Standard paperwork will cut a lot of red tape

Vietnam will figure out a uniform set of documents for new businesses to be set up, and for customs declarations, an official said.

Nguyen Minh Man, director general of the State Administration and Civil Service Department, said the required paperwork will be made public and the same documents applied across all State agencies in a move to unify public administration nationwide. “The current administration (of procedures and documents) is applied differently in provinces and cities, causing difficulties and practices unfair to individuals and businesses,” said Man. “They should be united within a national framework so as to avoid abuse for the undue benefit of any irresponsible individual and organization.” The government ordered early this year the establishment of a board of public administration reform to run Project 30, named after the government’s decision number 30 last year to strengthen administrative reform in the 2007-2010 period. Man said the board, which consists of 15 heads of state agencies, institutes, business associations and international experts, will review and clarify paperwork issued by state agencies, ministries, and municipal and provincial chairs. The goal of the board from now until 2010 is to “count” paperwork and submit a standardized public administration regimen with suggestions to the government for eliminating unnecessary procedures, said Man, who is also deputy head of the board that is joined by members from American and European chambers of commerce in Vietnam, the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation and Korea Trade Investment Agency. Ngo Hai Phan, the department’s deputy director general, said the standardized paperwork will not only ease time and money for people and businesses but will also prevent red tape. He said it would result in savings of VND12 trillion to VND30 trillion, or US$720 million to $1.81 billion that could be shunted into socio-economic development. Public administration reform has been boosted in Vietnam for years but made limited progress due to complicated regulations and unwilling attitude of civil servants in municipal and provincial state agencies, entrepreneurs have said. Duong Quoc Thai, director general of Saigon Plastic Package Company, said civil servants have yet to recognize their responsibilities to serve people and businesses as they request unreasonable documentation beyond the law. Businesspeople have also said standardized paperwork is a must in state agencies so that they are not harassed by civil servants. The paperwork should be accompanied with punitive measures in case civil servants engage in wrongdoing or waste the time of individuals and businesses. Reported by Minh Quang