VCCI highlights advances in legislation and business reforms in 2020

The VCCI published its report on “The flow of business regulations in Vietnam 2020"

According to the VCCI report, in 2020, the Vietnamese government approved 17 laws, 158 decrees, 39 decisions, and 310 circulars. In comparison with previous years, the number of regulations was quite similar, signifying unabated law-making gusto, but the number of guiding circulars dropped significantly, reflecting improvements in the mapping out and drafting of core policies.

“That is in line with the government’s requirement of administrative reform through cutting the number of legal documents applicable to businesses,” said the VCCI's chairman Vu Tien Loc. “Law-making has focused on the level of the National Assembly instead of ministries as previously.”

The ministries have issued 95 documents to specify and implement laws and decisions to ease the difficulties of businesses and also support them in stabilising the manufacturing activities over the COVID-19 lockdown.

Vietnam is ranked 49th in the global innovation ecosystem. Last year, the government also established the Task Force to inspect and cut the inappropriate regulations.

2020 also recorded the elimination of seven conditional business lines. 55 per cent of business recommendations were included in law making one one shape or another, up 10 per cent on-year.

Despite the improvements, there are still some shortages. Specifically, the current laws do not follow the constant changes in the local economy, such as digital transformation.

Loc said, “The interruption of the previous laws have directly affected the local investment and business climate, and also reflected the inadequacies in building conditions for entering the market and legal frameworks for the digital economy.”

As a result, it is necessary to keep up reforms so that the country can soon be listed among the top regional countries with the best business environments.

In its report, the VCCI spent a chapter on the general legal framework. Accordingly, plenty of regulations on licensing activities on cyberspace are still inadequate, especially those related to intellectual property that has yet to be transparent.

According to Nguyen Duc Minh from the VCCI’s Legal Department, it is necessary to renew old mindsets in developing policies for businesses in the sector. The change should take place as soon as possible to have suitable policies to support them effectively.

The VCCI has been working with many businesses to identity their problems then send recommendations to the government.