On the 15th of May 2019 in Hanoi, EuroCham Vice-Chairman, Mr. Nguyen Hai Minh, attended a meeting of the Prime Minister's Advisory Council for Administrative Procedure Reform (“ACAPR”). EuroCham has been an active member of ACAPR, including our current Chairman Nicolas Audier and former Co-Chairs Gellert Horvarth and Denis Brunetti.
On behalf of EuroCham, Nguyen Hai Minh received the Certificate of Merit from Minister/Chairman Mr. Mai Tien Dung for the Chamber’s active contributions to the Council’s activities on administrative procedures reform in recent years. The meeting was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh and Minister/Chairman of the Government Office and Chairman of ACAPR, Mr. Mai Tien Dung, with participation of the ACAPR members including representatives of Ministries and central authorities, domestic and foreign associations in various economic sectors, and chambers of commerce..
In his opening remarks, H.E. Mr. Mai Tien Dung emphasised that in 2018, Vietnam's economy and society witnessed positive changes, completing 12/12 targets requested by the Government. In particular, GDP growth reached 7.08%, exceeding the plan.
In those great achievements, the Prime Minister's ACAPR made certain contributions, completing the assigned tasks on three key areas: Solving the difficulties in implementing administrative mechanisms, policies and procedures; conducting research and proposing initiatives to reform the administrative system; and assessing the implementation of administrative procedure reforms in line ministries and localities to improve the business environment as well as national competitiveness.
In 2018, the Council held 12 working sessions and meetings with businesses and associations; successfully proposed to the Government and the Prime Minister many solutions on mechanisms and policies for spearhead economic sectors and reforming issues which are still barriers and challenges for enterprises.
Also in the past year, the Council members commented on many draft legal documents, which helped to cut 3,425 out of 6,191 business conditions. The Ministries have also submitted and issued 21 legal documents to reduce and simplify 6,776 out of 9,926 product lines subject to specialised inspection, saving more than 18 million public days, equivalent to over VND 6,300 billion.
In his speech, EuroCham Vice Chairman Nguyen Hai Minh highlighted the key activities that the European business community has done in the past year. In 2018, EuroCham participated in 4 meetings of ACAPR with its members, and received a great number of ACAPR’s feedbacks on proposed solutions for cost reduction and simplification of administrative procedures from the Council. EuroCham also successfully co-organised a dialogue conference where representatives of EuroCham’s 16 Sector Committees raised obstacles, reflected on difficulties and made proposals in a direct discussion with Chairman-Minister Mai Tien Dung and Mr. Ngo Hai Phan.
Mr. Nguyen Hai Minh also shared EuroCham’s commitment to work closely with ACAPR and engage more in the Council’s key activities in 2019 in order to effectively contribute to the simplification of administrative reforms and improving the business and investment environment.
Regarding the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) – which is expected to be ratified within this year and implemented soon, EuroCham hopes to further receive strong support and continued cooperation from the Government, and especially ACAPR and Central and provincial authorities, in order to address challenges, overcome obstacles, and gain the most benefits from the FTA aiming at consistent implementation and ensuring a more attractive and competitive investment environment for FDIs in Vietnam.
In their speeches, other members of the Council requested the Government to continue cutting, reducing and simplifying specialised inspection procedures and business conditions. The State should review and reduce charges for transport, logistics, use of infrastructure and public services and facilities in the areas of land border gates and seaports in some localities which have border gates. Besides, it should continue to reduce and simplify administrative procedures in general, and reduce rates or abolish certain unnecessary charges.
In his closing remarks, Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh highly appreciated the speeches and comments of the Council members. With 32 members who are representatives of Ministries, agencies, domestic and international business associations, the ACAPR has been working actively and effectively in recent years. H.E. Truong Hoa Binh proposed that the Council should focus on resolving institutional issues and problems that enterprises are still facing in 2019.
Source:
http://vovworld.vn/en-US/news/advisory-council-for-administrative-procedure-reforms-meeting-749272.vov
https://vietnamnews.vn/economy/416988/acapr-proposes-measures-to-reduce-expenditures-for-enterprises.html
http://baochinhphu.vn/Thoi-su/Hoi-dong-Tu-van-cai-cach-TTHC-cua-Thu-tuong-trien-khai-nhiem-vu/365919.vgp
http://dangcongsan.vn/thoi-su/lang-nghe-dia-phuong-doanh-nghiep-de-thao-go-kip-thoi-522387.html
https://hanoimoi.com.vn/tin-tuc/Cai-cach-hanh-chinh/934997/hoi-dong-tu-van-cai-cach-tthc-cua-thu-tuong-trien-khai-nhiem-vu
