The report, known as APCI 2018, provides detailed insights into the actual costs that enterprises have to bear to comply with eight groups of procedures, namely business registration, tax, investment, licensing, certificates for practice, land and construction.
A survey of more than 3,000 enterprises throughout the country shows that the cost of construction procedure compliance is the heaviest burden, averaging at VND64.1 million (over US$2,700).
Meanwhile the tax compliance cost is the lightest at just VND73,750 (US$3) and the average time spent on a tax procedure is just 2.9 working hours.
The report also reveals disparity in the cost of construction compliance between different regions, the cost in the northern key economic zone is more than twice the national average while that in the southern region is just one fifth of the national average.
Such an imbalance is attributed to the difference in the implementation and behaviour of administrative bodies at the provincial and lower-level authorities.
Therefore, the APCI 2018 results are an indication that there remains a lot of room for further improvement in the execution of administrative procedures and the reduction of compliance costs for enterprises.
The release of the report marks two years of the current government’s efforts to improve the domestic business environment in order to enhance Vietnam’s international position, boost local business growth and attract more foreign investment.
