HÀ NỘI — As part of efforts to improve the investment and business environment, Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has ordered ministries, sector and localities to grant construction permits and perform related procedures faster.

According to a direction issued on Tuesday, the time limit for granting construction permits and related procedures should be reduced from 166 days to 120 days.

This includes reductions in a series of procedures in the process.

The procedure to appraise construction designs, technical designs and to grant construction permit will be reduced to no longer than 63 days, a 19-day reduction compared to what the World Bank observed in 2017.

The time limit for the appraisal of fire and explosion prevention and fighting measures will be reduced to 20 days, a 10-day decrease.

The time limit to handle procedures to supply electricity and water and connect water drainage systems will be seven days, instead of 14 days.

The procedures to handle the registration of land and property on land, to grant approval for land use, homeownership and ownership of property on land are also asked to be cut by 10 days to no more than 20 days.

The Prime Minister asked that these targets be achieved in 2018.

To that end, he asked ministries, sectors and localities to enhance IT use, improve the efficiency of the single-window mechanism and promote the use of online public services.

State bodies involved in the process were also asked to increase co-operation to simultaneously carry out related administrative procedures to speed up the process.

The Ministry of Construction is responsible for monitoring the implementation of the PM’s direction and reporting to the PM if problems arise. — VNS