Enterprises implementing construction works were still facing with a lot of difficulty in administrative procedures. (Photo: reatimes.vn) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) -More drastic reforms of construction-related administrative proceduresmust be carried to improve transparency and reduce costs for enterprises, hearda conference organised by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI),the Ministry of Construction and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation in Hanoi lastweek.
VCCI Vice ChairmanHoang Quang Phong said enterprises implementing construction works werestill facing with a lot of difficulties in administrative procedures.
Administrative procedures mustbe carried out with different State management agencies at different levels andfor different stages, from policy approval, land handover, land clearance toconstruction progress.
There were overlaps andinconsistencies in construction-related administrative procedures which causeda waste of time and pushed up costs for enterprises, Phong said.
According to Dau Anh Tuan, headof the VCCI’s Legal Department, construction inspections remained a burden forenterprises, he said, citing findings that 38.2 percent of enterprises were notsatisfied with inspections carried out by State management agencies due tooverlaps in inspections and difficulties caused by inspectors.
Tuan said it was necessary thatinspectors at different administrative levels worked with each other toprevent overlaps in inspections and that transparency in inspections must beimproved.
He added that inspections inthe construction sector should be carried out following a risk-based approach,which was now used by the tax and customs agencies, stressing that risked-basedinspection would help save time and reduce costs.
The VCCI’s surveyof 10,000 enterprises (82 percent of them were private and 18 percent wereforeign-invested companies) found private companies did not have experiences asgood as foreign direct investment (FDI) companies in term of constructionadministrative procedures, which showed localities were offering FDIcompanies more preferential policies to attract foreign investment.
Micro and small-sizedenterprises were found to face the greatest difficulties in carrying outconstruction-related administrative procedures, the report pointed out. Inaddition, 23 percent of enterprises did not agree that administrativeprocedures were handled on time following established regulations.
Informal charges were also aburden for enterprises in applying for construction permits, the survey found,adding that time to receive construction permits must be shortened. About 25 percentof enterprises said they could not fully access instructions toconduct administrative procedures in the construction sector.
Tuan said that the legal systemin construction and relevant sectors must be reviewed for amendments to savetime and costs for enterprises.
Promoting the provision ofonline public services with cashless payment was also important to preventinformal charges, he said.
It was also important toimprove the transparency in receiving and handling construction procedurestogether with applying information technology in handling administrativeprocedures, Tuan said./.
VNA
