Deputy Prime Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra has signed a directive issued by Prime Minister Le Minh Hung ordering ministries and government agencies to strengthen efforts to cut and simplify administrative procedures and business conditions in a practical and effective manner.

The directive aims to ensure reforms remain aligned with management requirements while reducing burdens on citizens and businesses.

The Prime Minister acknowledged and praised ministries and central agencies - particularly the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, and the Government Office - for proactively coordinating reviews and promptly proposing resolutions to help remove obstacles facing businesses and the public.

The government leader instructed authorities to implement newly issued resolutions in a timely, coordinated and uninterrupted manner, ensuring that administrative procedures for citizens and businesses are not disrupted.

The directive also called for continued efforts to decentralize, simplify and reduce administrative procedures, business conditions and conditional investment sectors in line with instructions from the Government Standing Committee and the Prime Minister.

At the same time, ministries and ministerial-level agencies were ordered to strictly publicize all administrative procedures, business conditions and conditional investment sectors that have been reduced, simplified or decentralized.

No legal gaps during reforms

For sectors and procedures that have already been simplified or removed, the Prime Minister ordered ministries to urgently review and issue new or revised technical standards, regulations and replacement management measures consistent with international practices and Vietnam’s actual conditions.

The measures must minimize compliance costs for citizens and businesses while still ensuring safety and security requirements.

The directive stressed that replacement regulations must take effect simultaneously with the removal of administrative procedures and business conditions to avoid legal loopholes or gaps in state management.

Ministries were also instructed to continue reviewing and finalizing plans to reduce conditional investment sectors, especially those already proposed for reduction during the lawmaking process.

They are required to coordinate with the Ministry of Finance during the amendment of the 2025 Investment Law to ensure reforms are practical, realistic and effective for state management purposes.

The Prime Minister assigned ministries responsibility for promptly receiving and resolving difficulties and obstacles reported by citizens, businesses and local authorities during administrative procedure implementation.

Issues beyond their authority must be reported to higher-level authorities without delay.

Strict ban on unnecessary procedures

The Prime Minister emphasized a strict prohibition on introducing additional administrative procedures, business conditions or unnecessary management measures that increase compliance costs for citizens and businesses.

Provincial and municipal authorities were instructed to urgently receive and implement decentralized administrative procedures while guiding commune, ward and special administrative zone authorities to carry out the reforms without interruption.

Local governments were also ordered to publicly disclose administrative procedures, closely coordinate with ministries to integrate procedures into digital administrative systems, organize training for local officials and promptly address implementation difficulties.

Authorities at all levels were told to quickly resolve complaints and obstacles raised by citizens, businesses and local administrations during the implementation process.

The Ministry of Justice was tasked with finalizing and submitting a pilot evaluation framework in June to assess administrative reform efforts among ministries, agencies and local authorities, with implementation scheduled to begin in July.

According to the directive, the framework must clearly define criteria to evaluate the practical effectiveness of administrative reforms and establish strict control mechanisms to prevent the emergence of unnecessary administrative procedures, business conditions or conditional investment sectors.

Tran Thuong