HÀ NỘI — Deputy Prime Minister Hồ Quốc Dũng has directed ministries and agencies to fully address difficulties and obstacles facing businesses, calling for clear answers to clearly defined issues, specific guidance where clarification is needed, and amendments to inadequate mechanisms and policies.

The approach should be based on avoiding evasion and buck-passing and creating the best possible conditions for businesses to operate and contribute to national development, Dũng told a meeting in Hà Nội on Wednesday, which discussed proposals and obstacles facing businesses in land, environmental protection, mineral extraction and material sourcing

The Deputy PM said businesses have raised numerous proposals through various forums, including a Government Standing Committee meeting with the business community last month. 

Issues that can be resolved immediately, as well as legitimate proposals and shortcomings, must be addressed decisively and consistently. Matters requiring clarification should receive specific guidance, with the overall approach focused on delivering practical solutions for businesses, he said. 

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Võ Văn Hưng said the ministry has identified 18 groups of issues and recommendations and prepared responses setting out the relevant legal basis, identifying competent authorities and specifying next steps for issues within its state-management remit.

However, Hưng said the ministry's work should go beyond issuing written responses and should include following up on implementation and resolution outcomes. This would help ensure policy stability, transparent procedures and reasonable compliance costs, while creating a more favourable investment and business environment.

Businesses' proposals 

At the meeting, representatives of business associations and companies raised specific issues and proposals concerning land-use and urban planning, investor capacity requirements and projects delayed by procedural hurdles.

Nguyễn Hoài Nam, secretary general of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), proposed extending land-use terms for major investment projects in the agriculture and seafood sectors.

Many aquaculture land areas developed, leased or acquired by businesses currently have land-use terms of only 20 years, despite substantial investment in infrastructure and capital, Nam said. When the terms expire, some projects are required to go through re-bidding or auctions rather than having their land-use terms automatically extended.

Đặng Hồng Anh, chairman of the Viet Nam Young Entrepreneurs Association, called for a single-window mechanism to receive and coordinate dossiers for investment, construction and land procedures, eliminating the need for businesses to work separately with multiple departments and agencies.

He said interconnecting systems and sharing data among agencies could shorten processing times, particularly for stalled and new projects.

For environmental impact assessment dossiers previously handled by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (MOAE), businesses proposed that, following the decentralisation of authority to local governments, existing assessment results be recognised and carried forward to avoid requiring companies to repeat the entire process. 

Substantive solutions needed

In his concluding remarks, Deputy PM Dũng said laws governing the agriculture and environment sectors, including the Land Law, would be amended.

He instructed the MOAE to fully incorporate feedback from business associations and companies at the meeting, particularly on land-related issues, into the amendment of the Land Law and the drafting of related decrees.

“It is not enough to simply provide answers; we must find solutions that enable businesses to operate effectively,” he said, stressing the need for the ministry to listen to businesses, remain open to feedback and address their difficulties thoroughly.

In the land sector, authorities should review issues involving land prices, land price tables, adjustment coefficients, land rents, tax enforcement and planning. In the environmental sector, priority should be given to obstacles involving public consultation, dredging and maintenance of seaport channels, deposits for scrap imports, the circular economy, and production and recycling activities.

Dũngasked the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry to continue coordinating closely with ministries and agencies to regularly collect and consolidate feedback from businesses and associations and refer it to the competent authorities for resolution.

Such efforts must be conducted urgently, transparently, effectively and thoroughly to ensure that business obstacles are removed in practice, he said. — VNS