Amending the Enterprise Law: "Open" but must be manageable

This spirit was emphasized by delegates in the meeting (August 11) to give opinions on the draft Law on Enterprises (amended) of the National Assembly Standing Committee (NASC).

The Standing Committee of the National Assembly gave opinions on the draft revised Law on Enterprises.

However, some members of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly are concerned that being too "open" to production and business will affect state management? Will it cause budget losses or social evils...?

For example, the new regulation in the draft law: Not recording business lines in the business registration certificate is the clearest demonstration that people have the right to freely do business in professions not prohibited by law.

Mr. Nguyen Van Giau and the agency reviewing the draft law agreed with this new regulation to significantly reduce costs of administrative procedures, reduce risks, increase legal safety and proactiveness and flexibility for businesses.

Concerned about this provision, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee Nguyen Van Hien said: "The draft law stipulates freedom of business, but it will not allow businesses and people to do whatever they want. It is necessary to take into account the State's management capacity and meet the needs of society in product consumption."

Agreeing with Mr. Nguyen Van Hien's wish to ensure the State management function, Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh said that the draft law promotes freedom of business but is very tightly managed by a list of prohibited business lines and conditional business lines, which cannot be "done freely. Business lines that do not harm the country can be done freely".

Mr. Bui Quang Vinh added that the business registration certificate does not specify the business line. However, when a business registers, it must notify the business management agency about the business line, so that the business management agency can notify the tax agency, environmental resources, fire prevention and fighting, etc. to manage after the business starts operating.

“Our apparatus is capable of managing business activities. If the National Assembly asks me to report how many businesses Vietnam has and what industries they operate in, I can report,” Minister Bui Quang Vinh affirmed.

However, to do what Mr. Bui Quang Vinh said, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung said that it is necessary to identify the list of prohibited investments and businesses, and the list of conditional businesses so that enterprises know to avoid them.

“Not being able to identify the list of prohibited and conditional businesses is like building a “shell” (of the revised Enterprise Law project) without any “inner core,” said the National Assembly Chairman.

Meanwhile, the list of prohibited investment and business activities (stipulated in the draft amended Investment Law and the list of conditional business lines) is being reviewed by relevant ministries and branches in specialized laws and cannot yet be included in the draft amended Investment Law and the amended Enterprise Law.

If the above lists are clarified, the National Assembly Chairman said: "Licensing is easy, determining responsibility is easy and (if there is a violation of regulations in the future - PV) prosecuting is easy".

The National Assembly Chairman also gave a stronger direction with the draft revised Enterprise Law, saying: “If a business has conditions and the enterprise violates those conditions, the business license will be revoked for a certain period of time, but administrative sanctions will not work. If the enterprise re-registers in the future, the State must consider it before allowing the enterprise to continue.”

Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung suggested that when the Government submits the list of prohibited investment and business sectors and the list of conditional business sectors in the two laws (the amended Investment Law and the amended Enterprise Law), it must be brought to the conference of full-time National Assembly deputies and the National Assembly for discussion and comments, in order to prepare for the Law to take effect in the 14th National Assembly term.

According to chinhphu.vn