To: THE GOVERNMENT’S PRIMINISTER NGUYEN XUAN PHUC 

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Vietnam (VCCI) is pleased to report on a performance of tasks assigned in the Resolution 35 / NQ-CP dated 16 May 2016 by the Government on supporting and developing businesses until 2020, solving difficulties, obstacles and recommendations of enterprises in January 2018 as follows:

I. SUMMARY OF BUSINESSES’ RECOMMENDATONS UNDER THE RESOLUTION No. 35 / NQ-CP OF MINISTRIES AND BRANCHES IN JANUARY 2018

1. Responses to recommendations that gathered by the Government’s Office

In January, 2018, VCCI received 14 documents responding to recommendations of businesses by ministries, sectors and localities. These documents have been fully disclosed on the website of VCCI as stipulated in the Resolution 35. The written responses to recommendations of businesses that the VCCI received in January, 2018 have contents related to the specially fields as follows:

1.1. The Ministry of Finance

The Ministry of Finance had 3 official letters responding to the recommendations of businesses with the following contents: Guiding Tan Thanh Co. Ltd solving fire and explosion insurance with the  Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (current is General Insurance Company of Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (Vietinbank Insurance) ; resolving the recommendation of Sepzone - Linh Trung Vietnam Co., Ltd on the policies of collecting land rental and calculation of late payment of land rental as well as refund of Value Added Tax of the My Man Trade Service Investment Co., Ltd.

1.2. Ministry of Planning and Investment

The Ministry of Planning and Investment had 3 written replies to recommendations of businesses on the establishment of a bank for financing support to aquaculture and the establishment of a company that not following the method of 100% investment capital of the US in Vietnam; procedures for acquiring contributed capital in Vietnamese enterprises and the addition or change of business lines of foreign-invested organizations.

11.3. Some other ministries, branches and localities:

- The Ministry of Industry and Trade responded the Vietnam Retailers Association regarding the extension of the time applying the National Technical Regulation on paper towels and toilet paper.

 - The Ministry of Transport issued a written response to the Hanoi Taxi Association and the Hanoi Department of Transport regarding the implementation of regulations related to the taxi fare in Hanoi.

- The Food Safety Department of the Ministry of Health issued a written response to recommendation of Huong Sen Viet Co., Ltd. on the issuance of certificates of eligibility for food safety.

- The State Bank of Vietnam responded to Blum Viet Nam Co., Ltd on guiding procedures for making payment without customs declaration of imported goods.

- The Ministry of Information and Communication noticed the result of settlement of Viet An Environmental Technique Joint Stock Company. Accordingly, the Department of Telecommunications has issued the certificate of conformity and import license for the company.

- The Hanoi People's Committee responded to recommendations of Ha Tay Passenger Automobile Joint Stock Company to inspect and review the implementation of the Song Da urban mixed-use project, The land is located at 143 Tran Phu Street, Ha Dong District..

- The People's Committee of Bac Lieu Province responded to recommendations of Binh Tri Phuoc Long Co., Ltd to settle the new rural construction’s debts in Phuoc Long District, Bac Lieu Province. At present, the province has arranged the capital, however, the payment and settlement procedures still differ from the data on debts between Phuoc Long District and the company.

- The People's Committee of Tuyen Quang Province responded to recommendations of the Eastern Infrastructure Construction Joint Stock Company for the package No. 01 under the project of building the Tuberculosis and Lung Disease Hospital in Tuyen Quang Province. The People's Committee of Tuyen Quang Province responded strongly to the request for adjustment of prices of materials, labor and construction machines without foundation and requires the investor and contractor to make final settlement in accordance with the signed contract.

- The People's Committee of Bac Lieu Province responded to the Binh Tri Phuoc Long Co., Ltd's recommendations to settle the new rural construction debt in Phuoc Long District, Bac Lieu Province. At present, the province arranges the capital, however, the payment and settlement procedures still differ from the data on debts between the Phuoc Long District and the company.

- The People's Committee of Tuyen Quang Province responded to the recommendations of the Eastern Infrastructure Construction Joint Stock Company for the package No. 01 under the project of building the Tuberculosis and Lung Disease Hospital in the Tuyen Quang Province. The People's Committee of Tuyen Quang Province responded strongly to the request for adjustment of prices of materials, labor and construction machines without foundation and requires the investor and contractor to make final settlement in accordance with the signed contract.

