As registering business online is now completely free of charge and easier than ever, the number of firms engaged in online registration is expected to reach 30% of the total this year.

According to Tran Thi Hong Minh, head of the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Business Registration Management Agency, although this estimate is high, it is within reach as business registration agencies throughout the country are working diligently to reach the goal.

Last year, only 14% of businesses embraced online business registration through the national system. That rate hit 35.2 per cent in last year’s fourth quarter.

“Many figures have actually surpassed the targets set in the government’s Resolution 36a/NQ-CP, which is quite an encouraging factor,” Minh said.

Ho Chi Minh City has been named as one of the localities taking the lead in online business registration, with 25.3 per cent of city-based firms registering their businesses online last year – 62 per cent in the fourth quarter.

Corresponding figures in Hanoi were 18 and 51.1 per cent, respectively.

Besides these two major growth engines, a raft of localities nationwide are stepping up efforts to promote online business registration. The most active localities to date are Hue and Danang in the central region.

Huynh Van Thanh, deputy director of Danang’s Department of Planning and Investment, said that the city was encouraging online registration by giving priority to applications that were registered online.

The ultimate target is to curtail the time for administrative procedure settlement from the current three days to just one or two days.

“We have specific staff providing direct guidance to online business registration at the support section,” Thanh said.

This smooth operation came in part thanks to continual improvements of the national information system on business registration, which allows for the regulatory processes to be constantly updated pursuant to new regulations. The online business registration software has more than 100 processes deployed from the third level, of which 95 processes are deployed from the fourth level.

With this system, people who want to set up business can now submit procedures online without the need to come directly to registration offices. Business registration agencies then use the system to receive and process procedures submitted by businesses, subsequently informing the businesses when their work is complete.

The national business registration information system is working around the clock to ensure that procedures can be submitted any time – 24 hours a day, seven days a week – from anywhere with an internet connection. All the while, it is ensuring the accuracy and integrity of the information submitted by businesses.

The system also helps organise and simplify the process of record submission, information processing, and result delivery, facilitating online interactions between those wishing to set up business and business registration agencies.

To further facilitate startups, business registration agencies have joined efforts with tax agencies to devise regulations concerning information-sharing mechanisms and tax code creation.

VIR