Voice of business and listening of the Prime Minister

Dr. Nguyen Dinh Cung, Director of the Central Institute for Economic Management, said he will never forget the image of a business owner bursting into tears at a workshop on Circular 37 of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

On April 29, in Ho Chi Minh City, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc chaired the 2016 Vietnam Business Conference with the theme: "Vietnamese Enterprises - The driving force of the country's economic development". Photo: VGP

Circular 37 on formaldehyde testing of textile products is a typical example of the difficulties and policy problems that enterprises are facing. In terms of the subject of impact, textiles and garments are one of Vietnam's main export products. In terms of procedures, this Circular is said to be "torturing" enterprises with inspections that almost exclude any cases, the time to complete procedures takes from 7-10 days, and the cost of testing a sample is 2.5 million VND. It is estimated that over the past 7 years, enterprises have had to pay hundreds of billions of VND for formaldehyde testing, and the time for customs clearance of goods has been prolonged.

“The problem has been going on for many years. I once saw a company cry at a conference and say that this would be the last time they made a petition, because they had made too many petitions,” Dr. Nguyen Dinh Cung said in an interview with the Government Electronic Newspaper a few months ago.

How effective is this "torturing" of businesses? To date, no cases of health effects due to formaldehyde levels exceeding the prescribed limit have been detected. According to statistics from Tan Son Nhat Airport Customs, each year about 8,000 textile shipments going through import procedures at this airport must be tested for formaldehyde levels, but only 6 cases (0.0125%) do not meet the prescribed limit. The results are too small compared to the costs that society and businesses have to bear.

Faced with opposition from many sides, including the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the General Department of Customs, and business associations, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has recently announced that it is considering abolishing this Circular. However, Circular 37 is just one of many regulations that are currently harassing businesses and hindering their development. And the Government and the Prime Minister are very clearly aware of this situation.

“We will set up a website through which Minister and Head of the Government Office Mai Tien Dung will directly work with experts to collect, listen, and make timely adjustments, bringing practical results to businesses and investors.” This is a commitment that Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has repeatedly reiterated at various events.

Enterprises can send petitions through the Petition Receiving and Responding System at doanhnghiep.chinhphu.vn

In order to implement this request, the System for receiving and responding to business petitions, directly directed by the Minister and Head of the Government Office, authorized by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, has been officially put into operation at http://doanhnghiep.chinhphu.vn since October 1, 2016.

In fact, since taking office, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and the new Government have taken drastic actions with many specific policies to improve the business environment, remove difficulties, support and develop enterprises, promote the spirit of entrepreneurship and enrichment. On the other hand, people and enterprises have also had many different ways to send recommendations to the Government and the Prime Minister, such as through the press, sending emails via the Government's Electronic Information Portal, sending documents directly and through competent agencies, making recommendations at various conferences, etc.

But in reality, there are many forms of obstacles that discourage people and businesses in the process of starting a business and getting rich. Through the press, we occasionally hear about cases such as the owner of Xin Chao restaurant being prosecuted for not having a business license, the buyer and seller of "cheap" phones being threatened with prosecution... Along with that, there are cries about policies that still have many shortcomings, difficulties, and cause obstacles for businesses, such as the story about Circular 37 above. If there were a convenient, direct connection channel for any business to notify and make recommendations to the Government, many unfortunate incidents would probably not have happened.

The system for receiving and responding to complaints is the tool to achieve the above goal.

Announcing to the press at a recent Government press conference, Minister and Chairman Mai Tien Dung said that a working group will be established to urge inspections and respond directly to businesses in the name of the Government responding to businesses. "This is the website of the Government with businesses, everyone has the right to access and view all content," said Minister Mai Tien Dung. All recommendations and responses to recommendations will be made public, anyone can track which recommendations have been answered, which have not been answered, which ministries, agencies, and localities still "owe" answers to businesses.

According to the assessment of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the business community is very much looking forward to and expecting that the Government Office will open a website to receive and respond to business suggestions. However, the establishment of this system is not only aimed at resolving each case that businesses encounter. It is no coincidence that the Prime Minister requires the participation of experts in the operation of the system.

Because in addition to the cases that agencies do not handle in accordance with the law, businesses are also upset because of the inappropriate and unreasonable regulations and policies. The Prime Minister has also repeatedly emphasized that ministries, branches and localities, in addition to handling cases, must focus on spending more time on building institutions and policies. From the voices of businesses and the comments of experts, perfecting institutions and policies is the highest goal that the Government and the Prime Minister aim for when requesting the establishment and operation of this system.