Hanoi makes it easy to establish a new business

A new business can be established with a maximum of nine days in Hanoi from Tuesday (November 17, 2009), instead of the 30 days it takes at present.

The announcement was made Monday by the deputy director of the capital city’s Department of Planning and Investment, Nguyen Van Tu. Under a decision recently issued by the Hanoi People’s Committee, selected staff from the planning and investment department, tax agency and the police will gather at the department’s business registration office to deal with applications for establishing a new business. With this arrangement, businesses don’t have to spend time running around to complete all necessary procedures, Tu told Thanh Nien. The department has also proposed adequate compensation for the staff so that they do not solicit bribes or engage in other actions that cause difficulties to businesses, he added. The government is making several efforts to streamline administrative procedures that have been criticized as time-consuming and too complicated. However, many failings found in the 2001-2010 administrative reform program has prompted the National Assembly to directly oversee it next year. Reported by An Nguyen