Directive No. 22/2007/CT-TTg on Developing Private Enterprises

DIRECTIVE

On the development of private enterprises

In recent years, the Government has gradually established a comprehensive legal framework to create favorable conditions for the development of private economy within the socialist-oriented market economy. Private enterprises have enjoyed relatively favorable environments to expand production and business operations, achieving rapid growth and making significant contributions to economic and social development, job creation, and poverty reduction.

However, the development of private enterprises has not been commensurate with their potential, facing many difficulties and obstacles. To address these issues, the Prime Minister instructs:

1. Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of government agencies, Chairpersons of provincial People's Committees under the Central Government, according to their functions and tasks:

a) To closely direct the implementation of measures and tasks under the Action Program on the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises for five years (2006-2010) issued together with Decision No. 236/2006/QD-TTg dated October 23, 2006 of the Prime Minister;

b) To establish and implement effective mechanisms for coordination among state management agencies to facilitate administrative procedures for enterprises;

c) To collect, review, and assess the impact of regulatory documents on costs and ease of doing business for enterprises under their respective state management jurisdictions; according to their authority, proactively abolish, propose to competent authorities for abolition, supplementation, or amendment of provisions that are no longer in line with the Party's renewal ideology, state laws, the Enterprise Law, management requirements, and the integration process into the international economy;

d) Ministries managing economic and technical sectors, according to their functions, to publicly announce standards regarding necessary conditions for participating in public bidding for products and public services. Publicize the selection process and bidding procedures;

đ) Chairpersons of provincial People's Committees under the Central Government to direct relevant agencies to create all favorable conditions within the legal framework for enterprise establishment and production and business development, promptly resolve any difficulties and recommendations from enterprises within their authority. Organize strict implementation of the inter-agency coordination mechanism for business registration, tax registration, and stamping for enterprises;

Promptly improve the business registration and investment registration agencies towards centralization and unification under one entity;

e) Publicly announce and strictly implement local socio-economic development plans, land use plans, industry and profession development plans, industrial and craft village clusters, raw material regions linked to investment projects, ensuring consistency between production and service industries, promoting economic development while protecting the environment. Encourage consolidation of farmland and land exchange to form large specialized areas linked to processing industries;

g) Commend and reward artisans, entrepreneurs, and enterprises with outstanding achievements in production and business, creativity in design and craftsmanship, and support for enterprises by officials and civil servants in their state management duties;

2. The Ministry of Planning and Investment:

a) Continue guiding localities and enterprises in implementing the Enterprise Law and Investment Law;

b) By the first quarter of 2008, take the lead in coordinating with related ministries and sectors to study and recommend to the Government the issuance of a list of investment conditions for projects in regulated investment fields as stipulated in Article 29 of the Investment Law;

c) By the first quarter of 2008, guide the implementation of Circular No. 108/2006/ND-CP dated September 22, 2006 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Investment Law;

d) By the second quarter of 2008, submit to the Government for revision and supplementation of Decree No. 90/2001/ND-CP dated November 23, 2001 of the Government on assistance for small and medium enterprise development;

đ) In 2008, continue upgrading the Enterprise Information Portal to provide and connect information on government policies, legal regulations on business and business licenses, and government financial support funds;

e) Take the lead in coordinating with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Public Security to study and submit to the Prime Minister by the second quarter of 2008 a proposal for a unified registration mechanism for mergers and acquisitions, consolidating content into a single application package for enterprise establishment and using a single enterprise code for business registration, tax registration, and statistical purposes;

g) By the fourth quarter of 2008, complete the construction of a national database on business registration; take the lead in coordinating with the Ministry of Science and Technology to guide naming procedures in business registration to ensure non-infringement of registered industrial property rights;

3. Ministry of Public Security: by the fourth quarter of 2007:

a) Submit to the Government for revision and supplementation of Decree No. 58/2001/ND-CP dated August 24, 2001 on seal management and usage, abolishing the seal engraving permit and specifying the registration of seals with state agencies for protection of seal rights;

b) Take the lead in coordinating with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Supreme People's Court to issue a joint circular determining the identity of founders and managers of enterprises;

4. The Ministry of Finance:

a) By the first quarter of 2008, take the lead in coordinating with the Ministry of Planning and Investment to issue regulations on the collection, management, and use of fees for inter-agency business registration, tax registration, and police registration for newly established enterprises under the Enterprise Law;

b) By the first quarter of 2008, issue detailed guidelines on the documentation, procedures, deadlines, and authorized bodies for confirming statutory capital for newly established enterprises engaged in debt collection services;

c) Continue simplifying administrative procedures in taxation and customs fields;

d) In the second quarter of 2008, take the lead and coordinate with the State Bank, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, and relevant agencies to assess the implementation of establishing the Credit Guarantee Fund, and submit specific solutions to the Prime Minister to accelerate the establishment of the Credit Guarantee Fund for small and medium-sized enterprises in localities.

