Coordinated measures to stimulate economic growth
(VOV) -Vietnam recorded positive results in macro-economic management in the first two months of the year.
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Ministries, sectors, and localities have been asked to concentrate on reforming administrative procedures, improving the business environment, and boosting national competitiveness, which are key factors for sustainable growth.
Improving business environment
Improving the business environment and boosting national competitiveness are two important tasks. Ministries, sectors, and localities must put greater effort into these tasks, identifying specific measures and targets for simplifying administrative procedures and streamlining taxation, customs, social insurance, and enterprise establishment. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said administrative reform must involve specific actions. “Regulations are just on paper. Implementation depends on the apparatus and the officials. We need, not general statements, but specific actions to create a favorable business environment.”
Resolving problems for enterprises, improving national competitiveness
2015 is the last year of implementing the current 5-year socio-economic plan and creating premises for the following years. Ministries, sectors, and localities must step up efforts to obtain or surpass the yearly targets.
They are asked to help enterprises resolve problems and offer them incentives to increase production and sales. Corporate measures should create drastic changes in the investment and trade environment. Prime Minister Dung said: “We must carry out several activities simultaneously to improve the investment environment, tax procedures, customs, insurance, land, construction, and enterprise establishment and dissolution. For example, in order to modernize customs procedures, 8 ministries need to closely cooperate.”
The Prime Minister emphasized economic reform, including equitization of state-owned enterprises and listing on the stock market, reforming banks to reduce bad debts to below 3% without using the state budget, stabilizing the macro-economy and exchange rates, and reducing loan interest rates to support enterprises and their production.
Vietnam’s goals are to raise its national competitiveness and improve its environment and trade indicators to the average level of ASEAN-6 by the end of this year, reduce tax preparation time from 247 hours to 121.5 hours, get 90% of enterprises to use online tax filing and payment services, process customs clearance for exported goods within 13 days and imported goods within 14 days, and shorten enterprise establishment to 6 days.
Increasing global economic integration
Vietnam will continue global integration in several sectors, focusing on economics. The Prime Minister has asked ministries, sectors, and localities to work out their own plans to prepare for market opening and expanding competition. “We have to carefully examine the market opening process while improving our competitiveness and productivity toward a market-oriented economy. Our integration roadmap has taken into consideration all interests while protectionism only hampers our development.”
Improving the investment environment, reforming administrative procedures, and boosting competitiveness are key factors in economic growth and attaining the government’s socio-economic targets.