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VietNamNet Bridge - Domestic and international experts worked together to improve the regulation and development of finances at the first-ever regulatory reform conference in Ha Noi yesterday.

Vietnam is a big rice exporter

The two-day conference was organised by the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, to enable experts in South and Southeast Asia to share experience on regulatory reforms.

IFC was supporting the Vietnamese Government’s implementation of national Project 30, a key step in administrative reform, said Charles Schneider, a senior official at the IFC.

Monique Bennema, senior official at the Netherlands Embassy, said "complicated administrative procedures are always a barrier for enterprises, preventing development."

Participants from South Korea, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, the Netherlands, Tonga, the US, Britain and Viet Nam agreed that keeping regulations up to date was essential for a better business environment and that the withdrawal or cut of unnecessary regulations was a must.

Nguyen Minh Man, director of the Department of the Administration and Civil Services, said: "Viet Nam is working hard for administrative reform, however, the result is still far from expectations."

According to Nguyen Thi Kim Thoa of the Ministry of Justice, many legal documents are impractical and ineffective. As a result, they conflict with the current legislative system and are not suitable with socio-economic development in Viet Nam.

The reason for this was lack of staff, finances and support from the local people, who often know nothing about the process of making the regulations, Thoa said.

Nguyen Minh Man, also deputy chairman of the Advisory Council of Project 30, expressed his hope for the project, which was kicked off last year to increase transparency and simplify administrative procedures (APs) in Viet Nam. The success of the project means Viet Nam can attract more investment and improve its integrity and access to information, he said.

Ngo Hai Phan, deputy director of the Prime Minister’s Special Task Force for Administrative Procedures Reform said the project, which has been successful in other countries, would benefit the 87 million Vietnamese citizens, as well as international investors working in Viet Nam, when it finishes next year.

There are more than 5,000 APs at the ministerial level and more than 52,000 others at the local level, said Phan, adding that unnecessary and complicated APs will be axed.

The project has been implemented in all ministries and provinces of Viet Nam, as well as the three central agencies of the State Bank of Viet Nam, Bao Viet Bank and Social Policies Bank, which often complained of complicated APs.

According to the official website of the project, it is being carried out in three steps: inventory, review, and implementation of simpler APs.

Responsible people and enterprises will be involved in the process of recommendation and inventory, said Man, adding that this will not only boost the transparency of the work, but ensure all amendments are correct.

Most of the interviewed citizens, especially businessmen, welcomed the project but questioned its effectiveness.

Nguyen Thi Luong, owner of an export weaving workshop in Ha Noi, said she had to wade through a lot of complicated tax and customs procedures before she could trade her products with foreign partners. As a result, her business is less competitive than her counterparts in Thailand.

Luong said that the project would improve her business by eliminating unnecessary and complicated APs.

Expert Nguyen Minh Man said that Viet Nam’s project "will be a success as it is not only emulating the success developed countries have had in cutting unnecessary APs, but taking into account others’ failures."

VietNamNet/VNS