Vietnam jumped 20 places, from 90th in 2015 to 70th in 2020 in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business rankings. The continuous improvement of the index over the years have helped Vietnam gradually narrow the gap with ASEAN 4 Group (including Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines). In particular, Vietnam was considered as the country implementing the highest number of reforms over the past 16 years, with 42 reforms. Only over the past five years since Resolution No.19/NQ-CP has been implemented, 18 reforms have been recognised and thousands of unreasonable business conditions have been abolished.
However, Vietnam’s business environment ranking is now at a fairly average level when compared to an international level, this is because many indexes have been gradually improved especially when other countries have dropped down in the rankings.
Therefore, to continue to clearly express the views of the Government and the Prime Minister in making efforts to improve Vietnam’s business environment, the PM signed Resolution No.02/NQ-CP in 2020 on continuing to perform tasks and measures to improve the business environment and enhance national competitiveness all round. This is also the second consecutive year that the Resolution has been issued right from the start of the year. This year’s Resolution has brought many strong reforms with the goal of creating greater opportunities for socio-economic development. Accordingly, in 2020, Vietnam strives to increase the business environment by ten places in WB’s EoDB rankings and jump five places in the competitiveness under the World Economic Forum (WEF)’s Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) 4.0. The country also aims to raise its position in the World Property Organisation (WIPO)’s Global Innovation Index (GII) by three or four places, while increasing the ranking of the Vietnamese e-government according to the United Nations assessment from 10 to 15 levels.
One of the first issues mentioned in the Resolution is the administrative procedure reform, the improvement of the business environment and more substantial and beneficial cuts. Although up to 50% of business conditions have been cut and reduced, many experts have said that the actual number is only half as much as reported. Many regulations and standards have made enterprises use more unnecessary expenses, but the quality of their products has not been improved and their competitiveness has even been reduced. They are business conditions in desperate need of being cut and reduced to develop supporting businesses in a practical and effective manner.
According to a survey of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), there are still 48% of enterprises that have to apply for licenses. Therefore, in order to implement Resolution No.02/NQ-CP effectively with the goa of improving the business environment, the national competitiveness and labour productivity; tleading role of the Government, the ministries, agencies and localities should take active, drastic and synchronous measures to seek good measures and experience. Thus, the country’s business environment will be truly open and transparent, boosting enterprises’ sustainable development as well as helping them comply better with the law.
