According to his report presented to the National Assembly, the time required to complete administrative procedures has been cut by 53 percent, while compliance costs have dropped by around 55 percent, saving roughly 23 trillion VND annually. The Government said this is the largest reduction in history.

Just last week, a legal officer at a major Vietnamese private conglomerate told VietNamNet that his company recently received an Overseas Investment Registration Certificate. Less than two weeks elapsed between document submission and certificate issuance, a turnaround so rapid he labeled it a "record."

Previously, the enterprise wanted to invest in AI, the digital economy, and various other sectors in the US and several developed countries, but it could not complete "mountains" of paperwork.

According to government reports, the nation had 5,012 projects facing difficulties and bottlenecks, representing a total investment capital of VND3.69 quadrillion. As of September 27, 2026, 71 percent of these cases had been resolved, with obstacles completely removed.

Among them, 2,121 projects with a total investment value of VND1.79 quadrillion were untangled, allowing construction and implementation to resume.

Unblocking a single project often requires coordination among multiple agencies, frequently involving lingering legacy issues spanning many years. Officials leading the resolution effort must also assume personal responsibility for their decisions. Consequently, the resolution of thousands of projects carries an important significance.

Dau Anh Tuan, Deputy Secretary General and Head of the Legal Department at the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), said: "Institutions are being restructured at an unprecedented pace."

In 2025, the National Assembly passed 89 laws, 5.7 times the annual average for the 2020–2024 period. The two-year span of 2024–2025 alone saw the enactment of 120 laws, exceeding the combined total of the preceding eight years.

Resolution No. 206/2025/QH15 further established a special mechanism allowing the Government to address bottlenecks caused by legal provisions. According to updates from Tuan, 26 resolutions were promulgated under this special framework over a 14-month span.

The Prime Minister's report to the National Assembly noted the abolition of 56 conditional business lines and the elimination of 1,754 business conditions.

Requirements that enterprises were previously forced to fulfill have been scrapped. Approvals once deemed mandatory have been rendered obsolete. As regulatory authorities relinquish review privileges, enterprises gain greater operational autonomy.

The Government also reported that 774 procedures were restructured under Resolution No. 66.7/2025/NQ-CP to leverage shared databases instead of physical paperwork. The underlying principle is crystal clear: Do not demand that citizens or businesses re-submit information the State already holds.

Businesses have acknowledged these tangible shifts. According to data presented by Tuan, the proportion of enterprises evaluating online procedures as easy to execute rose from 57 percent in 2021 to nearly 90 percent in 2025. The percentage confirming that processing workflows strictly match posted regulations climbed from 29 percent in 2022 to 75 percent in 2025.

Further efforts still required

Nevertheless, VCCI surveys indicate that businesses still face problems. Tuan pointed out that 50 percent of enterprises undertaking land procedures have to delay or cancel business plans; and 55 percent of land applications are processed beyond statutory deadlines.

While paperwork remains pending, loans cannot be disbursed and production plans must wait. Enterprises must continue retaining personnel, holding onto clients, and absorbing overhead costs. Yet, clients will not necessarily wait forever.

Tuan noted: "Every month of delay means a portion of capital fails to yield a return, driving up the Incremental Capital Output Ratio (ICOR)."

A VCCI report revealed that out of 787 acknowledged bottlenecks, 42 percent stemmed from vague, ambiguous, or unrealistic regulations.

When regulations remain open to multiple interpretations, businesses struggle to execute and local officials hesitate to make decisions.

Preparation for law enforcement must also keep pace. Tuan cited the Law on Chemicals, which took effect on January 1, 2026, yet its guiding decree was only issued on January 17. For the time being, several localities temporarily suspended application processing, leaving raw material containers stranded at ports and incurring demurrage fees of $80-120 per container per day.

At the enforcement level, around 38 percent of businesses still pay informal costs when applying for licensing procedures. Around 62 percent believe that provincial departments, district authorities, and commune wards fail to properly execute guidelines set by provincial leaders, measured by the median across 34 surveyed provinces.

Vietnam aims for its private enterprises to mature, invest in technology, and help transform the country into a high-income nation by 2045. Those ambitious blueprints will move forward smoothly only if businesses no longer waste vast amounts of time seeking permits.

Tu Giang