Administrative reform breakthrough to attract investment
(Baonghean) - To realize investment policies, as well as attract more businesses to the locality, Nghe An has determined to strongly reform administrative procedures. This is considered the "backbone" solution, the key step to improve the business environment and attract investment.
Business Support
In order to facilitate people and businesses, the new approach of the Department of Planning and Investment is that from May 2018, officers from the Business Registration Office will be assigned to the One-Stop Department to directly guide businesses through the procedures and documents on the National Business Registration System.
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| Resolving administrative procedures for businesses at the Department of Planning and Investment. Photo: Thanh Le |
Accordingly, businesses are guided through procedures from opening accounts, registering seal samples, consulting on digital signature declarations, etc., all of which are performed online. At the same time, the Business Registration Office processes and returns results on the same day for some procedures. The Department has also deployed business support services such as coordinating with local banks to develop software for businesses to pre-select online bank accounts, software to return business registration results via post (submit and return documents at home) and software to register for seal engraving in advance upon request. "With the implementation of this software, businesses only need to go to the One-Stop Department of the Department of Planning and Investment once to complete the procedures. This helps businesses save time and travel costs because they can submit documents at any time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, without having to pay fees" - Head of the Business Registration Office, Department of Planning and Investment Nguyen Trong Binh said.
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| Production line at Minh Anh Garment Factory. Photo: Thanh Le |
To support businesses, Nghe An Tax Department has implemented many forms such as: tax policy dialogue, organizing training, dialogue with taxpayers, support via email, Facebook, investigation, survey of taxpayers' support needs and other support... Along with that, a key task that Nghe An Tax Department has also focused on implementing in the past time is policies to accompany start-up businesses. "One of the things that Nghe An Tax Department has done is promoting transactions through electronic networks to reduce direct transactions between tax officers and taxpayers, which will reduce problems that cause difficulties and negativity. The Tax Department also arranges staff to directly advise businesses to promptly resolve difficulties and problems in the process of implementing tax laws" - Deputy Director of the Provincial Tax Department Ha Le Dung affirmed.
Continuously promoting administrative procedure reform, implementing e-customs in conjunction with risk management measures to speed up customs clearance, increasing the rate of exemption from inspection for businesses that comply with the law... are solutions that Nghe An Customs Department has implemented to enhance support for businesses in the area. In particular, administrative procedure reform contributes to reducing inconvenience and harassment for businesses with import and export activities. Nghe An Customs collects taxes through a system connecting the treasury, banks, and customs, reducing clearance time for import and export businesses. Implementing customs procedures through the VNACCS/VCIS electronic customs clearance system; applying IT in customs operations: GTT02 tax price database management information system; CI02 Customs business information collection and processing system... Up to now, most online public services are provided at level 3.
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| Applying IT in traffic management and supervision. Photo: Thanh Le |
The Department of Finance is a pilot unit of the Ministry of Finance that deploys online code issuance software for units related to the budget and has applied level 4 provision.
Currently, units, organizations and individuals do not have to go directly to the department but only need to send information through the full public service portal and after appraisal, the department will issue a code, reducing the processing time from 5 days to 2-3 days.
In addition, the procedures for declaring prices of goods and services have been provided at level 3 and the procedures for examining and approving the final settlement of completed projects funded by State capital and implementing the centralized procurement of State assets have been provided at level 2.
With the solutions to promote administrative reform of State agencies in recent times, the business community in Nghe An has been further motivated to continue to develop strongly, contributing to the socio-economic development of the province.
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| The Department of Finance staff uses software to issue online codes to units related to the budget and has applied level 4 provision. Photo: T. Le |
Still stuck
Besides some positive changes, according to the reflection of the people and businesses, the situation of bureaucracy, arrogance, and lack of responsibility in performing public duties of some cadres, civil servants, and public employees has not been overcome. Ms. Chu Thi Thanh - Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Thien Minh Duc Company assessed: "Administrative procedures at all levels and sectors for investors are still slow. Businesses hope that sectors and levels will speed up the procedure progress so that the project can soon come into operation. If administrative reform is not implemented drastically and substantially, investors will still face difficulties".
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| Hemaraj project perspective. |
To improve the effectiveness of administrative reform, the Kingdom of Belgium supports Nghe An in implementing the Project "Supporting Accountable and Responsive Local Governance in Nghe An Province" (RALG). Through this, Belgium has worked with Nghe An authorities to promote socio-economic development through improving interactions between the government and the people to improve public service delivery and increase people's satisfaction. Regarding the field of improving the investment environment, recently, the Provincial People's Committee and the IPS Research Institute organized a workshop on "Administrative reform towards improving the business environment and attracting investment in Nghe An province" with the participation of the Belgian Embassy delegation, representatives of state management agencies and enterprises.
“The workshop is an important step in promoting the participation of the business sector in improving the quality of government operations. Through analysis and discussion by delegates, it is hoped that shortcomings in government operations and public service provision in Nghe An will be reduced.”
2018 is considered an outstanding year for investment promotion activities in Nghe An. This is demonstrated by the number of investment projects in Nghe An, up to now, 395 investment policy dossiers have been received, of which 124 projects with investment capital of 10,000 billion VND are waiting to be processed. This is the result of innovations in working methods, active administrative reform, opening up and creating favorable investment corridors for businesses, in order to promote socio-economic development in 2019. In particular, improving the business environment is considered the "backbone" solution. This is both a key solution and a challenge for Party committees, authorities, departments, branches and sectors to take action.
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| The interdisciplinary delegation inspected the posting of administrative procedures at the one-stop-shop of the People's Committee of Quy Chau district. Photo: Thanh Le |
Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Ngoc Hoa said: In the past, Nghe An has reformed administrative procedures but they are still cumbersome, both for businesses coming to invest and for Nghe An's children returning to invest. To attract investment and create a breakthrough in business development, the fundamental solution is to reform and simplify administrative procedures for investors. At all costs, businesses must be "untied". If administrative reform is done well, only 50% of the more than 10,000 businesses operating in the province with growth will become the most sustainable source of revenue.
"To overcome that situation, the province will soon organize a public administrative service center, using information technology to score the processing of officials and specialists in implementation, avoiding harassment in the process of handling administrative procedures."
Administrative reform has become an extremely important requirement in the process of socio-economic development of each locality in particular and the country in general. Resolving administrative procedures quickly, neatly, conveniently, bringing satisfaction to individuals, organizations and businesses is an urgent responsibility for the administrative apparatus.
