Chairing a Government Standing Committee meeting on April 13, the Prime Minister reviewed solutions to streamline procedures and improve the business environment. The meeting highlighted that Vietnam currently maintains 198 conditional business lines and 4,603 business conditions.

Under Conclusion No. 18 of the Party Central Committee, ministries and agencies are required to continue reviewing and reducing at least 30% of conditional business lines - equivalent to around 60 sectors - while eliminating 100% of unnecessary business conditions.

At the same time, the reform agenda sets ambitious targets: cutting 50% of administrative processing time and 50% of compliance costs, while limiting ministries to handling no more than 30% of administrative procedures within their management scope.

A push for speed and substance

After listening to reports and opinions, Prime Minister Le Minh Hung stressed the need for immediate action, particularly on tasks outlined in Conclusion 18.

Although implementation is scheduled for the second quarter, he urged ministries to move faster and complete reforms as early as possible, ensuring both quality and tangible results.

Deputy prime ministers will be assigned to oversee specific sectors, working alongside the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Government Office to directly engage with ministries on reform plans.

Ministers themselves are required to take direct responsibility. Rather than waiting until the end of the second quarter, all ministries must submit concrete proposals by April 20. The Government Office and the Ministry of Justice will consolidate and review these plans for approval within April.

Beyond cutting numbers: focusing on real impact

The Prime Minister emphasized that reducing the number of procedures alone is not enough.

“Unnecessary business conditions must, of course, be eliminated. But even necessary ones must be reviewed. The quantity matters, but the substance and internal content matter more. The key is to truly reduce time and compliance costs,” he said.

He noted that even modest reductions in quantity could deliver significant impact if they effectively lower burdens on citizens and businesses.

The Ministry of Justice, in coordination with the Government Office, has been tasked with acting as a “gatekeeper” to control administrative procedures and business conditions. Ministers will be held accountable if inappropriate or unnecessary requirements persist.

The reform process must also incorporate feedback from businesses and associations, ensuring that policy changes reflect real-world challenges.

Driving decentralization and digital transformation

On decentralization, the Prime Minister called for continued review of responsibilities between central and local levels, with more authority delegated from the central government to provinces, and from provinces to grassroots levels.

This aligns with the requirement that ministries handle no more than 30% of procedures within their domains.

He also stressed the importance of building and completing national databases, particularly those related to citizens, businesses and the economy, to support governance and decision-making.

A key principle underpinning the reform is data reuse. Citizens and businesses should only provide information once. Existing data must be reused across administrative processes, with officials responsible for retrieving information from databases rather than requesting repeated submissions.

“This must be clearly defined in law,” the Prime Minister said, underscoring the need for a legal framework to enforce the principle.

Toward a more efficient system

The directive reflects a broader shift toward a more streamlined, digital and citizen-centric administrative system.

If implemented effectively, the reforms could significantly reduce bureaucratic burdens, improve the business environment and enhance Vietnam’s competitiveness in the years ahead.

Tran Thuong