Bui Anh Tuan, Director General of the Department of Private Enterprise and Collective Economy Development, speaks at a VCCI event on enterprise feedback and policy recommendations

The Government, ministries and agencies have long worked to collect and convey feedback and recommendations from enterprises. The Government has placed strong focus on receiving and addressing difficulties and obstacles facing the business community, with specific implementation roadmaps introduced for the first time. For example, on the fifth of each month, VCCI collects feedback and recommendations and sends them to the Ministry of Finance and relevant ministries and agencies, after which the Ministry of Finance is responsible for urging and monitoring progress. By the 25th of each month, ministries and agencies submit reports to the Ministry of Finance for consolidation and submission to the Government. Since then, the handling of feedback and recommendations from the business community has officially become a reporting item at the Government’s regular meetings.

Based on monitoring over the past two months, beginning in August, through working sessions involving Government leaders, ministries and agencies, and VCCI, the Ministry of Finance has compiled around 202 detailed recommendations. To date, 102 recommendations have been addressed promptly with satisfactory responses for enterprises, while nearly 100 remaining recommendations have been clearly identified for further handling and amendment in relevant legal documents. The current approach to collecting and handling feedback and recommendations has clearly shifted: requirements are clearer and more specific, results are more substantive, and the quality of handling has improved.

The monitoring system is now operated daily through a working group comprising the Ministry of Finance, the Department of Private Enterprise and Collective Economy Development, the VCCI Legal Department and the Government Office. The monitoring list provides detailed information on each recommendation, including the recommending unit, sector, nature of the obstacle, specific issue, relevant provision and document, handling progress, and reasons why it has not yet been formalized in a document. Each week, this information is consolidated and reported to Government leaders to ensure that every recommendation from enterprises, regardless of the forum or document through which it is submitted, is fully recorded, accurately reflected and continuously monitored for handling.

This coordination initiative clearly conveys the Government’s message of listening to, supporting and accompanying the private sector. Handling recommendations is no longer a time-specific activity but has become a regular task with ongoing monitoring and concrete results, meeting the Government’s and Prime Minister’s requirements for substantive resolution of difficulties facing enterprises.

Experience at the Ministry of Finance shows that in areas receiving many recommendations, such as taxation, customs and public asset management, Ministry leaders have closely directed the handling of these issues. The Ministry of Finance recently held direct working sessions with associations and enterprises that had submitted recommendations to review whether the responses provided had met their requirements. Representatives of the Tax Department and Customs Department took part in direct discussions. Even when feedback was unclear, the Customs Department proactively invited enterprises to working sessions to discuss the issues and resolve them thoroughly on the spot, leaving enterprises very satisfied. This approach directly addresses the bottlenecks faced by enterprises.

As the agency advising and assisting the Government in collecting and handling feedback and recommendations, the Ministry of Finance will continue to closely coordinate with VCCI to ensure that all opinions from the business community are fully recorded, addressed and monitored. This will contribute to creating a favorable investment and business environment and advancing the Government’s goal of removing bottlenecks and unlocking resources for socioeconomic development. We look forward to continuing to receive feedback and recommendations from the business community as a basis for consolidation and reporting to the Government.

Bui Anh Tuan, Director General of the Department of Private Enterprise and Collective Economy Development (Ministry of Finance)