As the old saying goes, a picture paints a thousand words. This was certainly the case when Khalid Muhmood illustrated the complicated nature of Vietnam’s business administrative procedures by using a photo of a woman carrying six heavy files of documents to a state agency meeting to prove that her education centre was doing what it had been licensed for.

Muhmood, the founder of the Apollo English Centre and the British University Vietnam, and who is also the head of the Education and Training Working Group at the Vietnam Business Forum (VBF) held in Hanoi last week, said that nowhere else in the world did people have to carry such a huge bunch of documents just to report that their licensed businesses were running well.

“The legal procedures for granting licences for new investment projects are the same as the legal procedures for re-investment projects,” said Muhmood, adding that if a successful university wished to expand its campus to a new location it had to go through the same application process as if it were an entirely new investment.

Greater civil services needed

Over the past decade, the Vietnamese government has actually been trying to reduce the amount of red tape and simplify administrative procedures in order to enhance its investment climate. Just two weeks ago, the National Assembly officially approved the amendments to the laws on Investment and Enterprises, after two years of preparations by the Ministry of Planning and Investment under the direction of the government.

Bui Quang Vinh, Minister of Planning and Investment, described the amendments to these laws as a “skin peeling” that will resolve the fundamental shortcomings that have been hampering the nation’s business climate over the past ten years.

But while top leaders of the nation are determining to make a positive change, the business community still has doubts about the strict implementation of the new laws, given their experiences with local authorities in the past.

“We understand that the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) has made great efforts to simplify the investment registration and business registration procedures through various revisions to the laws on Investment Law and Enterprises. However, there remain significant concerns with respect to the actual implementation of such laws,” said Tran Anh Duc, a member of the VBF’s Investment and Trade Working Group.

Duc said currently the procedure to obtain an investment certificate was still very complex and cumbersome. Businesses here must spend a significant amount of time on the preparation, explanation, and supplementation of unnecessary information to various authorities. In many cases, the licensing time is also lengthened with cross-consultations between  departments of Planning and Investment and people’s committees or relevant ministries. Sometimes, departments of Planning and Investment may put an application on hold for as long as two or three months while it awaits feedback from the various other agencies.

“A licensing system will not work if the public officials tasked with implementing it are permitted to refuse applications at their own discretion. The turnaround time for an application is prolonged due to multiple requirements for explanation and application resubmissions,” said Duc. “Sometimes, licensing officials may even make an attempt to act on behalf of the court or lawyers by reviewing contracts or charters submitted to them for compliance with law.”

Premier’s promise

The VBF last week marked the third time this year that Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has met with the local and foreign business community to discuss solutions to enhance the business climate in Vietnam.

In 2014, Dung said Vietnam successfully stabilised the macro-economy at around 5.9 per cent of growth, in line with a low inflation rate and a stable local currency. However, at the VBF he said the achievements did not meet his expectations.

“We will continue to make favourable conditions for investors through the improvement of the business climate,” said Dung, implying that the government would continue removing existing burdens for investors.