Dr. Nguyen Dinh Cung, Director of the CIEM: The psychology of dominance is still very heavy

	Implementation of the National Single Window: Not as expected of enterprises
	Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung: Creating a breakthrough in National Single Window in implementation and facilitating trade
	A "super committee" will change distribution of power

How was the NSW implemented over the past time, Sir?

The implementation of NSW helped enterprises minimize the time and cost of completing Customs clearance for import and export goods, reform administrative procedures, build a transparent public administration, improve the quality of public services related to entry and exit activities. This was also an important premise for Vietnam in international integration through the ASEAN Single Window (ASW).

The implementation of the NSW made a certain contribution to the level of trade facilitation of Vietnam: Vietnam is now in the middle group worldwide and is ranked 5th in the ASEAN after Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia according to WEF and ranked 4th before Indonesia according to OECD. Cross-border Customs clearance of Vietnam is ranked 4th in the ASEAN.

Frankly, the NSW was not implemented timely and seriously. Of the 130 procedures registered to be connected with NSW, only 47 procedures have been connected, but the only procedure which has been completely connected is declaration of chemical imports(an enterprise is responsible for declaration without asking for permission from the management agency). The remaining procedures are declared online and required to be submitted in document form. Therefore, in spite of NSW, they were not interested in it, because they must submit paper dossiers and pay fees manually anyway.

Thus, the efficiency of NSW reduced a lot and still required the direct contact between enterprises with officers in charge, creating the opportunity of “ask – giving”. Why does this situation happen?

I supposed that is because most of the ministries and sectors did not proactively apply IT to connect with the NSW. The psychology of dominance was still very heavy. NSW can only be effective when all are connected; from the business registration authority to the tax authority, the specialized management authority and the customs authority, etc. It was not only ministries that did not connect together, but also competent authorities such as verification authority, certifying authorization of conformity, etc., they needed to connect together to maximize the efficiency of NSW, so that all authorities can access the shared datasets. For enterprises, the NSW has to create the chance for investors to send applications at any time, or to monitor the processing immediately on cars. Except for the Ministry of Science and Technology still holding the function of granting licenses, the other ministries have allowed customs to automatically recognize the inspection results and the certification results from competent organizations. But because these organizations do not connect with NSW, the results must be sent to the ministry, which is complicated. Therefore, enterprises are not interested in.

It seems that you do not agree with the Ministry of Science and Technology retaining the right of granting license?

Yes, I do not understand why the Ministry of Science and Technology does not allow the automatic recognition, while ministries in charge of many large enterprises, such as the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development have allowed?

Is the poor information infrastructure a limitation, sir?

If the infrastructure is not good it will be a limitation, but I do not think that is the main reason. The NSW in particular and in general is that science and technology is created to replace the “relationship”. Vietnam is not bad at building information infrastructure, the problem is whether we are determined and willing to abolish "relationship" or not?

What are specific solutions to accelerate the implementation of NSW?

They are determining to remove the paper procedures and implement online 100%. So that there are no agencies delaying or annoying enterprises and blaming each other. And most importantly, there must be regular, consistent and drastic pressure from the leaders of the government to force ministries and sectors to abolish the psychology of dominance. The press must promote the role of propaganda and supervision. We need to assign specific tasks for the officers who are responsible for the development and operation of NSW, and if they can not implement, they will be sacked.

The Resolution No. 19-2018: Pressure must be always hot to boost action VCN- According to Dr. Nguyen Dinh Cung, Director of the Central Institute for Economic Management, member of ...

I would like to note that post-customs clearance was also very important in improving the business environment. Post-clearance audit for some kinds of items and goods still have many cumbersome and unnecessary procedures, but there is no pressure on clearance time. Looking back at the list, I think it is possible to remove 90% of such procedures. Good experience from previous countries are available, we do not need to "create" anything more, please check what they needed to do and how long it took. We can also choose the probability audit of 5% instead of audit of 100% of the shipment.

Thank you for this frank discussion!