Study and submit to the Prime Minister mechanisms and sources of technical assistance and advisory support for small and medium-sized enterprises to hire consulting experts in areas that cannot be self-managed; special mechanisms for loan interest rates for small and medium-sized enterprises.

d) Take the lead and coordinate with relevant ministries and sectors to study incentive mechanisms to encourage private enterprises to participate in producing and supplying public goods and services. In the first quarter of 2008, develop and submit to the Government a program on socializing public services.

e) In the first quarter of 2008, research and revise regulations on sampling, fees, and charges for food safety inspections, clearly defining the types of fees that enterprises are responsible for paying.

g) In 2008, take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Science and Technology to guide the accounting of costs related to industrial property, valuation of intellectual property assets, and determination of the effectiveness of using inventions, designs, and layout designs.

h) In the second quarter of 2008, study and propose to the Prime Minister mechanisms to encourage the development of insurance systems for aquaculture.

5. Ministry of Industry and Trade:

a) Take the lead and coordinate with provincial People's Committees to develop plans for developing small industrial clusters and points in accordance with the overall planning requirements for regional and territorial industrial development and local industrial development planning.

b) Take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Planning and Investment to develop a project to promote the development of enterprises in rural areas linked to the promotion of industry programs according to Decision No. 136/2007/QD-TTg dated August 20, 2007 of the Prime Minister approving the National Industry Promotion Program until 2012 and the five-year plan for the development of small and medium-sized enterprises according to Decision No. 236/2006/QD-TTg dated October 23, 2006 of the Prime Minister.

c) Take the lead and coordinate with the Ministries of Planning and Investment, Culture, Sports and Tourism to study diversifying forms of trade promotion, investment, and tourism; guide localities to improve their trade promotion agencies.

d) In December 2007, take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Finance to submit to the Prime Minister a mechanism to support capital for the production of key mechanical products.

6. The State Bank of Vietnam:

a) Continue to perfect commercial credit policies, direct credit organizations to improve credit procedures, enhance the ability to appraise and evaluate feasible and effective production and business projects to expand loans to private enterprises.

b) Strengthen investment in material infrastructure, human resources, and improve the information provision capacity of the Credit Information Center.

7. The Ministry of Justice:

a) In the first quarter of 2008, submit to the Government for promulgation a Decree on legal support for enterprises.

b) In the second quarter of 2008, take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance to build a Legal Support Program for Enterprises and submit it to the Prime Minister for approval.

c) Enhance the capacity of the Enterprise Legal Club to fully utilize its role in providing legal support to enterprises.

8. The Ministry of Home Affairs:

a) In the first quarter of 2008, submit to the Government for promulgation a separate Decree on the organization and operation of business associations, specifying the rights, obligations, and procedures for associations to participate in contributing opinions when policies related to enterprises are issued.

b) Study and submit to the Prime Minister in 2008 a pilot project proposal to entrust one to two qualified associations with the issuance of professional practice certificates and export origin certificates.

c) In the fourth quarter of 2007, take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment to guide the organizational structure and staffing of provincial and district business registration agencies and Business Registration Offices in economic zones.

d) Coordinate with the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry to improve the content and quality of commendation and award programs for entrepreneurs and enterprises, and establish awards for corporate culture and management quality.

9. The Ministry of Science and Technology:

a) Vigorously implement the Program to support enterprises in developing intellectual property assets, prioritizing activities such as organizing information service provision about industrial property, especially patent information to serve technological research and technology transfer activities; supporting the creation and exploitation of geographical indications; facilitating enterprises in registering industrial property rights.

b) In the first quarter of 2008, submit to the Prime Minister a policy to strengthen cooperation between science and technology and production and business. Take the lead and coordinate with relevant ministries and sectors to urge the implementation of Decree No. 115/2005/NĐ-CP dated September 5, 2005 of the Government on the self-management and responsibility mechanism of state scientific and technological organizations; Decree No. 80/2007/NĐ-CP dated May 19, 2007 on science and technology enterprises.

c) Appraise and publish national standards, appraise national technical regulations according to the Law on Standards and Technical Regulations.

10. The Ministry of Education and Training:

In the fourth quarter of 2008, submit to the Prime Minister a national strategy on education and training aligned with economic, cultural, and social development directions and market trends.

11. The Ministry of Construction:

Guide the level of statutory capital, documentation, procedures, competent authorities, deadlines, and forms of confirmation of statutory capital for newly established enterprises registered to engage in real estate business.

12. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development:

a) To lead and coordinate with the Ministries of Science and Technology, Natural Resources and Environment, Finance to develop a national program on the development of high-quality breeding strains, water quality monitoring, pollution and disease control and warning, and the announcement of safe water bodies;

b) To lead and coordinate with relevant ministries, sectors, and business associations to develop a program for the conservation and development of craft villages linked to rural enterprise development;

13. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment:

a) By the second quarter of 2008, to lead and coordinate with relevant ministries, sectors, and provincial People's Committees to review infrastructure planning, land use planning, and industry planning related to urban planning, creating all necessary conditions to meet the land needs for production and business activities of enterprises;

b) To strictly monitor and periodically report to the Prime Minister on the implementation of environmental protection standards and ecological systems in aquaculture areas, craft villages, and production facilities that use hazardous chemicals;

14. The Ministry of Health:

To strictly implement the supervision of product quality and food safety hygiene. To strengthen the national-level monitoring system;

The Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of government agencies, and Chairpersons of provincial People's Committees directly under the Central Government are responsible for organizing the implementation of this Directive;

The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall lead and coordinate with the Office of the Government to oversee and urge the implementation of this Directive, and periodically report to the Prime Minister on progress, results, difficulties encountered, and recommendations for handling during the implementation process./.