Laws of Vietnam

On March 18 and 19, 1999 in Ho Chi Minh City, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai and Deputy Prime Minister Ngo Xuan Loc, together with leading officials of a number of ministries, branches and localities, met with representatives of enterprises throughout the country.

Participating in the meeting were 700 enterprisers of all economic sectors throughout the country. Almost all enterprisers expressed their elation at and high appreciation of the Prime Minister’s meeting with the business community in early 1998. In 1998 alone, the Government concentrated on directing the amendment, supplement and elaboration of numerous regulations. Ministries, branches and localities made progress in removing difficulties and obstacles, creating favorable environment for enterprises’ operation. Enterprises made great efforts in overcoming difficulties, gradually stabilizing and developing their production, thus contributing to maintaining the economic growth rate.

At this meeting, representatives of ministries, branches and localities directly heard petitions of enterprises and exchanged ideas on new plans for handling affairs under their jurisdiction, relating to production and business activities of enterprises. Enterprises were also aware of their heavy tasks and difficulties in the cause of national industrialization and modernization in the new international situation, which require their greater efforts particularly in raising their production and business efficiency and competitiveness.

In order to bring into full play the achievements in 1998, quickly settle proper petitions of enterprises, create favorable environment for enterprises to make full use of their internal resources for more efficient production and business and gradually integrate into the region and the world, the Prime Minister has instructed the ministries, the ministerial-level agencies, the agencies attached to the Government, the agencies attached to the Prime Minister, the People’s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities and enterprises to do the following:

1. Things to be settled soon:

Within their assigned responsibilities and powers, to quickly settle and remove obstacles for enterprises, which were pinpointed at the meeting, and in the spirit of Directive No. 16/1998/CT-TTg of March 31, 1998 of the Prime Minister, with efforts being concentrated on:

- The granting of practice licenses and the business qualification certificates;

- Measures for reasonable protection of domestic production;

- The policies on export promotion;

- The combat against commercial frauds and fake commodities;

- Customs procedures;

- Export and import taxes, the value added tax;

- The mechanism for financial management over enterprises;

- The salary and wage regime;

- The procedures for bank capital loans and loan security;

- The equitization policies;

- The land policies;

- The bidding;

- The inspection and examination work.

2. To continue amending, supplementing and issuing legal documents on operations of enterprises:

- To step up the revision of current legal documents on the State’s administrative management over the enterprises within their jurisdiction, detect and amend in time irrationalities that are obstructing the operation of enterprises.

- Based on the Government’s program for elaboration of legal documents and their respective assigned tasks, to quickly submit to the competent agencies for promulgation: the law that replaces the Law on Private Enterprises and the Law on Companies; the decree on assigning, selling, contracting or leasing small-sized enterprises; the regulation on sale of equities to foreign investors; the decree on export support fund; the decree on State enterprise reorganization and equitization support fund; the regulation on organization and operation of credit guarantee fund for medium- and small-sized enterprises; the decrees guiding the implementation of the amended Land Law, the Commercial Law, the Laws on the State Bank and Credit Institutions; the regulation on financial management at non-State enterprises; the decree on renovation of the State investment credit mechanism, etc.

- To prepare program for amending the State Enterprises Law, study the elaboration of the Regulation on competition and control of monopoly in business, the Decree on turning State enterprises into companies, the Decree on business registration, the Decree on policy to support medium- and small-sized enterprises, etc.

3. Administrative reform, improvement of the Government’s style of working with the grassroots levels:

The Prime Minister and Deputy-Prime Ministers continue to expand their contacts and dialogues with enterprises in annual topical get-togethers with a view to encouraging enterprises to strive harder along the key orientations in each period, creating a contingent of outstanding entrepreneurs with greater and greater contribution to the cause of national construction and defense.

The Central Board for Renewal of Management of Enterprises shall, together with the Prime Minister’s Research Board and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, assume the prime responsibility in organizing working sessions with enterprises on such subjects as: development investment, market expansion, export and import, competition and integration, VAT, etc. To organize periodic meetings of enterprisers and enterprisers’ associations so as to grasp the situation and report to the Prime Minister on proposals made by enterprisers. Leading officials of ministries and localities continue maintaining contacts with representatives of enterprises under their respective management and work out plans for timely handling of proper petitions of enterprises.

The Central Board for Renewal of Management of Enterprises shall assume the prime responsibility and coordinate with various departments of the Government Office and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry in receiving proposals and petitions of enterprises and proposing plans for the settlement thereof and reporting matters to the Prime Minister for the settlement of difficulties, problems and appropriate petitions of enterprises.

The Government Commission for Organization and Personnel shall coordinate with relevant bodies in studying the amendments to the State management functions and tasks of the ministries and agencies attached to the Government, first of all the implementation of the statute on state officials and public duties in a number of general affairs agencies and the elaboration of the regulation on public duty inspection.

To intensify the market search and expansion under the guiding principle that every branch, every level, every enterprise and everyone, including embassies, trade missions, associations, non-governmental organizations within and without the country as well as overseas Vietnamese, shall be mobilized for marketing activities, aiming at the common target of making Vietnamese goods prevail the domestic market and further infiltrate the international market. To well provide information for enterprises so that they have conditions to compare and take into account their capabilities and determine orientation for their operations. To work out measures to fully, regularly and promptly provide enterprises with information on newly promulgated legal documents so that they can understand the latest regulations and policies of the Party and the State.

To adopt a number of measures to promote the domestic consumption demand in order to create conditions for production to grow such as announcing the list of domestic investment projects with specific encouragement policies on tax, capital, land, etc. To launch a campaign for using home-made goods, study the most appropriate form of advertisement, etc.

4. For enterprises:

Each enterprise shall have to actively study and draw up its own development programs and plans, meeting the requirements of national industrialization and modernization and keeping pace with the process of integrating Vietnam’s economy into the world economy. Enterprises shall have to take initiative in revising the quality, designs and prices of their products, forecast the market and technological development, etc., thereby determining the strategy for the renewal of technologies, modification of products, raising of their quality and lowering their costs so as to raise their competitiveness. To further take the initiative in creating capital for production and business activities, intensify the cooperation among enterprises so as to increase their power and succeed in the integration.

The enterprises shall have to strictly abide by the State’s laws and policies, fulfill their obligation toward the State and better care for the interests and life of the laborers and contribute, together with the State and localities, to the materialization of social programs and policies.

5. For professional Unions and Associations:

To renew the organization and operational mechanism of professional unions and associations in compatibility with the new development requirements of enterprises. Unions must really be the organizations representing the interests of enterprises and effectively help the latter look for the outlets, business and investment opportunities, and support the enterprises in their cooperation to raise their competitiveness.

The ministers, the heads of the ministerial-level agencies, the heads of the agencies attached to the Government and to the Prime Minister, the presidents of the People’s Committees of the provinces and centrally- run cities, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the relevant organizations and directors of enterprises shall have to implement this Directive

Prime Minister