methods) to cover more specifically the characteristics of asset management at airports; at the same time, it is necessary to supplement and strengthen decentralization, reform administrative procedures in operating aviation infrastructure assets.

Another shortcoming is that the handling of aviation infrastructure assets in some forms (such as using aviation infrastructure assets to pay investors when implementing construction investment projects under the form of build-transfer contracts; selling assets) is no longer consistent with the Party's policies and guidelines, the State's laws and current reality. At the same time, some types of assets are no longer in need of use or have changed planning and are removed from the list of aviation fixed assets, but there is no mechanism to transfer them to local management and handling according to the provisions of the law on land and planning. Accordingly, it is necessary to amend and supplement the settlement method, authority, order and implementation procedures to meet the specific characteristics of the assets and reality.

To facilitate the management of this type of asset and overcome the shortcomings of Decree No. 44, the Ministry of Finance has drafted a Government Decree regulating the management, use and operation of aviation infrastructure assets. Accordingly, the draft stipulates that the management, use and operation of aviation infrastructure assets must comply with the principles stipulated in the Law on Management and Use of Public Assets and ensure the following principles: Aviation infrastructure assets must be fully accounted for in terms of physical objects and values; depreciation and amortization of assets and maintenance of works must be calculated according to the provisions of law; the assignment of aviation infrastructure assets must be based on the planning of airports and airfields; classification of airports and airfields; investment and development plans for airports and airfields must be approved by authorized agencies and persons.

In cases where aviation infrastructure works have been built on national defense land, the assignment, exploitation, maintenance, upgrading, expansion and handling of such works must be allowed by the Ministry of National Defense.

In cases where assets are related to national defense and determined according to the provisions of law on the protection of national defense works and military zones, the handing over, exploiting, and handling of the assets according to the provisions of this Decree must ask the opinion of the Ministry of National Defense.

In cases where assets are related to national security and determined according to the provisions of law on the protection of important works related to national security, the opinion of the Ministry of Public Security is required.

In cases where assets are not related to national defense or national security, the Ministry of Transport, the aviation management agency, and the asset management agency are responsible for determining in the application for the authorized agency or person to decide on the handover, exploitation and handling of the assets.