Vietnam’s ambitious doing business roadmap

The government has for years focused on improving the country’s business environment, enhancing national competitiveness and facilitating trade to promote Vietnam’s integration into international economic communities. The efforts are reflected in a recent government resolution that sets out targets of advancing 10 components of the Business Environment Index.

Regarding start-ups, for example, Resolution 19 targets a plunge from 121st place in the World Bank’s “Doing Business” ranking to 70th place in 2017 and 50th by 2020. In terms of construction licensing and related procedures, the government is keen to shorten the current duration from 166 days to less than 120 days in 2017 and 90 days in 2020. The government also targets a reduction in the number of procedures from five to four and their handling time from 46 to less than 35 days in 2017, and 30 days in 2020 in the field of power access.

For property ownership and usage registration, Vietnam intends to drop from 57.5 to less than 20 days in 2017 and 15 days in 2020. “Raising the country’s credit access ranking from 32nd to 30th in 2017 and 25th in 2020, and at the same time ensuring effective enforcement of regulations on investor protection, are among the most important targets,” Phan said.

Furthermore, the government is determined to reduce the time of tax and premium payment from 540 hours at present to less than 168 hours in 2017, the handling of export procedures from 108 to 70 in 2017 and 60 hours in 2020, and the import formalities from 138 to 90 hours in 2017 and 80 in 2020.

Phan added that the government has also targeted a shortening of contract dispute settlement periods from 400 to less than 300 days in 2017 and less than 200 days in 2020. Along with that, corporate bankruptcy declarations should be settled in less than 30 months in 2017 and 24 months in 2020 - compared to 60 months at present.

Beside the 10 component indexes, the government is addressing four groups of missions, with 351 tasks handed to 27 ministries, central and local agencies, as well as one group of missions assigned to the Judicial Council, Supreme People’s Court and the People’s Procuracy of Vietnam.

To ensure the best performance, as Phan stated, the key is to improve team spirit and supporting role among ministries, central and local agencies in settling corporate matters.

On the other hand, the government encourages enterprises to stay active in identifying on-site problems and suggesting solutions learned from those applied in similar situations in other countries. The Government Office will supervise the implementation of Resolution 19 and receive reports through the government website.