VCCI

   During the war and before Doi Moi, the main task of the Board was to help member enterprises understand and implement State regulations on domestic business activities and foreign trade (mainly with socialist countries), taking advantage of unofficial trading channels with a number of countries. During the years of preparing for Doi Moi, the Board actively helped many companies gain the right to participate in foreign trade activities, in addition to a few import-export companies under the exclusive control of the Ministry of Foreign Trade.

   Since the country's renovation, the Board's activities have been continuously expanded and upgraded, becoming more and more diverse and rich according to the requirements and development practices of enterprises and the economy. The renovation, the construction of a socialist-oriented market economy and international integration have placed great demands on amending and building the economic legal system, creating a legal corridor and a suitable business environment for the development of industries and types of enterprises in our country. The Legal Department has made very positive and important contributions to this process, such as participating in the construction and implementation of the 1999 Enterprise Law (the law paving the way for the development of Vietnamese private enterprises), preparing for Vietnam's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2007 (an important milestone in our country's international integration process).

   In the previous period, the Legal Department played a permanent role in the Foreign Trade Arbitration Council and the Maritime Arbitration Council, the predecessor of the Vietnam International Arbitration Center (VIAC) established next to VCCI.

   From its practical and effective activities, the role of VCCI in law-making (with the Legal Department as the focal point) has been officially recognized in Decree 161/2005/ND-CP and the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents (VBQPPL) 2015, an important role that few Chambers of Commerce in the world as well as social and professional organizations in Vietnam have.

   Through many channels such as seminars, consultation forums, consulting opinions via online tools, and expert analysis, the Legal Department has contributed comments on thousands of draft legal documents, fully reflecting the voice of businesses, and is also a member of the Drafting Committee/Editorial Team/Appraisal Council for hundreds of draft legal documents, conducting many studies and summarizing other law enforcement activities, thereby contributing to promoting the development of Vietnamese law in a favorable and transparent direction. Over the past 25 years, the Legal Department has always directly participated and made important contributions to the process of institutional reform in Vietnam such as the period of abolishing sub-licenses (2000 - 2004), investment decentralization (2005 - 2006), reforming business conditions (2016 - 2017), eliminating overlaps in business laws (2019 - 2020)...

   The VCCI's website on law-making (www.vibonline.com.vn) was built by the Legal Department in 2004 and has been continuously operated since then with more than two hundred million visits. It is the first place in Vietnam to collect and publicly post draft legal documents related to enterprises, and is an important and effective channel for enterprises to contribute comments on legal documents. The VCCI Legal Department is also the leading trusted address for associations, industries, enterprises, and investors with problems and difficulties to consult and get opinions.

   One of the outstanding activities of the Legal Department is to conduct research and publish the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) - an index that measures and evaluates the quality of economic management, the level of convenience and friendliness of the business environment and the administrative reform efforts of the governments of provinces and cities in Vietnam, thereby promoting the development of the private economic sector. Built from the largest-scale annual business survey data, conducted most elaborately in Vietnam since 2005, the PCI Index has become a reliable channel to convey the voice of the business community about the business environment in provinces and cities, as well as a useful source of reference information for governments at all levels in their efforts to improve the investment and business environment in Vietnam.

   In 60 years of establishment and operation, innovation and growth with VCCI and the country, the Legal Department is proud of its achievements and always strives to contribute more to the development of the business community, the strength and prosperity of Vietnam.