Deputy PM urges less bureaucracy
Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has asked for overlapping regulations to be amended as part of administrative reform efforts.
Chairing a meeting of the Steering Committee for Administrative Reform in Hanoi on January 19 to review its 2015 activities and launch 2016 tasks, Phuc said administrative procedures are one of the four areas under major reform, including judicial affairs, education and wages, which were set by the 10th and 11th National Party Congresses.
In his capacity as head of the committee, the Deputy PM hailed its members, including the Ministry of Home Affairs for directing the 2015 action plan and achieving expected results.
The institutional reform also proved successful with the promulgation of 27 laws and hundreds of decrees and circulars, alongside new regulations on personal identification and civil registration.
Phuc asked ministries, agencies and localities to continue executing the programme on State administrative reform and improving the efficiency of the administrative system.
Stressing the need for institutional reform, he demanded that the Law on Government Organisation, and the Law on Local Administration, which came into force from January 1, 2016, must be put in place; adding that the Ministry of Home Affairs must ensure the progress and quality of the government restructuring.
On administrative reform goals, he urged the need to improve the capacity of civil cadres, and the quality of one-stop shop models using technological advances.
He suggested establishing a public administrative service centre, inviting private investment into public services, as well as piloting autonomy mechanisms in several units concerned.
Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Tran Anh Tuan, deputy head of the committee, reported that as of December 2015, more than 4,400 out of 4,700 procedures were simplified.
The customs clearance duration was reduced from 21 days to 14 days for exports, and 13 days for imports.
Total tax filing time was cut to 117 hours from 537 hours.
The Vietnam automated cargo and port consolidated system, and the Vietnam customs intelligence information system, were also instrumental in overhauling Vietnam's customs procedures to a level on par with ASEAN+6 countries in late 2015.