Hanoi (VNA) – Forty two percent of surveyed companies reportedthat they countered difficulties in applying for business licences in Vietnam,said General Secretary of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI)Nguyen Quang Vinh.

This is one of the outcomes of a survey conducted by VCCI to assess thetwo-and-a-half years implementation of the Government’s Decree No.35/NQ-CP onsupporting and developing businesses until 2020, and five years implementingDecree 19/NQ-CP on improving business climate and national competitivecapacity.

Vinhpresented the outcomes during a recent working session with Deputy PrimeMinister Vuong Dinh Hue, who is also head of the National Steering Committee onNational and ASEAN Single Window mechanisms and trade facilitation, and theMinistry of Transport.

Accordingto Vinh, there have been positive moves in cutting business conditions, but thesurvey, conducted in 2017, found that 58 percent of enterprises had to seekconditional business licences.

The most improvements were reported in company establishment and power access,while slowest movements were seen in the fields of bankruptcy, investorprotection and import-export procedures.

“Administrative procedures in many localities have been streamlined, with theone-stop mechanism proved to be effective; however, implementation of onlineprocedures has been slow”, Vinh underlined.

Only 13 percent of the enterprises complete business procedures online, hesaid, attributing the small number to the Government’s digitalisation process.

Accordingto the survey, businesses have expressed their satisfaction with localinfrastructure and services like telephone (78 percent), electricity (74percent), clean water (67 percent), internet (62 percent), industrial zones (46percent) and transport (41 percent).

The ratio of firms subject to two inspections or more in a year dropped from 48percent in 2016 to only 4 percent, with 24 percent of those firms reportedoverlapping of content of inspections.

VCCI General Secretary Vinh said he believes the implementation of a set ofcriteria on corporate development, which were announced on October 13 thisyear, in 2019 will be a boost in improving the local business environment.

Thefull outcomes of the survey will be delivered to the Prime Minister, DeputyPrime Ministers and concerned agencies soon, Vinh said.-VNA