1. On December 30, 2023, the Government issued Decree 96/2023/ND-CP providing guidelines for the Medical Examination and Treatment Law of 2023.

Decree 96/2023/ND-CP specifies detailed regulations of some articles of the Medical Examination and Treatment Law of 2023 on:

• Issuance of medical practice licenses;
• Issuance of licenses for medical examination and treatment activities;
• Application of new techniques, new methods, and clinical trials in medical examination and treatment;
• Management of medical equipment at medical examination and treatment facilities;
• Mobilization and deployment of medical examination and treatment facilities to participate in medical examination and treatment activities in case of natural disasters, catastrophes, Group A infectious diseases, and emergency situations;
• Conditions ensuring the operation of medical examination and treatment activities;
• Guidance on regulations regarding the implementation roadmap; transitional regulations related to professional practice licenses and operational licenses.

Decree 96/2023/ND-CP does not apply to certain activities related to practitioners and medical examination and treatment facilities of the people’s armed forces, including:

• The practice and instruction of medical examination and treatment, issuance, re-issuance, extension, adjustment, suspension, and revocation of medical practice licenses for practitioners;
• Cases, conditions, documentation, and procedures for the issuance, re-issuance, adjustment, suspension, and revocation of operational licenses for medical examination and treatment facilities, and the operational license templates for these facilities;
• The evaluation and certification of quality for medical examination and treatment facilities;
• The classification of professional and technical levels for medical examination and treatment facilities.

The implementation of autonomy mechanisms for public service medical examination and treatment facilities is carried out in accordance with the law on autonomy.

See more: Decree 96/2023/ND-CP will take effect from January 1, 2024.

2. On January 10, 2024, the Government issued Decree 02/2024/ND-CP on the transfer of electrical works as public assets to Vietnam Electricity Group.

Accordingly, the conditions for electrical works to be transferred to Vietnam Electricity Group are specified as follows:

• Electrical works specified at points a, b, c, and d of Clause 2, Article 1 of Decree 02/2024/ND-CP are to be transferred to Vietnam Electricity Group in accordance with the regulations in Chapter II of this Decree and must fully meet the following conditions:

+ In line with the power development planning, the power grid development scheme within the provincial planning at the time of construction or at the time of inspecting the actual status of the electrical works for transfer (for electrical works specified at point a, point d of Clause 1, Article 3 of Decree 02/2024/ND-CP);

+ Comply with relevant standards and norms at the time of inspecting the actual status of the electrical works for transfer;

+ Electrical works are in normal operation (being used for power generation, transmission, distribution) at the time of inspecting the actual status of the electrical works for transfer;

+ Electrical works are not in a state of pledge, mortgage, guarantee, or securing any other debt obligations.

For electrical works specified at point a, point b of Clause 2, Article 1 of this Decree that meet the regulations at point a, point d of this clause but do not meet the conditions specified at point b, point c of this clause, if the power unit determines that it can renovate or repair to continue operation, it is deemed to meet the transfer conditions.

• Electrical works specified at point d of Clause 2, Article 1 of this Decree are to be transferred to Vietnam Electricity Group in accordance with the regulations in Chapter III of this Decree and must fully meet the conditions specified in Clause 1 of this Article and must be capable of supplying power or developing power supply to organizations and households in the locality.
• Electrical works specified at point e of Clause 2, Article 1 of this Decree must meet the transfer conditions as prescribed in Decree 35/2021/ND-CP guiding the Investment Law in the form of public-private partnerships.

See more: Decree 02/2024/ND-CP will take effect from March 1, 2024.

3. On January 11, 2024, the Prime Minister of the Government issued Decision 38/QD-TTg approving the Strategy for the Development of Vietnam’s Social Insurance Industry until 2030.

Accordingly, the overall objectives of the Strategy for the Development of Vietnam’s Social Insurance Industry until 2030 include:

• Developing the Vietnam Social Insurance industry in a professional, modern, effective, and efficient manner to implement well the policies and regimes of social insurance, unemployment insurance, and health insurance; gradually expanding the sustainable coverage of social insurance and health insurance towards the goal of universal social insurance and health insurance.
• Improving the efficiency of management and financial use of social insurance, unemployment insurance, and health insurance funds in accordance with the provisions of the law and the principles of unity, transparency, and safety.
• Investing insurance funds in compliance with legal regulations to ensure safety, sustainability, and efficiency.
• Innovating and reorganizing the organizational structure of Vietnam Social Insurance towards a streamlined, professional, modern, effective, and efficient operation, meeting the requirements of reform and modernization of Vietnam’s Social Insurance industry, ensuring the correct implementation of the Party’s viewpoints, the state’s laws, and practical situations.
• Strongly applying information technology, promoting the implementation of digital transformation. Enhancing operational efficiency on a modern, integrated, interconnected, and centralized processing platform, ensuring network information safety; pioneering the testing of new technologies and models to better serve the people and businesses participating in social insurance, unemployment insurance, and health insurance; and contributing to the implementation of the Government’s National Digital Transformation Program.

See more: Decision 38/QD-TTg, which takes effect from January 11, 2024.