Hanoi (VNA) –The number of Vietnamese public administrative services that have been madeavailable online is still low, even after five years of implementing ResolutionNo.19 on the improvement of the business climate, said Director of the CentralInstitute for Economic Management (CIEM) Nguyen Dinh Cung.

At the workshop on “Five years of Resolution No.19 Implementation and IntroducingResolution No.02 on Enabling Business Environment and Enhancing NationalCompetitiveness” held in Hanoi on January 22, CIEM said that the nationalpublic services portal has yet to be fully operational, making it hard forpeople, businesses, and management units to perform administrative formalities.

Only 6.98 percent of public services have been put online so far, it added.

Vietnam seems rather slow-moving in the process of going cashless as well, withthe rate of card payments accounting for a modest 11.49 percent. Ninety percentof the payments were made with cash, and nearly 85 percent of transactions atATMs are for cash withdrawals, according to CIEM.

Areas that need close attention in 2019 include promoting e-payments; providingpublic services in the level-4 category which allow local residents andenterprises to submit required forms, handle documents and payments, as well asreceive results using only a computer connected to the Internet; and supportingstartups and innovation.

CIEM suggested that theState Bank of Vietnam (SBV) continue amendments to non-cash paymentregulations, and study compulsory cashless payments for electricity and waterbills, and large-value cash transactions, among others.

The Ministry of Public Security should focus on completing the citizen databaseand use non-cash payments for administrative fines.

The Government Office is proposed to operate on the national public servicesportal before September 2019.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs and the VietnamSocial Security have requested to develop non-cash payments when givingallowances to policy beneficiaries.

Regarding the operation of local businesses after implementing Resolution No.19,Nguyen Minh Thao, Director of the CIEM’s Department of Business Environment andCompetitive Capacity, said 43 percent of the firms reported positive changes intheir export activities, while improvements were also seen in businessconditions.

CIEM director Nguyen Dinh Cung said “In a bid to better businesses’ operation,we need stronger amelioration in business climate, which help reduce inputcosts, opportunity costs and non-official costs for the firms”.

“Above all, it is necessary to cut business conditions”, he added.-VNA