HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc lauded his working group for accelerating reforms among ministries and administrative agencies during a working session in Hà Nội on Monday to review its 2018 work and launch 2019 tasks. 
The group was also hailed for its proposal to cut half of business conditions to improve the business climate, thus winning public trust, he said.
He asked the group to work more drastically and straightforwardly with secretaries and chairpersons of cities and provinces, ministers, deputy ministers on tasks assigned by the Government and the PM. 
Further attention must be paid to removing obstacles in mechanisms and policies, as well as decentralisation to ministries, agencies and localities, he said. 
The leader also requested strengthening inspection over policymaking and soon ending delay in bill drafting. 
Minister and Chairman of the Government Office Mai Tiến Dũng, who is also head of the working group, said since its establishment nearly three years ago, the group has launched 61 inspections in 20 out of 22 ministries and agencies, a government agency, 13 localities, 10 economic groups and State corporations. Of them, 27 inspections focused on assigned tasks and others were specialised inspections. 
Up to 51 out of 60 detailed regulation documents were issued in 2017, reaching 85 per cent. In 2018, 118 out of 122 documents were issued, equivalent to 96.72 per cent. Via inspections, the group discovered overlapping in existing legal documents and suggested the Government and PM direct ministries and agencies review and amend them. 
The group also found out barriers related to mechanisms and policies that easily result in red tape, affecting businesses and people. 
Ministries have so far issued 49 legal documents on specialised inspections and business conditions, cut 6,776 out of 9,926 lines of goods subject to specialised inspection as well as simplified and cut over 3,300 out of more than 6,100 business conditions, thus saving nearly VNĐ6.6 trillion (US$286.9 million). 
The group also helped strengthen discipline in leadership and directions regarding assigned tasks among ministries, agencies and localities, thus tightening their close ties with the Government Office. 
Ties between the Government Office and business associations at home and abroad have been increasingly open and practical. During 2017-18, over 14,900 suggestions by enterprises and residents were acquired, more than 2,400 of them were answered by ministries, agencies and localities and over 2,000 ones were publicised. 
Head of the Government Office’s Administrative Procedure Reform Unit Ngô Hải Phan said the group needs to crack down on petty corruption and use modern technology for inspection in 2019. — VNS