We all know how much good regulatory management can bring about a better environment for investment and business, and is therefore particularly relevant in developing and transition countries seeking higher rates of growth. But knowing it and acting on it are two different things. Among the countries having resolutely adopted a regulatory reform agenda, we should single out Viet Nam, where sustained efforts to reform the public administration since the 1990s under the responsibility of the Home Affairs Ministry, have recently taken on a regulatory reform dimension. An interministerial Special Task Force was set up in 2007 to implement a large scale “administrative procedure reform.” Several foreign aid agencies supported the effort, among which USAID with its Viet Nam Competitiveness Initiative, AusAID and others.
The simplification of administrative procedures is well underway with “Project 30” having already delivered a full inventory of existing procedures, accessible online to citizens and business in a “national database” and two batches of simplification measures compiled after the officials applied the Regulatory Guillotine TM of Jacobs and Associates.
Other regulatory reforms instruments are also in the pipeline, such as the introduction of RIA, codification, electronic portals for business procedures (managed in each major city) and one-stop shops. An agency in charge of controlling the quality of new regulation according to the new principles has just been setup.
To take stock and evaluate achievements and plan further policies, the government of Viet Nam invited OECD to assess Project 30 and recommend options for a regulatory reform strategy. The report was presented at the first ASEAN-OECD workshop on regulatory reform, in Hanoi on 25-26 November. This major event, co-hosted by Viet Nam as chair of ASEAN and the OECD, was attended by some 15O Vietnamese officials and representatives from 6 other ASEAN countries. It was widely reported in the press, with official press releases from the Vietnamese Communist Party and the Government showing that this is a priority policy.
Many of the measures planned still need to be implemented, and the economic effects of the reforms have yet to be measured, but in the meantime, there is no doubt about the current government’s determination to cut red tape and reform public administration.
The simplification of administrative procedures is well underway with “Project 30” having already delivered a full inventory of existing procedures, accessible online to citizens and business in a “national database” and two batches of simplification measures compiled after the officials applied the Regulatory Guillotine TM of Jacobs and Associates.
Other regulatory reforms instruments are also in the pipeline, such as the introduction of RIA, codification, electronic portals for business procedures (managed in each major city) and one-stop shops. An agency in charge of controlling the quality of new regulation according to the new principles has just been setup.
To take stock and evaluate achievements and plan further policies, the government of Viet Nam invited OECD to assess Project 30 and recommend options for a regulatory reform strategy. The report was presented at the first ASEAN-OECD workshop on regulatory reform, in Hanoi on 25-26 November. This major event, co-hosted by Viet Nam as chair of ASEAN and the OECD, was attended by some 15O Vietnamese officials and representatives from 6 other ASEAN countries. It was widely reported in the press, with official press releases from the Vietnamese Communist Party and the Government showing that this is a priority policy.
Many of the measures planned still need to be implemented, and the economic effects of the reforms have yet to be measured, but in the meantime, there is no doubt about the current government’s determination to cut red tape and reform public administration.
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