-
 Cumbersome
procedures for business entry and registration, local master
planning, and professional, business and investment licensing
can restrict people's freedom to do business. In areas such as
healthcare, pharmaceutics and legal services, which can
potentially have widespread impact on the broader community, the
government certainly should establish basic standards and
conditions to protect the public interest. For professions like
tour guides and selling CDs, for example, it is unreasonable to
require licenses and impose conditions. The problem with such
licenses and conditions is that the issuing agencies use them to
control businesses more than necessary, rather than as an
effective tool to monitor businesses' compliance.
Currently, local governments (i.e., from provincial to commune
levels), through their master planning processes, may restrict
the freedom of people in their area to do business. For example,
there exists a commune-level plan that limits the number of pho
restaurants on each street. In Mui Ne, a tourist area where many
luxury hotels and resorts operate, there are no dance clubs
simply because the province's master plan does not allow them!
There is an urgent need to abolish these kinds of unreasonable
constraints to business.
Mr. Vu Thanh Tu Anh, Research Director
Fulbright Economic Teaching Program
-
 It
is unfortunate that the proposed decree on State management of
business licensing has been dropped; its adoption would have
dramatically improved the transparency of business licensing.
Although the proposed decree may have appeared to impose a
paperwork burden on Government agencies, in the long run, it
would have reduced that burden by standardizing and limiting the
process for establishing licensing requirements. Of course, the
decree would also have benefited businesses by promoting a high
degree of transparency.
Mr. John Davis, Legal Expert
Mr. Oliver Massmann, Partner & International Lawyer
Baker & McKenzie, Hanoi
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