1.8. Responsed recommendations that gathered by VCCI and sent to the Government’s Office:

In January of this year, VCCI received 6 responses to 9 recommendations. The written responsed recommendations that VCCI received and posted on the VCCI’s website and conveyed to recommended businesses,  particularly as follows:

- An Official Letter No. 26 / TCT-CS dated January 3, 2018 of the General Department of Taxation – The Ministry of Finance responded the complaint of Mr. Vo Thai Son on VAT policies. (the recommendation No.4, Appendix  of the November 2017 Report No. 3353 / PTM-VP dated December 14, 2017 of the VCCI).

- An Official Letter No. 17 / BXD-VLXD dated January 3, 2018 of the Ministry of Construction and an Official Letter No. 609 / TCHQ-PC dated January 30, 2018 of the General Department of Customs responding to recommendations of the Vico Mineral and Investment Stock Company in Quang Tri Province on the issue of General Department of Customs's Official Dispatch No. 7406 / TCHQ-GSQL dated November 10, 2017 requesting the provincial / municipal Customs Departments to stop the customs procedures for export of minerals being sand white silicon according to the opinion of the Ministry of Construction. The Ministry of Construction has submitted to the Prime Minister a comprehensive solution to solve the problem of exporting sand including silica sand. In the short term businesses were allowed to continue implementing the signed export contracts that be still in force until the time of issuing Circular on amending and supplementing the Circular 04/2012 / TT-BXD dated September 20 2012 of the Ministry of Construction guiding the export of minerals to be used as construction materials. (Recommendation No.2, Annex 1, November 2004 Report No. 3353 / PTM-VP dated December  14, 2017 of the VCCI).

- An Official Letter No. 668 / BNN-QLDN dated 23 January, 2018 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) responded to recommendations of the Small and Medium Enterprise Support Center (VCCI) on proposing the State to support 100% of finance to buy ship’s insurance premiums to attract fishermen to participate in insurance, protection of fishermen's interests before the risks. MARD confirmed that there was no legal basis for implementation of this support. (Recommendation No. 5, Annex 1, Report No. 3353 / PTM-VP dated December 14, 2017 of the VCCI).

+ An Official letter 668 also responded to 2 recommendations of Duc Minh Joint Stock Company and Van Phat Liquor Company Ltd., which was transferred by the Office of the Government but the Ministry has not responded (according to the VCCI’s statistics).

- An Official Letter No. 609 / TCHQ-PC dated January 30, 2018 of the General Department of Customs responding to the proposal of Duyen Hai - Phu Tho Multimodal Transport Company to continue the operation of the location implementing Customs clearance at ICD Thuy Van - Viet Tri City, Phu Tho. The General Department of Customs requested the Duyen Hai company to complete the infrastructure in accordance with regulations and send the dossier to the General Department for accreditation. (the Recommendation No. 6, Annex 1, November 2004 Report No. 3353 / PTM-VP dated December 14 2017 of the VCCI).

+ An Official Letter No. 609 also responded 6 recommendations of enterprises conveyed by the Government’s Office for settlement in October and November 2017 but  being delayed to reply.

- An Official Letter No. 365 / BHXH-DVT dated January 31, 2018 of the Vietnam Social Insurance responding to recommendations in the Report No. 3121A / PTM-VP dated November 20, 2017 of the VCCI including contents:

+ The selection of health insurance;

+ The development work of planning prices of the products;

+ The approval of the bid winning results;

+ Process of payment for drug purchase;

+ The rejected expenditures of the bid winning results.

According to the VCCI, the Ministry of Finance, the Vietnam Social Insurance, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Construction are the units responding to the recommendations that gathered by the Government’s Office and the VCCI were quite timely and following the deadline. The responding to the recommendations of some ministries, localities, especially the localities were quite slow.

2. Recommendations that informed by the Government’s Office to VCCI

- In December 2017, VCCI received 36 recommendation that received by the Government Office through the system of receiving and responding to the recommendations of businesses on the portal of the Government. By January 31, 2018, there were 31 recommendations that received by ministries, sectors and localities. There were still 5 recommendations that were not responded yet (see attached list in Annex 2). All recommendations were overdue for responses

- January 1, 2018 VCCI received 41 recommendations of businesses that received by the the Government’s Office through the system of receiving and responding to the recommendations of businesses on the portal of the Government. By the end of January 1, 2018, there were 6 recommendations that received by ministries, sectors and localities. There were only 35 proposals that were not responded (list attached as Annex 3), in which there were some recommendations that be overdue for response.

