According to the revised Law on Investment, which was approved by the National Assembly last year and will take effect on July 1, 2015, the list of conditional business sectors was reduced from 391 to 267. — Illustrative image/File Photo

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — This week, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung instructed ministries, agencies, as well as municipal and provincial administrations, to stop issuing any documents on conditional business lines or business conditions.

The move came after the Ministry of Justice reported to the Prime Minister that some ministries, as well as municipal and provincial administrations, had issued some documents on conditional business lines or business conditions in an incompetent or illegal fashion.

After reviewing 249 documents issued by 16 ministries and 276 documents issued by municipal and provincial administrations, the ministry found that nine documents issued by ministries and 20 documents issued by provincial and municipal administrations were not in line with current legal regulations.

For example, some provinces had set business conditions for Ca Hue (Traditional Hue Singing) performance or automobile-motorbike-bicycle repair work themselves, the Ministry of Justice reported.

Based on the Ministry of Justice's report, the Prime Minister had instructed relevant ministries; and municipal and provincial administrations to scrutinise the violations and punish the guilty in accordance with current legal regulations. The results have to be reported to the PM by the second quarter this year.

A further review of other documents issued was also required to unveil the remaining illegal and overlapping regulations in order to resolve the matter in a timely fashion and to ensure legal benefits for both individuals and organisations, the PM noted.

Conditional business lines are those that are only licensed to operate when business owners meet specific conditions set out by competent State agencies.

According to the revised Law on Investment, which was approved by the National Assembly last year and will take effect on July 1, 2015, the list of conditional business sectors was reduced from 391 to 267.

The new law also stated that business conditions must be regulated by law, ordinances, decrees or international treaties of which Viet Nam is a member. Ministries, and municipal and provincial administrations, as well as other agencies and organisations are not allowed to issue regulations on business conditions. The new law is expected to ensure people's right to do business, contribute to developing the market economy, stepping up international integration, improving the investment environment, and enhancing national competitiveness.

Such changes in the law will also help enhance management efficiency, boost administrative reforms, and combat corruption. — VNS