Technology key to modern business

Staff receive residents' administration documents at the Hoan Kiem District People's Committee in Ha Noi. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has urged the country's public administration to apply technological advances to modernise the sector through e-Government systems. VNA/VNS Photo Doan Tan

Speaking at a conference on administration reform in Ha Noi yesterday, Dung said technological advances were essential for a better business climate.

He noted with disappointment that Viet Nam ranked 78th of 189 economies on the ease of conducting business in World Bank rankings.

He asked ministries, agencies and localities to determine processing time limits for their units, adding that the outcomes of specific reforms would be announced in June.

Regarding institutional reform, the leader requested the fine-tuning of laws, policies, and socialist-oriented market economy mechanisms to create an improved legal framework.

A market economy must follow the principles of competition and operate in a fair, open and transparent manner, encompassing different economic sectors with different forms of ownership, the PM noted, making it clear that the Vietnamese economy was to be managed through tools, policies and resources in a way that ensured social progress and fairness.

When issuing legal documents, localities should evaluate their feasibility and ensure they supported human rights and the rights to freedom and democracy in line with the Constitution, Dung said. From January 1 this year, the duration for processing corporate tax payments has been cut by 370 hours from the initial 872 hours, reported the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Customs departments nationwide have used the Viet Nam Automated Cargo and Port Consolidated System and the Viet Nam Customs Information System (VNACCS/VCIS) since November 2014.

This has reduced the time for imports and exports custom clearance by 7.6 hours and 9.6 hours, respectively.

Viet Nam is in the process of negotiating a protocol on the legal framework for the application of the ASEAN One-Stop Shop customs mechanisms and preparing to expand the ASEAN single window mechanism towards the birth of the ASEAN Community in early 2016.

The ministry is also working on a range of legal regulations for renewed policies for civil services and its staff. Several new mechanisms are being piloted in the recruitment of public servants and managers and the generation of job title standards.