VCCI report highlights shift from control to facilitation in business regulations

VCCI report highlights shift from control to facilitation in business regulations

Vietnam's business lawmaking process underwent unprecedented changes in 2025 – with a record number of laws passed and special mechanisms introduced – representing a shift from control to facilitation, according to a new report.

At an event on June 2, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) released its ninth annual Business Law Flow Report, where VCCI chairman Ho Sy Hung said 2025 may be remembered for economic growth exceeding 8 per cent as well as for unprecedented changes in legislative thinking and national governance.

He highlighted the issuance of four strategic resolutions by the Politburo, including Resolution No.57-NQ/TW on science, technology and innovation; Resolution No.59-NQ/TW on international integration; Resolution No.66-NQ/TW on reforming lawmaking and law enforcement; and Resolution No.68-NQ/TW on private sector development.

Although the Politburo issued five additional resolutions during 2025, the VCCI noted that these four had the most direct impact on the development of business legislation.

“These resolutions have created a clear shift in development thinking, from management to facilitation, and from control-oriented governance to promoting innovation,” Hung said.

One of the most significant developments highlighted in the report was the National Assembly’s adoption of Resolution No.206/2025/QH15 on special mechanisms for handling legal obstacles and regulatory bottlenecks.

“For the first time in legislative history, the National Assembly authorised the government to issue resolutions that differ from existing laws in order to address urgent practical issues,” said Dau Anh Tuan, VCCI deputy secretary general and head of the Legal Department.

Tuan believes the government has been allowed to bypass certain legal restrictions to resolve urgent delays immediately, instead of waiting for amendments to individual laws. In exchange, these resolutions are subject to limited validity periods, most lasting until February 2027, while the government must simultaneously propose long-term legal amendments to ensure policy stability.

Between July 2025 and April 2026, the government issued 15 resolutions under this mechanism, covering areas ranging from planning, land and minerals to oil and gas, administrative procedures, food safety and social housing.

According to the VCCI, the new 'remove obstacles first, amend laws later' approach emerged from practical issues faced by businesses and investors. Some projects had been delayed for years awaiting planning adjustments, while companies were still required to resubmit documents already available in state databases. Projects extracting materials for major national infrastructure works were also subject to the same procedures as ordinary commercial mining projects.

Beyond these first-time policy experiments, the report also highlighted an unprecedented pace of lawmaking.

In 2025 alone, the National Assembly passed 89 laws, the highest number in many years. The figure was nearly three times higher than in 2024 and significantly above the average of previous periods.

Combined, more than 120 laws were newly issued or amended during 2024-2025, exceeding the total number of laws enacted during the entire 2016-2023 period. The 10^th session of the National Assembly, the final session of the current term, accounted for around one-third of all laws passed during the 2020-2025 term and was roughly 3.3 times the average annual legislative workload of the previous term.

“Businesses recognise the National Assembly’s efforts to amend laws in order to remove complexities affecting business operations,” Tuan said.

The VCCI also found that drafting times for legislation had been significantly shortened. A review of 33 laws directly related to production and business activities showed an average drafting period of 221 days, or around 7.4 months, equivalent to just 60 per cent of the previous minimum 12-month process. Some laws initiated in 2025 were completed within four months, while others took less than two months.

According to the VCCI, this reflects efforts to institutionalise a broad range of new policy directions related to innovation-driven growth, science and technology, international integration and private sector development.

The report also identified another positive trend: laws are increasingly drafted as framework legislation, while more detailed provisions are delegated to the government and ministries through subordinate regulations, improving policy flexibility.

Another major highlight was Resolution 66.7 on simplifying administrative procedures through data integration.

According to the report, more than 760 administrative procedures have been reviewed to replace physical documentation requirements with digital data across 14 areas of state management, including industry and trade, education and training, sci-tech, agriculture and environment, finance, justice, healthcare, banking, foreign affairs, defence and public security.

To implement these changes, authorities are expected to amend 22 laws, 113 decrees and 76 circulars simultaneously.

“Such a scale is equivalent to a comprehensive administrative reform programme, but implemented within a much shorter timeframe than the normal legislative process,” the VCCI stated in the report.

The report also noted that, out of more than 2,088 business complaints and recommendations reviewed nationwide, ministries, agencies and local authorities identified around 38 per cent as genuine legal impediments requiring action. The remaining cases were addressed through transparent explanations published on official online portals.

“This process has narrowed the gap between legal logic and practical realities, while opening opportunities for policies to become more closely aligned with business needs,” Tuan said.

Among the recognised issues, 42 per cent stemmed from unclear regulations, 36 per cent from unnecessary compliance costs and 22 per cent from overlaps and inconsistencies between legal documents.

However, the VCCI also expressed concern over the growing share of legal documents adopted under fast-track legislative procedures, which rose to 43 per cent in 2025, significantly higher than in previous years.

“Many of these cases may not involve consultations with businesses, meaning companies only become aware of the rules when implementation begins,” Tuan said, citing Decree No.46/2025/ND-CP as an example.

Businesses only discovered the decree during enforcement, leading to congestion at ports and eventually forcing the government to suspend its implementation.

At the same time, the proportion of legal documents taking effect immediately upon issuance, instead of after the usual 45-day period, increased to 15.3 per cent, leaving businesses insufficient time to prepare for policy changes.

From the VCCI’s perspective, the changes seen in 2025 were not simply about issuing more legal documents. More importantly, they reflected a broader shift in governance thinking: from pre-approval to post-audit management, from administrative control to facilitation, and from handling procedures to removing development bottlenecks.

At the same time, the VCCI noted that many businesses are now asking whether the special mechanisms introduced to address shortcomings in the current legal system will eventually be institutionalised through long-term legal reforms.

VIR