Firms get in order

“Information relevant to business registration like name of business, enterprise code, address of head office, its legal representative can be procured charge free at the portal,” said a representative of the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Business Registration Management Agency.

The draft regulation on management and operation of the portal will soon be completed by the agency. Accordingly, procuring information concerning business registration certificates, certificates on business registration of branch offices and representative offices, proposal to business registration, company rules, and joint stock companies’ financial statements shall incur fees. 

Customers shall also pay for information about company leaders in three most recent years.
A big challenge facing business registration experts is how to ensure registered business information be always precise and frequently updated.  Under the draft regulation, access control and user authenticity will be set as a top priority through using user database. For instance, to ensure security registered users not working in the system from 60 days will have their access accounts temporarily halted, according to the agency.

Gunnar Koren, chief technical advisor to Vietnam’s business registration reform project, said businesses needed to do their utmost to ensure accuracy and timeliness of their registered information which should be taken as their obligation before state management agencies, partners and customers.

“Towards this goal, the business community must fully recognise the advantages and interests they gained from the system,” said Gunnar.

One Vietnam province is learning about the effects of such a portal. The business information portal of Lao Cai Department of Planning and Investment was recently  launched at   #www.htdn.laocai.gov.vn, according to Nguyen Ba Canh, deputy head of the province’s business registration division.

“On the eve of the launch, more than 1,500 businesses in the area were compelled to submit their 2011 financial statements as regulated. Through reviewing, we detected score of firms did not place name signs on their  headquarters,” Canh said.

Canh added that system would help reduce risks for business transactions while constituting a more transparent and safer business climate.