Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on August 14 asked the Ministry of Construction to cut the time needed for undertaking administrative procedures on construction investment by at least one third by 2015.

He also asked the ministry to promptly come up with a concrete action plan to realise his request during his working session with the ministry officials in Hanoi on August 14.

Minister Trinh Dinh Dung reported that it take businesses 260 - 280 days to complete about 15 procedures or groups of procedures on investing in State budget-funded projects in the field.

Meanwhile, there are 19 procedures or groups of procedures that those investing in non-State projects have to finalise in between 392 - 447 days, he added.

According to a report by the World Bank on Vietnam’s business environment in 2013, the country ranked 28th among 185 countries and territories in terms of construction licensing, climbing by 39 places compared to the 2012 position.

The construction-related index was also the highest among 11 indices on Vietnam provided by the report.

PM Dung said the sector has made a considerable effort to achieve such an outcome, yet it can make even greater strides since the actual settlement of procedures is still long and lacks of transparency.

Those flaws have made project expenses increase, impacting the effectiveness of the overall economy as well as the national competitiveness, he noted.

At the session, the leader also asked the ministry to promptly implement the construction of social housing for low-income people and policy beneficiaries and pay heed to restructuring groups and corporations under its management.

In July, the Cabinet leader also ordered officials of the general departments of taxation and customs to simplify procedures in their fields as part of efforts to strongly improve the national business climate and competitiveness.-VNA