Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - It is critical for Vietnam to focus on removing inconsistencies andoverlaps in business regulations to create a favourable climate forenterprises, attendees heard at a conference held by the Vietnam Chamber ofCommerce and Industry (VCCI) Hanoi on June 24.

VCCI Chairman Vu Tien Loc said that the business community was highlyexpectant of the Government’s new wave of reforms, making regulationsstronger and more practical. The Government carried out two waves of reforms inthe past five years. The first was in 2016 with the highlighted requirementthat no business prerequisites were raised in decrees and the second was in2018 with the focus on simplifying and removing business prerequisites.

Thethird reform wave should be removing overlapping and inconsistentregulations, Loc stressed, adding that the management agencies needed to makegreater efforts to create a favourable environment for businesses.

Someministries reported that around 60 percent of business prerequisites undertheir management were removed or simplified, however, the figure was only onpaper, Loc said. In fact, businesses felt that the simplification or removal ofbusiness prerequisites was not that much, at only around 30-40 percent,according to the VCCI.

The VCCIsaid that the current legal system of business and investment still had anumber of problems. Many business lines which required prerequistes neededto be abolished or simplified, Loc said, adding that complicated procedures forjoining the market remained barriers to small- and medium-sized enterprises.

Afterreviewing 411 legal documents on business prerequisites, the VCCI also raised 106proposals, including amendments to 93 legal documents, 32 laws, 51 decrees and10 circulars, Dau Anh Tuan, head of the VCCI’s Legal Department said.

The VCCIalso planned to carry out a more comprehensive review of existing legaldocuments with a focus on regulations about market entry and enterprise operationmanagement.

Recently, the VCCI proposed the Government to tackle 25 points of overlaps andinconsistencies in the existing regulations.

Tuansaid that the business environment could not improve if business prerequisitesremained in place.

Nguyen Hoai Nam, deputy general secretary of the Vietnam Association of SeafoodExporters and Producers, said he felt that ministries were still slow incarrying out reforms although the Government issued resolutions about improvingthe business and investment climate every year.

Forexample, in seafood processing and export, Vietnam had some standards whichwere even stricter than the US, causing a lot of difficulties for firms,Nam said.

Le Net from law firm LNT & Partners said it was necessary to announce the listof business lines which required prerequisites for foreign investors toparticipate in./.