Vietnamese deputy PM urges to further simplify administrative procedures

Administrative procedures remain complicated and overlapped, said Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Thursday, adding that the one-stop mechanism has not been implemented effectively, describing it as "one door with numerous locks." Addressing a meeting with relevant ministries and sectors on the administrative reforms in investment, construction and land on Thursday, the Vietnamese deputy prime minister pointed out that some inconsistencies are still seen in a number of the country's laws including the Law on Investment, Law on Enterprises and Law on Construction, causing difficulties for both administrative agencies and businesses. According to Dang Huy Dong, deputy minister of Planning and Investment, results of a review on the ministry's administrative regulations relating to investment, construction and land recently showed that investors have to follow 18 different procedures in the fields of land, construction and environment to get permission to implement a project. Dong proposed that in order to simplify administrative procedures, it is necessary to perfect the one-stop administrative mechanism which is also termed as "one-door policy" in Vietnam, allowing investors to submit documents to just one location. "It is necessary to make stronger efforts in administrative reforms in investment, construction and land, reducing intermediate stages and creating favorable conditions for local residents and enterprises," Vietnam's state-run news agency on Thursday quoted Deputy Prime Minister Phuc as saying. Phuc also demanded that ministries, sectors and localities work together to build a list of required procedures and the duration of procedure handling. In 2001, Vietnamese government enacted the overall program on administrative reform in 2001-2010, putting forward the one-stop mechanism, in which administrative procedures reform was set as one of key tasks of the government. In order to effectively carry out the reforms of administrative procedures, Vietnamese government in 2007 issued a decision regulating the implementation of the "one-door policy" in all state administrative agencies in localities.