Foreign investment IT system ready

Foreign Investment Agency director Do Nhat Hoang

Can you explain the national foreign investment information system?

In 2009, the prime minister issued a decision requesting governmental bodies to apply information technology to state management. Following this request, the Ministry of Planning and Investment began to set up a national foreign investment information system. After five years of preparations, I can say that the system is completed and ready for use. The purpose of this system is to standardise and digitise state foreign investment management and simplify administrative procedures for foreign investors.

This is the first time a national information system in terms of foreign direct investment (FDI) has been applied in Vietnam. So what are the benefits of the system?

Yes, this is the first time a foreign investment information system has been enacted in Vietnam. This will be a database and efficient solution to support foreign invested enterprises (FIEs) in Vietnam. The system also helps state management authorities to enhance their statistics, reports and other administrative works. Obviously, foreign investors are the first ones benefiting from this system. Through the system, foreign investors can submit all information of their investments to state management authorities, before filing official applications for investment certificates. This should help speed up the processing of their applications by state management authorities. An outstanding feature of this system is to report the operation of each FIE. With this feature, FIEs will make online reports to local authorities.

The local foreign investment management authorities receive another benefit. The system will enhance their ability to receive and deal with applications and reports from FIEs, as well as improve their statistics. This system allows local authorities to work online with each other, therefore it saves time and costs.

Finally, the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) which is responsible for managing FDI nationwide will benefit too. When having a comprehensive database of FDI in Vietnam, the ministry can try and ensure consistent management from central to local levels.

The new national foreign investment information system will make it easier for state management authorities to monitor the performance of foreign firms

Is there any difference between the national foreign investment information system and the national business registration system, both developed by the MPI?

It is true that we are concurrently operating two national systems. The national business registration system was developed under the Law on Enterprises that provides online business registration services and stores legal information of all enterprises in Vietnam. Meanwhile, the national foreign investment information system was developed under the Law on Investment, updating and storing information about the business operations of foreign invested projects in the country, and also outbound investments.

Under the new Law on Investment, foreign investors must obtain both investment certificates and business registration certificates for their investment projects. So, will these two systems be connected?

That’s right. The amended Law on Investment separates investment certificates and business registration certificates. Therefore, foreign investor have to complete administrative procedures for an investment certificate first and then obtain a business registration certificate. Right now, the Foreign Investment Agency is working closely with the Department of Business Registration, also under the MPI on how to connect both systems. The connection will save time for enterprises and contribute to reform administrative procedures in terms of business registration and investment.

Are there challenges to running the new system?

Frankly, we will face some difficulties when running this system. Firstly, because this is the first time this system has been applied in Vietnam so it will take time for people to get used to dealing with it. We will resolve this issue through training courses.

Secondly, this system is funded by the state budget. While the state budget is limited, we may face financial shortages running the system.

And finally, we will face difficulty in updating old databases on existing foreign invested projects. It will need a roadmap and take a long time. The existing database has more than 20,000 foreign invested projects, including expired ones. All the information on these projects is out of date. We will need time to co-operate with local authorities to review the existing database.