Minister of Industry and Trade: Look at the efficiency of the reduction, not the perfect figure

The Ministry of Industry and Trade announced to reduce 675 business conditions to facilitate the enterprises. Photo: Internet.

Many people ask "how to reduce?"

Mr. Tran Tuan Anh, Minister of Industry and Trade, continued to preside over the meeting to reduce the conditions for business investment - the key and cross-cutting tasks after making the decision to reduce 675 conditions for business investment on September 20th.

After the decision was made, the experts and the businesses appreciated highly the efforts of the Ministry of Industry and Trade to reduce a series of administrative procedures and business conditions. According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Dieu Hong, Deputy Head of the Legislative Building Division, the Legal Department, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), the reduction of the Ministry of Industry and Trade was strong and unprecedented last time, it had impacted immediately and created a lot of advantages for the enterprises.

However, Ms. Hong also expressed concern about how the reduction plan of the business investment conditions in the future would be implemented; when the process of moving from pre-inspection to post-inspection would be done and how to be implemented. Especially, the Ministry of Industry and Trade would deal with the Decrees under the jurisdiction of the Prime Minister.

With the concern idea, Mr. Dang Quang Vinh, the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM), said that it was necessary to continue reviewing and supplementing some criteria such as how to be the business conditions, the lowest cost for the enterprises and the conditions associated with management goals because “I see many business conditions are not associated with any management target”.

According to Mr. Vinh, for example, Decree 83/2014/NĐ-CP on the petrol and oil business conditions remained to keep a condition “to import and export petrol and oil, the traders must have the specialized wharfs in the international port system of Vietnam, to ensure the receipt of petroleum tankers or oil transport means with a tonnage of at least 7,000 tons owned by the enterprises or co-owned, or rent for 5 years or more”. “I do not understand why it must be five years, if you rent a year or six months, what to be harmful?” Mr. Dang Quang Vinh asked.

According to him, whether the license should be retained while being moved to the post-inspection, only the enterprises satisfied the business conditions, the State might inspect the enterprises periodically or irregularly but they were still a lot of licenses, certificates at the present.

Efficient not perfect numbers

Mr. Tran Tuan Anh once again affirmed the view of the Ministry of Industry and Trade that the review, simplification and reduction of business investment conditions were a key and cross-cutting task with the development of the whole sector in the coming time and it would be considered as soon as the legal documents are being built and prepared to promulgate rather than promulgated before considering the reduction.

"Do not look at numbers that look at reality, 675, 700 even 1,000 - that number does not say anything. The number may be higher or lower which is not important. The most important thing is that whether the reduction is real, whether it creates favourable conditions as well as remove difficulties for the businesses. The reduction must be real, not put the perfect numbers” Mr. Tran Tuan Anh emphasized.

For the concerns of the representatives of VCCI and Ministry of Justice on why the Ministry of Industry and Trade had not adjusted the petroleum business conditions soon in Decree 83, the Minister asserted it was not that they did not do, they would do after they review, consider carefully and completely because petroleum was a very specific field related to the economic sectors of the country.

Mr. Tuan Anh added: "We are not perfectionism, we determine to do first things first, the next things will be done one after another under a process with a detailed, and specific review, to ensure that the adjustments must be suitable and correct”

In the business of commodities such as alcohol, cigarettes, petroleum, gas..., according to the head of the industry and trade industry, so far, our documents were usually constructed from the perspective of the lawmakers who were the administrative agencies and the State management offices and their aim was tight management, but sometimes they did not re-evaluate and carry out the function of state management. Therefore, in the process of reviewing, revising, practicality should be paid attention furthermore.

In addition, Mr. Tran Tuan Anh said that the movement from pre-inspection to post-inspection was more anxious but could be achieved if the role and responsibilities of the grassroots level would be increased on the basis of publicity and transparency and the monitoring tools.

"We have not just changed the management method from pre-inspection to post-inspection, we also have changed the management thinking. If thinking is not unified from top to bottom, the risk of “senior take off, the junior block” - open the gate but not make a door could be seen before our eyes”. Mr. Tran Tuan Anh said.