II. IMPLEMENTATION OF RESOLUTION No. 35 / NQ-CP OF VCCI

In January 2018, VCCI carried out the following tasks:

1. Implemented activities of contribution to administrative reform and creation of favorable conditions for businesses; created a favorable environment to support start-up andinnovative businesses; ensured business rights, equal access to resources and business opportunities of businesses; reduced business costs for businesses and protected the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises:

- VCCI completed the comments and continued commenting on drafts: The revised Law on higher education; Decree on amending, supplementing and abolishing a number of articles of the Decree on sanctioning violations related to multi-level sale activities; The decree replaces the Decree 70 regulating the confidentiality, storage and provision of information relating to deposits and assets of customers; the Decree on amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 78/2015 / ND-CP on enterprise registration; The Circular stipulates the registration of rail traffic means and the movement of rail traffic means in special cases; the Circular on amending and supplementing a number of articles of Circular No. 24/2015 / TT-NHNN of the Governor of the State Bank providing for lending in foreign currency by credit institutions and foreign bank branches to customers Loans are residents; The Decree stipulates the schedule and modalities for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions.

- Coordinated with the Central Theoretical Council to hold a scientific workshop on "Competitiveness of the economy: the rationale, international experience and policy implications for Vietnam". Competitiveness issues are increasingly receiving government attention in the economies of nations. For Vietnam, the issue of raising the competitiveness of the economy is also being considered by the Party and the State. Accordingly, the renovation of the growth model, the improvement of productivity is the key task and the issue of productivity improvement is defined as the decisive content of the development of the Vietnamese economy. The workshop is part of the Research Project on Enhancing Competitiveness of the Economy, chaired by the Central Theoretical Council (VCCI).

- In collaboration with the International Labor Organization (ILO), Vietnam organized a workshop on "Impact of the Vietnam-EU Bilateral Trade Agreement on Labor Relations in Vietnam". The EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement is considered to be a new free trade agreement between Vietnam and 28 EU Member States formed in October 2012. This is the most ambitious and comprehensive FTA the EU has ever signed with a developing country like Vietnam. EVFTA has become one of the new generation FTAs ​​because of the standard labor and environmental commitments contained in the agreement. At present, the EU and Vietnam agree to a comprehensive and comprehensive program of sustainable trade with a list of commitments including the effective implementation of the main labor standards of the Organization of Lao PDR International Convention (ILO).

- Organized a conference: "Central Council of Central Business Associations" in Nghe An. This is an important event with the participation of representatives from more than 200 enterprises, associations and leaders of the provinces in Central Vietnam to gather practical ideas and recommendations to prepare for the Central Council Vietnam National Business Associations that are expected to be held in Hanoi in the first quarter of 2018 as well as the Prime Minister's Business Meeting in 2018. The conference was also an opportunity to grasp the difficulties. It is in the business as well as recommendations of the business community to improve the business investment environment, effectively support businesses in the future; Contributed to the successful implementation of Resolution 19 / NQ-CP and Resolution 35 / NQ-, Directive 26 / CT-TTg of the Prime Minister and Resolution No. 10-NQ / TW, The 5th Party, Term XII.

- - Business Integrity Action Program:

+ Organized a delegation of government officials to study and learn from 21-28 January 2018 in the United Kingdom to study the experience of promoting theimplementation of  integrity in the public and private sectors. The United Kingdom is now a successful practice in anti-bribery, asset recovery, related to corruption- and researched strategic trend for the development of anti-corruption in Vietnam in the coming years. During time in the United Kingdom, the delegation met and worked with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Cabinet Office, the member division of Parliamentary  that be in charge of anti-corruption, The British Prime Minister's special envoy to Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, National Crime Prevention Agency, the UK-Vietnam Business Network and some of the United Kingdom’s largest business groups.

+ Data analysed and finalized a research report on evaluating the status of the initiative to implement business integrity in Vietnam ...

