Reviewing and cutting business conditions in a substantive manner

Implementing the Politburo’s Resolution No. 66-NQ/TW on renewing the work of law-making and law enforcement to meet the requirements of national development in a new era, together with the Government’s resolutions on administrative procedure reform and improving the investment and business environment, the Ministry of Finance has identified the review and reduction of business conditions as a key, foundational task for economic recovery and development.

As the economy enters a new phase of growth, the task is not only to expand market scale but also to enhance institutional quality and minimise unnecessary barriers to production and business activities. In that spirit, the Ministry of Finance has focused on a comprehensive review of the legal framework governing investment and business conditions within its remit, ensuring the principle of retaining only those conditions that are genuinely necessary and reasonable, with clear regulatory objectives and proportionate compliance costs.

In implementing Government Resolution No. 140/NQ-CP and Resolution No. 66/NQ-CP dated March 26, 2025 on the programme to cut and simplify administrative procedures related to production and business activities in 2025–2026, the Ministry of Finance submitted proposals for the Prime Minister to issue Decision No. 1848/QD-TTg dated August 27, 2025 approving the plan to cut and simplify administrative procedures under the Ministry’s management.

Under the approved plan, the Ministry of Finance will revise, supplement or repeal provisions in 22 normative legal documents, including five laws, 16 decrees and one circular. The plan centres on cutting 123 out of 363 existing business conditions, equivalent to 33.05%, exceeding the Government’s minimum target of 30%.

These cuts are based on careful assessments of regulatory impacts, the necessity of each condition, and the feasibility of replacing them with post-inspection measures, information-technology applications, or standardised processes. The business conditions selected for review and reduction are concentrated mainly in areas with significant influence on the investment and business environment, such as securities, insurance business, financial services, taxation, customs, accounting and auditing.

Notably, among the business conditions to be cut, 38 are being implemented under the roadmap to amend the Law on Investment and a number of related decrees. This underscores the Ministry of Finance’s effort to align business-condition reform with improvements to the overall legal framework, ensuring coherence and consistency across the legal system.

So far, the Ministry of Finance’s units assigned to take the lead in drafting legislative instruments have been proactively implementing their tasks, urgently consolidating and completing submission files for the Government and the National Assembly on major bills, including amendments to the Law on Investment and the Law on Tax Administration. In parallel, the Ministry is concentrating on finalising the relevant decrees for promulgation by the Government in 2025, with further work continuing in 2026, to ensure full and timely delivery of the plan approved by the Prime Minister.

A sharp reduction in business conditions not only helps remove institutional “bottlenecks”, but also reflects a clear shift in regulatory thinking – from ex ante controls to post-inspection, and from administrative intervention to establishing a legal framework that enables the market to operate more smoothly and effectively.

Administrative procedure reform tied to reducing compliance costs

Alongside business-condition reform, the Ministry of Finance considers the simplification of administrative procedures the most direct and practical solution to reduce compliance costs for citizens and businesses, thereby improving the quality of the investment and business environment.

On that basis, the ministry issued Decision No. 1362/QD-BTC dated April 15, 2025 on the plan to implement the 2025 programme to cut and simplify administrative procedures, requiring subordinate units to focus on reviewing all procedural workflows and proposing simplification measures to shorten processing times, reduce unnecessary documentation, strengthen decentralisation and delegation of authority alongside accountability, and accelerate the application of information technology in handling administrative procedures.

Under Decision No. 1848/QD-TTg, the Prime Minister approved a plan to cut and simplify 208 administrative procedures under the Ministry of Finance’s management. Of these, 43 procedures will be abolished entirely, and 165 will be simplified in terms of process, documentation and processing time.

Implementing these measures is expected to deliver substantial benefits in both cost and time for society. Specifically, annual compliance costs are estimated to fall by about 17.29 trillion VND, equivalent to 37.87%, while total administrative-procedure processing time is expected to decrease by 2,036 days, equivalent to 34.93%. To implement the reforms, the Ministry of Finance will revise and supplement 49 normative legal documents, including eight laws, 32 decrees, one decision of the Prime Minister, seven circulars and one joint circular.

Beyond developing the plan, the Ministry of Finance has been implementing it decisively in practice. To date, units across the sector have proactively reviewed 747 out of 928 administrative procedures under their management, equivalent to 80.49%. Total processing time targeted for reduction is more than 4,325 days, equivalent to 35.19%, while total compliance costs targeted for reduction are about 35.89 trillion VND, reaching 47.58%.

Since March 26, 2025, the finance sector has cut and simplified 475 administrative procedures under the Government’s Resolution No. 66/NQ-CP, including 101 procedures abolished and 374 simplified. This has helped save more than 18.494 trillion VND in compliance costs and more than 2,123 days in processing time for citizens and businesses.

These figures not only reflect the scale of the reform, but also demonstrate the tangible effectiveness of implementation. Sharp reductions in compliance costs and time directly improve business competitiveness – especially for small and medium-sized enterprises – while creating more favourable conditions to attract investment, promote production and business, and expand markets.

More importantly, administrative procedure reform in the financial sector is closely tied to the goal of building a modern, professional, clean and service-oriented public administration. By standardising processes, accelerating digitalisation and increasing procedural transparency, the Ministry of Finance is gradually shifting towards a data-driven management model, reducing face-to-face contact, thereby curbing opportunities for misconduct and improving the effectiveness of state administration.

It can be affirmed that the programme to cut business conditions and simplify administrative procedures implemented by the Ministry of Finance is not merely a short-term measure to support businesses, but a strategic step to refine the institutions of a modern market economy that is integrated internationally and oriented towards sustainable development. This is also an important contribution by the finance sector to translating the Party’s and the State’s major orientations into practice on renewing the growth model and enhancing the quality of national governance in a new phase of development.