1. Indexing factors for monthly earnings after payment of social insurance contributions in 2020

The Circular No. 35/2019/TT-BLDTBXH stipulates that monthly earnings after payment of social insurance contributions by the entities defined in Clause 1 Article 1 of this Circular (i.e. entities subject to compulsory payment of social insurance contributions) shall be adjusted by adopting the following formula:

In this formula, indexing factors for monthly earnings after payment of social insurance contributions are specified in Table 1.

Indexing factors in 2018 and earlier range from 1.03 to 4.85, except the indexing factor of 1.00 applied in 2019 and 2020 (i.e. there is no increase in monthly earnings after payment of social insurance contributions in these years).

Regulations in the Circular No. 35/2019/TT-BLDTBXH will be applied from January 01, 2020.

2. Higher education qualifications

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 99/2019/ND-CPhigher education qualifications include:

– Bachelor’s degrees, which are conferred on learners who have finished a higher education program in accordance with the law, met outcome requirements of Level 6 of the Vietnamese Qualifications Framework, and complied with specific and lawful regulations of their training institutions;

– Master’s degrees, which are conferred on learners who have finished a master program in accordance with the law, met outcome requirements of Level 7 of the Vietnamese Qualifications Framework, and complied with specific and lawful regulations of their training institutions;

– Doctoral degrees, which are conferred on learners who have finished a doctoral program in accordance with the law, met outcome requirements of Level 8 of the Vietnamese Qualifications Framework, and complied with specific and lawful regulations of their training institutions;

– Equivalent degrees mentioned in Clause 2 Article 15 of this Decree.

3. Regulations on estimates of construction contract packages

On December 26, 2019, the Ministry of Construction has promulgated the Circular No. 09/2019/TT-BXDproviding guidance on determination and management of construction costs.

According to this Circular, construction contract package estimates include:

– The estimate of a construction contract package;

– The estimate of a procurement contract package;

– The estimate of an installation contract package;

– The estimate of a consultancy contract package;

– The estimate of an engineering and construction (EC) contract package;

– The estimate of an engineering and procurement (EP) contract package;

– The estimate of a procurement and construction (PC) contract package;

– The estimate of an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract package;

– The estimate of a lump sum turnkey contract package (project preparation, engineering, procurement and construction);

– The estimates of other construction contract packages.

4. Compulsory preparation of pollution treatment, environmental improvement and remediation plans

This provision is introduced in the Circular No. 25/2019/TT-BTNMT elaborating the Government’s Decree No. 40/2019/ND-CP on amendments to Decrees providing guidance on the Law on Environmental Protection, and providing for management of environmental monitoring services.

The Circular No. 25/2019/TT-BTNMT has been promulgated on December 31, 2019.

This Circular prescribes of closing life solid waste burial sites when the time of preparation of plans, begins to proceed until the closure of landfills and come to next 06 months from the date of closure of landfills. The owner must report and impact assessment to the environmental for management agency on the current conditions of burial sites.

After closing the life solid waste burial sites, continue to not allow people and animals to enter and exit freely, there must be signs and safety instructions in the burial sites. Reuse of closed burial sites must meet the requirements as prescribed.

In addition to the regulation on closing the landfill for life garbage, the Circular also provides for the List of products and services of environment friendly services. Accordingly, the list of environmentally friendly products and services certified with the “Vietnam Green Label” is published on the website of Vietnam Environment Administration.

This Circular applies to domestic and foreign agencies, organizations and individuals involved in environmental protection activities.