Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc urged ministries, departments and localities to concentrate on addressing administrative procedure problems (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister NguyenXuan Phuc urged ministries, departments and localities to concentrate on addressingadministrative procedure problems, especially removing tax and fee burdensimposed on businesses, while chairing the government’s regular monthly meetingin Hanoi on August 30.
He asked the Ministry of Finance and the Ministryof Transport to review current regulations on build-operate-transfer (BOT) feesto pave the way for business development.
The PM expressed his dissatisfaction over thefact that up to 35 percent of import-export goods batches still suffer fromspecialised inspection costs, while the target is only 15 percent.
[PM urges accelerating administrative procedure reform]
He also cited the World Bank’s report thatVietnamese businesses have to pay social insurance premiums 12 times per year,equivalent to 189 hours, whilst it takes only 48 hours in Thailand and 46 hoursin Indonesia.
“This is one of the obvious issues thatministries and departments have to address as soon as possible,” he said,adding that concrete measures are needed to remove difficulties for specificfields.
Evaluating the socio-economic performance inthe first eight months of 2017, the PM recognised positive outcomes in the macroeconomy.
The inflation was curbed while the consumerprice index (CPI) increased by 0.92 percent in August and 3.84 percent in eightmonths.
Vietnam recorded strong export growth of 18percent in January-August. The country served the highest volume ofinternational tourists in August (1.23 million), helping the total foreignarrivals over the past eight months expand by 30 percent.
The newly-registered and increased foreign directinvestment (FDI) and shares capital were estimated at over 23.3 billion USD. In the past eight months, over 104,000 newbusinesses were set up.
As the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting is takingplace in the central coastal city of Da Nang in November 2017, the PM directedthe Ministry of Foreign Affairs to ensure the best preparation for the event.
During the meeting, the Ministry of Financewill brief the implementation of the State budget in 2017 and estimates for2018, and a draft plan for the State finance and budget in 2018-2020, and thecentral budget allocation for 2018.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade is due todeliver a report on particular mechanisms and policies to ensure the progressof investment in building urgent electricity projects within the national powerdevelopment scheme.-VNA
