HÀ NỘI — 2019 will be a busy year for ministries looking to cut business prerequisites, and firms should contribute to making the process more efficient, said Nguyễn Đình Cung, Director of the Central Institute for Economic Management.

With regard to Tuesday’s Government resolution on improving the business environment and national competitiveness for 2019 through 2021, Cung said the involved ministries would have a huge workload.

The resolution reflected the Government’s determination to cut red tape for businesses this year with detailed targets and specific deadlines, Cung said.

The resolution No 2 asked ministries and ministerial-level agencies to abolish and simplify unclear and infeasible business prerequisites before the third quarter of this year and reduce the number of import and goods subject to inspections by half.

It is time for firms to provide input about their difficulties with business prerequisites and import and export inspections to make the deregulation process more efficient, Cung said.

For example, in the transportation sector, management agencies still struggle to find an effective way to manage new business models like that of ride hailing services firm Grab, Cung said. He maintains firms should play a role in advocating for policies.

Ministries should also change their management styles in the era of innovation to encourage new business models, Cung said.

He said State management should not prevent or limit creativity or distort operation models, adding it was impossible to prohibit businesses for which State agencies had not found effective management solutions.

According to Đậu Anh Tuấn, head of the Việt Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI)’s Legal Department, the Government’s target of having 1 million firms by 2020 was challenging given the fewer-than-expected number of new firms set up.

“More than ever, deregulation of prerequisites and simplifying administrative procedures must be implemented thoroughly,” Tuấn said.

According to VCCI’s Chairman Vũ Tiến Lộc, the focus was still on the number of new firms set up every year while little attention was paid to how efficiently they operate.

A survey by VCCI found local authorities were still slower in tackling problems raised by firms than ministries and ministerial-level agencies.

Many reforms were introduced but it was still a long road for the policies to benefit businesses, Lộc said.

He stressed it was critical to hasten reforms in 2019, as the room for positive changes remained large. — VNS