According to the Global Competitiveness Report 2019 published by the World Economic Forum (WEF) on October 8, 2019, Vietnam's B1 Index in 2019 moved up 17 places compared to 2018, exceeding the targets set by the Government in the Resolution No. 02/NQ-CP. The improvement to theB1 Index contributes to improving the ranking of institutions (up five places compared to 2018) in addition to improving Vietnam's competitiveness (up 10 places compared to 2018).
The positive results of the scores and B1 Index contributed to the successful implementation of the socio-economic development goals and plans in 2019. Moreover, it demonstrates the strong changes in the country’s overall business environment and the competitiveness of the economy which will create favourable conditions for the Government to develop solutions to continue improving the B1 Index and national competitiveness in the coming years.
At a meeting with the press in early 2020, the Ministry of Justice said that it also successfully organised a national scientific workshop entitled “The fourth industrial revolution and the legal issues on building and perfecting the Vietnamese legal system” which is of great significance regarding institution building in Vietnam.
Speaking at the above-mentioned workshop, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc appreciated the initiative of the Ministry of Justice for holding the workshop, thereby helping to identify institutional problems that need to be addressed regarding the fourth industrial revolution. The results of the workshop and instructions of the Prime Minister were widely disseminated to ministries, agencies, and media agencies to perfect laws in related fields in the near future.
Over the past year, the Ministry of Justice in coordination with the Ministry of Information and Communications and the Vietnam Social Insurance successfully connected and shared data between national information systems at central and local levels regarding the birth registration data of children under 6 years old. This is a momentous stride foward in reforming administrative procedures, helping to cut down on time and costs for the people while improving the management capacity of State agencies.
Through the shared documents and electronic administrative procedures, the time to issue health insurance cards for children has been drastically cut down from a maximum of five days to two or three working days. In some cases, the issuance of health insurance cards can be carried out even within just one day, thereby contributing to reducing costs for people and State agencies and ensuring the rights of children from the moment they are born.
Over the past years, the Ministry of Justice has affirmed its increasingly important role in providing consultancy for the Party, State, National Assembly and Government in order to institutionalise the Party guidelines and the regulations of the Constitution 2013.
The entire judicial sector reviewed 40,304 legal documents in 2019 and completed the systematization of legal documents in the 2014-2018 period. Particularly, for the first time, the sector identified and published accurate data on the legal document system nationwide.
The moves have made the legal system more accessible and transparent, contributing to perfecting the socialist-oriented market economy institution, ensuring basic rights and obligations of citizens, improving the business environment and meeting the requirements of socio-economic development and national defence and security.
According to a recent conference held by the justice sector in early 2020, the Ministry of Justice has actively coordinated with other ministries, sectors, localities and the business community to formulate reports reviewing the inadequacies, overlaps, and obstacles among legal provisions related to the business and investment environment, social welfare policies, cleared land for investment projects and others.
Such positive results have helped to improve the business environment and enhance national competitiveness.
