Mr. Phan Duc Hieu, Standing Member of the Economic Committee of the National Assembly, Member of the National Assembly of Thai Binh Province.

To facilitate the business environment, what are the obstacles in the legal regulations for businesses, sir?

The current difficulties of enterprises are market problems, and resource access in terms of capital, material and human resources to maintain production and business activities. Enterprises need support to sustain and maintain minimum operations and look for chances to move forward.

Overall, in a difficult context, according to the survey on business perceptions of the Vietnam Confederation of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), the business community has positive feelings about the spirit of support. However, many enterprises still complained about the delay in the implementation of procedures, the increase in business costs, and the adverse impact on the business situation of the enterprises.

In fact, despite many financial support measures for businesses, such as tax deferrals, interest rate reductions, etc., many businesses are concerned that some newly issued regulations have accumulated more business costs. In the current context, such regulations should not appear, because creating additional costs and administrative barriers will reduce production and business efficiency.

For example, reviewing the regulation of fire prevention and fighting cost is necessary. Recently, 12 industry associations have petitioned for a draft regulation on calculating the Fs norm, which is the norm for recycling packaging products of manufacturers and importers. Enterprises are concerned about the reasonableness of the calculation method, because the regulations are taking a higher fee than the normal cost let alone an additional 3% of the administrative cost.

Such regulations add more difficulties for businesses.

It is widely believed that obstacles in the business environment come from the contradiction between legal regulations due to the fear of wrongdoing by officials and the extrusion of responsibility. What is your view on this matter?

This is not a new problem, but over time, the severity and scale of it varies. There were periods when the spirit of reform was strong; creating a working atmosphere, and promoting the spirit of enterprising, but recently it has faded. The reason is due to shortcomings in ideology, ethics and professional capacity of some cadres and civil servants. Moreover, the cause is also due to the way in which public service is monitored and evaluated, which makes cadres feel very risky when performing a certain task.

What are the solutions?

In the current context, the root and long-term solution is to improve institutional quality. As for the immediate solution, the Government needs to have some written mechanism with specific principles to protect cadres and civil servants. In detail, it is necessary to regulate the principle to apply the interpretation in case the law has different interpretations, both creating favorable conditions for businesses and reducing pressure and risks for construction workers.

There are two solutions to cope with such illegal regulations. Firstly, if it is not urgent, it is not advisable to issue any other regulations. Alternatively, if issued, the time for enterprises to implement should be extended, such as until 2024-2025.

Secondly, if it is compulsory, as the regulation on Fs costs under the Law on Environmental Protection, businesses should receive direct cost support in complying, not retroactively. These supports are more practical than other measures, not only in the current difficult context but even in normal times as well; these supports will enable businesses to strengthen their competitiveness and improve their production and business efficiency.

All solutions on reforming administrative procedures, the business environment, and reducing operating costs will consolidate the confidence in the Government's measures to support businesses, and at the same time reduce the burden on costs for businesses. If businesses perform well, the economy will also bounce back.