A Dai Viet Beer employee uses a computer to monitor production. Switzerland has pledged US$4.75 million to fund the National Business Registration System (NBRS), an online portal for business registration. — VNA/VNS Photo The Duyet

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Switzerland yesterday announced its continued support for a partnership between the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) for reforming the country's business environment, saying it would provide US$4.75 million.

The four-year (2014-18) MPI -UNIDO project for "Expansion of National Business Registration System (NBRS)" to new commercial entities is expected to cost $5.45 million.

In 2008-13 the project was funded by the MPI, Switzerland, Norway's Agency for Development Cooperation, and UNIDO.

NBRS is being used for single-point, fully-computerised services for business, tax, customs, statistics, and public-security registration of firms in 63 provinces.

As a result, online enterprise registration and enterprise information services, covering the records of over 864,596 enterprises and subordinate units registered under the Enterprise Law and 164,000 annual financial statements of shareholding companies, are available through the National Business Registration Portal at www.businessregistration.gov.vn.

The average registration time has decreased from 15 days in 2008 to only 3.5 days as of last year.

According to the International Finance Corporation's estimates, companies registering for the first time have been saving around $4 million a year and these savings nearly double when enterprise record amendment services are also considered.

Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Dang Huy Dong said: "Business registration reform to date has not only reduced the cost and time for registration nation-wide, but also demonstrated that client-friendly and efficient public sector services benefit the development of the private sector.

Miroslav Delaporte, country representative of Switzerland's State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), said: "Improvements in the business environment, including business registration reforms have helped mobilise capital and unleashed the entrepreneurial spirit of the Vietnamese people."

He added that the expansion would further help the private sector by improving transparency and reducing the risks of doing business in Viet Nam with information provided through the NBR Portal.

Nilgun Tas, chief of the Competitiveness, Business Environment and Upgrading Unit and deputy to the director of the Business, Investment and Technology Services Branch at UNIDO, said: "The private sector will not only gain access to efficient services of NBRS, but also benefit from more appropriate enterprise supporting policies, designed and implemented based on the full picture of all commercial entities operating in Viet Nam.

"There is also great potential to link the NBRS with additional public services, for example, with social insurance, secured transactions, trademark, and patenting services, among many others and as such to expand this e-Government initiative wider." — VNS