The implementation of Government Resolution 19/NQ-CP on improving business environment and national competitiveness between 2015 and 2016 has shown encouraging outcomes in the first half of this year, said Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh at the regular cabinet meeting held in Hanoi on June 29.

Specifically, the registration time for business licences has been cut to three days, just half of the set goal of six days while time spent on business initiation procedures was reduced from 34 days to 17 days. As a result, Vietnam is expected to leap 72 places to 37 in the national competitiveness ranking in terms of start-up business criteria – much higher than the average level of the ASEAN-6 (including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam).

The investor protection indicator increased to 6.2 points from 3.33 thanks to reforms of the 2014 Law on Enterprises. With this outcome, Vietnam will move up 105 places to 52, meeting the average level of ASEAN-6 as set by the resolution.

In 2014 and early 2015, the time required for paying taxes was reduced by 380 hours (from 537 hours per year to 157 hours per year) and is set to be cut by an additional 35.5 hours to meet the resolution’s target.

The procedure for social insurance payments has been slashed by 100 hours (from 335 hours per year to 235 hours per year), which is still a long way from the target of 49.5 hours per year.

The total time for tax and social insurance payments is expected to drop by 480 hours, helping the country rise 27 places to 122, which is far below the average level of ASEAN-6 (ranked 67 th ).

The Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Electricity of Vietnam have issued documents to reduce the time needed to access electricity, which has been cut from 115 days to 85 days and will undergo additional simplification to reach the resolution’s set target of 70 days.

Pertaining to cross-border trade transaction, the Ministry of Finance and the General Department of Customs have reviewed and adjusted relevant policies to address customs procedures for businesses.

Yet Minister Vinh described this as the responsibility of not only the Ministry of Finance and the General Department of Customs but also of related ministries and agencies.

The resolution, dated March 12, 2015, requested ministries, agencies and localities to focus on consistent and effective implementation of key tasks and solutions to improve the business climate and national competitive capacity.

The involved parties ought to implement the resolution more effectively and address shortcomings in import-export quarantine and customs declaration in particular.-VNA