2. Carried out trade and investment promotion activities as well as programs and projects for supporting the raising of the competitiveness of businesses and business associations:

- Organized a conference to review activities of the business community hosted by VCCI in APEC 2017 including the following main activities: ABAC Meeting 4 and ABAC Dialogue with APEC Leaders, Vietnam Business Summit (VBS) and the APEC CEO Summit Summit (2017). The activities of VCCI in APEC helped to raise the position of Vietnamese businesses in the eyes of international friends. VCCI also promoted meetings between government representatives and business leaders, supported bilateral business contacts. There have been many contracts signed in the memorandum. Continuing the success of the activities, after APEC Submit  VCCI will continue to organize bilateral and multilateral promotion activities, increasing the success of APEC. At the same time, VCCI also organized the photo contest "APEC CEO Summit 2017: memorable moments"; Prepared the APEC CEO Summit 2017 to gather all presentations as well as photos of the organization's work. In the short term, the Conference of "The Future of Vietnam - after APEC", VBF forum, in collaboration with the Federation of French employers, Korea Trade and Industry Association, the US Trade Association, EUROCHAM ... will be conducted in 2018. Bilateral and multilateral conferences will also be implemented by VCCI as well as linking business cooperation between the business community and the international business community. In addition, VCCI continues to coordinate and assist localities in promoting investment plans.

- Organized a  Startup Festival 2018 offering investment and awarding projects to the final of the National Startup Competition in 2017. In 2017, there were 15 units in the start-up network that were chosen to screen out 159 export projects. From 500 projects as well as business ideas of 1,500 candidates to participate in the National Debate Competition. At the 2017 Launch Festival, investment promotion activities with the participation of nearly 30 investors, investment funds at national and international projects committed to practical implementation has created motivation as well as resources for projects that have overcome the initial difficulties in the process of businesses development. A total of eight projects are in the investment round. In addition, at the Festival, projects will be connected with start-up organizations, nurserys for start-ups, mentors and coaches of the National Start Program for projects that can build their own of a ecosystem of complete support.

Organized a  Launch Festival 2018, to offer investment and award for the projects in general. - Organized a signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding to implement the Zero Waste to Nature”’s initiative between the VCCI and the International Co., Ltd; Unilever Vietnam (UVN), Coca-Cola Vietnam Co., Ltd (CCBVL), and Dow Chemical Vietnam Co., Ltd. (Dow). This is an initiative to implement the program to support enterprises in implementing the circular economy in Vietnam. Recognizing the importance of the cyclical economy model in promoting sustainable development in Vietnam, VCCI pioneered in the development of a program to support businesses in implementation of a revolving economy in Vietnam. The objective of the program was to recommend policy recommendations that facilitate the creation of a secondary material market, and to introduce good practices of businesses around the world to the business community in the country. and support the implementation of initiatives based on the public-private partnership model, addressing environmental challenges and promoting sustainable growth. Participated in the "Zero Waste to Nature"’s initiative which was a part of the program to support businesses in implementing a circulation economy in Vietnam to promote the realization of the circular economy model, contribution to solving environmental challenges and promotion of sustainable growth. Because, if the business community continues to pursue a traditional linear economic model - where resources are exploited, used to produce goods and discarded after use - then the world will face with a range of potential economic, social and environmental hazards.

- Organized "YouthSpark Live 2018" to support young people, students for learning more knowledge and practising business, entrepreneurs. The forum focused on communicating and disseminating skills needed to start a business, conquer employers and work in a modern environment. At the forum, the organizing committee held a ceremony of awarding the IT game programming 2017, under the project "Enhancing Information Technology Skills for Young People Integration and Development", by Microsoft Vietnam, Information Technology Department - MOET and Vietnet-ICT coordinated implementation.

- Other activities: Organized connections for businesses attending the INDUS FOOD 2018 Food Fair, the ASEAN-India Investment Summit; Vietnam - India Trade Exchange; Organized a workshop "Womenwill Vietnam - Women in the industrial revolution 4.0"; Organized the final forum of the contest "Courage of start-ups and value creation" in Ho Chi Minh City; Organized an online discussion with the theme "Fighting against dirty food: Inadequate from management and solutions for businesses"; Organized a conference to promote investment in industrial parks and economic zones of Quang Binh Province; Organized a workshop  on"Promotion of Trade, Investment and Tourism in South Africa" ​​...

3. Summary on difficulties and problems of enterprises:

In January 2018, VCCI continued coordinating with ministries, localities and business associations to bring together new arisen businesses’ recommendations. The list of new recommendations is presented in Appendix 1.

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Vietnam would like to report to the Prime Minister.

C/C :

- As above;

- The Steering Committee;

- The Government’s Office (the DMDN Dept);

- The Ministries of Finance; Planning and Investment, Natural Resources and Environment; Agriculture and Rural Development; Social Insurance of Vietnam

- The People's Committee of Hai Phong and Danang Cities;

- The Business Information Center (to post on Website)

- Save by Archival and Admin (for synthetics)