Business laws to be amended

The implementation of the Investment Law 2014 and Law on Enterprises 2014 brought positive changes. However, there remain incompatibilities and contradictions between these and other laws, which have created difficulties for enterprises and law enforcement agencies. The government ordered the Ministry of Planning and Investment to oversee amendments and supplements to the laws on business and investment.

In addition to Investment Law, an investment in real estate currently needs to comply with administrative procedures of Housing Law, Construction Law, Environment Protection Law and Law on Land. Investors have to spend one to two years to complete all the paperwork. According to the Central Institute for Economic Management, overlapping regulations and contradictory content between Investment Law, Business Law and other laws are found most in real estate project regulations.

Nguyen Manh Hien, Former Deputy Minister of Natural Resources & Environment said: "Investing in a project is regulated in both the Investment Law and the Housing Law, which means investors need to go through two administrative procedures laid out in two laws".

Overlapping laws waste money and time. It is also an obstacle for investors when trying to establish their business, source capital and benefit from governmental support.

Nguyen Van Duc, Vice Director, Dat Lanh Real Estate Co. Ltd. said: "Project administration and interest rates already account for 5% of the price of the first year. If we manage to reduce the time by 1 to 2 years, the price will accordingly fall by 5 to 10%. Unnecessary procedures add to the price that customers have to pay".

Firms lauded the draft law on amendments and supplements of the laws on business and investment. They look forward to a clearer, simpler law.

Nguyen Phuong Bac, director of Bac Ninh Institute for Socio-economic Development said: "Requirements of businesses should be simplified and more transparent. The same can be said in terms of administrative formalities. Opportunities to access governmental resources, real estate and minerals also need to be given equally to both private and public sector companies".

Pham Duc Hieu, Vice President of Central Institute for Economic Management, Ministry of Planning & Investment said: "We used to focus on the specific details of each project. Now we tend to make comprehensive and overall assessments on the perspective of enterprises, to check for regulations that are inappropriate".

In the coming time, the Ministry of Planning and Investment will continue to collect the business community’s opinions on the draft amendments and supplements to the laws on business and investment before their submission to the National Assembly.