Vietnam perfecting laws for better business, investment climate

"Vietnam has been perfecting its legal documents which are more transparent and in conformity with international commitments to better serve business and investment activities in fair and win-win basis," a local deputy prime minister said here Wednesday.

Since 2005, Vietnam has approved many laws, including the Common Investment Law and the Unified Enterprise Law which ensure no discrimination between foreign and domestic businesses and investors, said Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem at the Vietnam Business Forum, a structured and ongoing dialogue between the Vietnamese government and the business community jointly held by the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the International Financial Corporation.

He said Vietnam has been focusing on improving investment environment and infrastructure to meet its demand for investment of 140 billion U.S. dollars with one third coming from foreign sources, from now to 2010.

At the one-day forum, chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Vu Tien Loc, presented four obstacles commonly faced by the business community, namely high unofficial business transaction fee, little land access of non-state companies, especially small- and medium-sized enterprises, insufficient support of legal institutions, and cumbersome business licensing.

He proposed the government accelerate administrative reform, make business-related procedures more transparent, remove unnecessary business permits, renovate land management mechanisms, and enhance operation of law enforcement agencies.

Local and foreign delegates to the forum focused discussions on identifying obstacles mainly relating to capital, labor, tax, land and intellectual property faced by investors and entrepreneurs in such fields as banking, electricity, telecommunications and tourism, and making recommendations on developing a favorable business environment which lures investment and stimulates growth.

A representative from the American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam proposed the government upgrade infrastructure with stronger participation of the private sector in the construction of power plants and seaports, enforce intellectual property rights, battle corruption more vigorously, ensure legal certainty, and improve its education system.

Source: Xinhua