The reforms in Vietnam’s management procedues and control have not yet seen significant changes, according to the findings of the American government’s USAID Governance for Inclusive Growth (GIG) programme. — Photo thanhnien.vn

HCM CITY – The reforms in Vietnam’s management procedues and control have not yet seen significant changes, according to the findings of the American government’s USAID Governance for Inclusive Growth (GIG) programme.

The findings were presented on Monday in HCM City at a conference organised by the Central Institute for Economic Management.

Specialised management of import goods was a major obstacle, which creates extra costs and time loss for enterprises, Nguyễn Đình Cung, CIEM head, was reported as saying by chinhphu.vn.

Nguyễn Thị Tuyết Mai, deputy general secretary of the Việt Nam Textile and Garment Association, said there should be sanctions such as compensation for businesses in case authorities intentionally delay their checking procedures and cause damage to businesses.

The delays are a basic obstacle to the improvement of the cross-border commercial trade index in accordance with Resolution 19 on improving the business environment and enhancing competitiveness, according to Cung.

They run contrary to Việt Nam’s commitments in the new generation of free trade agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the EU-Việt Nam free trade agreement.

Studies on specialised management and control of import-export goods at customs agencies in Hà Nội, HCM City, Lạng Sơn, Cần Thơ, Đà Nẵng and Bình Định showed that the time for checking goods had not been cut.

In addition, the cost for specialised management and control had not decreased, while some unofficial costs had a tendency to increase.

"To solve the bottlenecks of specialised management in order to support enterprises, relevant ministries and agencies need to act vigorously and apply goods management,” said Nguyễn Hoài Nam, deputy general secretary of the Việt Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers.- VNS