PM’s working group lauded for facilitating removal of business conditions
PM’s working group lauded for facilitating removal of business conditions
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc praised his working group for their role in reducing business conditions by half at ministries and agencies during a session held in Hanoi on Monday to review the group’s 2018 performance and set 2019 tasks, reported the Vietnam News Agency.
He asked the group to work more drastically and straightforwardly with Party secretaries and chairpersons of cities and provinces, ministers, deputy ministers on tasks assigned by the central Government and himself.
Further attention should be given to the removal of obstacles in institutions and policies, as well as the decentralization at ministries, agencies and local governments, he added.
The Cabinet leader also called for the strengthening of inspections of policymaking and to quickly end delays in drafting legal documents.
Minister and Chairman of the Government Office Mai Tien Dung, who is also head of the working group, stated that since its establishment nearly three years ago, the group had conducted 61 inspections at 20 of the 22 ministries and central agencies, one government agency, 13 localities, 10 economic groups and various State corporations. Of these, 27 inspections had focused on the assigned tasks and others were specialized inspections.
Up to 51 of the 60 detailed regulation documents were issued in 2017, reaching 85%. Last year, 118 out of the target of 122 documents were issued, equivalent to some 96.7%. While carrying out inspections, the group discovered overlaps in existing legal documents and suggested the Government and prime minister direct ministries and agencies to review and amend them.
The working group has properly followed the instructions of the prime minister in devising and fine-tuning policies to remove all barriers and sub-licenses that created unnecessary hurdles for residents and business, said Minister Dung.
The group also found barriers due to red tape. For example, the adjustment of the tariff policy on imported clothing material, as inputs for exported products, has received support from local textile and garment firms.
Further, various ministries have so far issued a total of 49 legal documents on specialized inspections and business conditions.
As a result, they have trimmed the list of goods subject to specialized inspection by more than 6,700 out of the 9,926 product lines, as well as simplified and reduced over 3,300 of the 6,191 business conditions, saving 17.5 million days of public work annually, which helps saving roughly VND6.6 trillion (US$285 million).
The group also helped strengthen discipline among the leadership and provided direction on assigned tasks to ministries, central agencies and local governments, thus improving their close ties with the Government Office.
Ties between the Government Office and business associations at home and abroad have been increasingly open and practical. During the 2017-2018 period, over 14,900 proposals by enterprises and residents were received, and more than 2,400 of them were answered by ministries, agencies and localities, while over 2,000 were publicized.
Ngo Hai Phan, head of the administrative reform unit at the Government Office, remarked that the group needs to crack down on petty corruption and employ modern technology in inspections this year.
