Dr. Nguyen Thi Minh Thao, Head of Business Environment and Competitiveness Research Department, Central Institute for Economic Management

How do you assess the situation of enterprises in the first six months of 2023?

After two years of the pandemic (2020, 2021), businesses expect to recover from 2022. However, the economy only recovered in the first three quarters of 2022, then declined quickly. The difficulties and disadvantages of the world situation have greatly affected production and business, especially in the first quarter, and continued the prolonged trend in the second quarter of 2023, strongly affecting the overall results in the first six months of the year. In the third quarter of 2022, the economy grew by nearly 14%, immediately after that in the fourth quarter of 2022 it decreased to 5.9%; Q2/2023 is estimated to increase by 4.14%. Accordingly, GDP in the first six months of 2023 increased by 3.72%, just higher than the 1.74% growth rate of the first 6 months of 2020 in the period 2011-2023.

The picture of enterprises in the first six months of the year also witnessed unusual fluctuations. The whole country has 75.9 thousand enterprises registered for new establishment, there are up to 60.2 thousand enterprises temporarily suspending business. Data from 2018 shows that the lowest ratio of newly established enterprises/temporarily suspended enterprises is 2.0 (in 2022) and the highest is up to 4.1 (in 2019). Normally, the number of newly established enterprises is twice as often, or even 4 times, in some years, the number of enterprises suspending operations. Meanwhile, in the first six months of 2023, the number of newly established enterprises was only nearly 1.3 times the number of temporarily suspended enterprises. This result shows that the current difficulty level of enterprises is much more severe than during the Covid-19 period.

It is clear that the business community and Vietnam's economy continue to face "headwinds", that is, the global economic slowdown, rising inflation, and the threat of conflicts with other countries. Global food and energy security is the limited adaptability and resilience of developing countries. In that context, the business community is waiting for a favorable business environment with stability in policies, especially policies on taxes and fees, etc., so that businesses can have confidence in the Government's companionship and sharing with their difficulties, thereby ensuring peace of mind in their production and business and in a more sustainable way fulfilling their obligations to the state budget (state budget).

Can you summarize the results of the preliminary review of business registration in the fifteen areas that have just been conducted by CIEM?

Since 2020, the Government has about forty guiding documents, which emphasize the reform of conditional business lines and business registration. As a result, the business environment has been more favorable, creating more favorable conditions for enterprises to participate in the market as well as to invest, produce and do business in many fields. However, the results of the preliminary review of investment and conditional business lines and business registration in fifteen fields have many notable points.

First, the quality of business registration in some areas has improved. Specifically, business registration in some fields is designed systematically, clearly, and easily to understand and follow; the number of business registrations with general, untransparent, and unpredictable regulations has decreased significantly compared to before 2017; Business registration for personnel and facilities is also clearly defined and the level of eligibility is reduced. The requirements on conformity with the planning or having a business plan or plan have been significantly reduced; capital requirements were abolished in most areas;... thereby creating a tendency to develop transparent legislation.

Secondly, on the list of conditional business lines, since 2014, the list of conditional investment and business lines is specified in Appendix 4 of the Investment Law, including 267 industries. After that, this list was revised to 243 occupations (in 2016) and 227 occupations (according to the Investment Law 2020). Preliminary review results show that although the number of conditional business lines has decreased in form, the content of the industry is broader and more inclusive. In fact, the number of specific occupations with regulations on business registration in the specialized law is much larger than the number of 227 occupations according to the list of the Investment Law 2020.

In addition, there are a number of professions prescribed in specialized laws, but they are not consistent with the names specified in the Investment Law 2020; some lines of business have not had a convincing basis for the necessity of being regulated as conditional business lines; a number of occupations are not currently regulated by the Government on business registration; some occupations are not on the list, but business registration is still issued; Some industries have been removed from the list of the Investment Law 2020, but the Decree on business registration is still in effect. On the other hand, there is an inconsistency in the definition of conditional business lines.

The results of the business registration review show that there are many business registration regulations that are general, unreasonable, unclear, and difficult to define. Business registration can be reduced in form, but the number of business registrations may not be reduced because it is referred to by various regulations. Some other outstanding difficulties were also identified such as the regulation of too many certificates, the restriction of decentralization in licensing, or the need to carry out the procedure to adjust the sub-licenses many times even when there is no change in the number of licenses. content that affects the scope of licensed activities, etc.

Many people think that improving the business and investment environment is an urgent requirement and it should be considered as the most practical support package for businesses. What do you think about this statement?

It can be seen that many business registrations are unnecessary, unreasonable, meaningless, and effective in terms of state management, which has hindered the production and business activities of enterprises. In the first six months of the year, the rate of enterprises suspending operations or withdrawing from the market was higher than the average of the years. The decrease in the registered capital of enterprises also leads to a decrease in the employment opportunities of workers. With this picture, the improvement of MTKD needs to be further promoted.

I think that improving the business and investment environment is an urgent requirement and it should be considered as the most practical support package for businesses. Doing effectively implement this goal, the Government needs to revive the program of reform and improvement of the business environment; directing continuously and consistently the implementation of solutions to improve the business environment. Including the amendment of legal regulations on business registration; Solving promptly and thoroughly the inadequacies and difficulties of enterprises; at the same time, strengthening independent monitoring and evaluation of change and reform results.

Thank you very much!