The Law regulates the management and use of public investment capital, State management over public investment, and the rights, obligations and responsibilities of agencies, organizations and individuals engaged in public investment activities. According to the Law, areas of public investment include investment in socio-economic infrastructure projects; investment serving the activities of State agencies, political organizations and social-political institutions; investment in support of public good activities; and State investment in public-private partnership projects.

The adopted Law applies to agencies, organizations and individuals who participate in or are involved in the public investment activities, and to the management and use of public investment capital. In case any international treaties to which Vietnam is a member contain provisions differing from the approved Law, such international treaties shall be applied.

Under the Law, public investment projects are classified as national key projects, group A projects, group B projects and group C projects based on level of importance and scale. The National Assembly shall decide to invest national key projects; the Prime Minister decides to invest group A projects and heads of ministries, ministerial-level agencies and central agencies decide to invest groups B and C projects.

The Law also specifies 12 prohibited acts in public investment and responsibilities of involved agencies, organizations and individuals violating such prohibited acts.

The Law comes into effect as from 1 January 2015.