Hanoi (VNA) – Connecting enterprises athome and abroad for common interests is the aim of the Vietnam Business Forum(VBF) held in Hanoi on July 4, Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce andIndustry (VCCI) Vu Tien Loc and Vice Chairman of the European Chamber ofCommerce in Vietnam (EurcoCham) Tomaso Andreatta have affirmed.

At a press conference inHanoi on July 3 ahead of the event, the officials said the VBF includes threemain sessions focusing on building value chains, addressing technologicalchallenges, and developing financial resources for sustainable growth.

The forum serves as a dialogue mechanism betweenthe Government of Vietnam and the national and international businesscommunities to improve business conditions necessary to foster the developmentof private enterprises, facilitate investment environment, and contribute tosustainable economic growth.

According to Tomaso, the connectivity between domesticbusinesses and foreign direct investment (FDI) ones requires businessrestructuring because most of the Vietnamese companies are operating at a smallscale and they are short of experience in sales of high-quality products withreasonable prices. 

Companies at home need international-standardmanagement capacity and assistance from training schools, service, banking,insurance and technology companies, something not easy due to legal barriers,he said. 

In fact, many foreignfirms are concerned about issues relating to intellectual property rights anddispute solution. The Vietnamese Government could do a lot to ease theseproblems, he added. 

Loc suggested the country focus on economic institutional reform and businessenvironment improvement in addition to prompting import-export activities andseizing new trade and investment opportunities. 

He noted that not all ministries, departments and localities nationwide takeconcrete actions to reform administrative procedures and improve business climateas directed by the Government. 

For example, after four years of the implementation the National Single Window(NSW) mechanism, the number of administrative procedures deployed remains at 47out of the total 245. 

The number of items removed from the specialized inspection category accountsfor less than 6 percent.  

Among the 164 lists of goods subject to specialized inspection, up to 63 itemshave yet been officially promulgated by ministries and relevant departments. 

The average time for specialized examination is 76 hours per procedure, threetimes that of ASEAN-4 countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines andThailand). 

Loc stressed that the Government has requested all ministries and relevantdepartments to reduce and simplify half of the business requirements, and suggestedstrengthening cooperation mechanism between the State management agencies and thebusinesses. 

Besides reforming administrative procedures, improving trade and customsprocedures and specialized inspections, ministries and relevant departmentsshould make the maximum use of opportunities from commitments and execution ofnew-generation trade agreements, including the Comprehensive and ProgressiveAgreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). 

This will help create breakthroughs in reforming the legal system and economicinstitutions comprehensively as well as bring about numerous opportunities andbright prospects for the country’s economic development, Loc affirmed.-VNA