-
 To
improve the business environment, while developed countries need
to focus on decentralization and deregulation, Vietnam needs to
do much more than that. The most important tasks are to build a
sound legal infrastructure for a market economy and a system of
economic policies that enables international integration and
increases the business sector's competitiveness.
In order to expedite the reform process, Vietnam needs to accept
business standards and rules that have been commonly accepted
worldwide. This would show investors that Vietnamese laws and
regulations, even if they are changed periodically, are
consistent and continue to be simplified over time. Also
important are leveling the playing field in terms of laws and
regulations for all economic sectors and speeding up the reform
processes SOEs and the banking sector.
Dr. Vu Tien Loc, Chairman and President,
Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry
-
 Currently,
Ministries are heavily involved in the law drafting process.
Though their involvement is necessary, in my view, the
Ministries themselves should not have the responsibility for
drafting the actual document. Ministries should undertake
research, policy analysis and give their recommendations. The
drafting of the law itself should be carried out by an
independent agency, which would coordinate experts from the
relevant line ministries. The National Assembly should have the
authority to review draft laws on the basis of balancing the
interests of the whole society rather accommodating the
interests of specific sectors.
Dr. Nguyen Si Dzung, Vice Chairman, Office of the National
Assembly
-
Laws and policies in Vietnam still contain contradictions
because a single law-making body does not exist. The recent
process of revising the Commercial Law is an example. It was
very difficult for the Ministries involved in the process to
reach consensus because of conflicting interests between them.
To resolve this issue, it is necessary to strengthen the role of
the National Assembly as the single law-making body, and at the
same time, minimize heavy involvement of implementing agencies
in the law drafting process. The law drafting process should be
improved by increasing the input of the business community as
well as adopting international best practice.
New laws that are drafted should be simple. They should allow
businesses to do any activity not prohibited by the law rather
than having to request permission. The Enterprise Law is a good
example of this practice. It removed over 150 sub-licenses of
all kinds and thus reduced costs, including unofficial costs,
for businesses.
Drafting a good law is difficult, but implementing a good law is
even more challenging. Implementation of the Enterprise Law has
been not easy, as enforcement takes away "benefits" from some
public servants. This has led in some cases to new sub-licenses
being issued to replace ones that were just removed. To resolve
this issue, the Government needs to do annual reviews of all
legal and regulatory documents in order to "clean-up"
unnecessary ones on a regular basis rather than in an ad-hoc
manner.
Ms. Phan Thanh Ha, Deputy Director, Macro-economic Policy
Department,
Central Institute for Economic Management, MPI (CIEM)
-
 Disputes
are an inevitable part of business. When businesses bring these
disputes to the court, they look for fair and quick judgment.
But in reality, there are many disputes that remain unresolved
or are decided in an unfair manner. Our company is currently
pursuing several contractual disputes that have been ongoing for
the last six years, worth a total of USD$2.6 million. The longer
these disputes remain unresolved, the lower the chance we have
of recovering our money; in fact we risk losing it all as it
gives the parties concerned more time to disperse the assets
elsewhere.
If the constraints in the judicial system are not addressed
quickly, this will be a major barrier for investors looking to
do business in Vietnam. Along with improving the legal framework
for business, the Government needs to push reforms in the
judicial agencies, especially the courts themselves and
enforcement bodies, to ensure that laws are complied with.
Mr. Jung In Kim, Director, Vietnam Daewoo Motor Company
-
 Law
enforcement in Vietnam remains weak. That is one reason why
Vietnam's economy is still a cash economy; cash transactions
will remain as long as there is little confidence in a party's
ability to enforce an agreement.
If laws are to be respected, judges must be independent. That
means the laws must be applied equally, regardless of the
identity or status of the parties. Vietnam is trying to increase
the professionalism of the courts. One possibility is to have a
pilot model to encourage judicial independence and excellence,
whereby, for example, in one or more judicial districts, only
judges with a law degree are allowed to serve, or only judges
who are not from that district can serve, or judges be rotated.
If the model works, it can then be improved upon and replicated.
Mr. Sesto Vecchi, Managing Partner, Russin&Vecchi Law Firm
-
There is still a
general lack of confidence related to contract law, mainly
because most Vietnamese lawyers still have mentality of working
in a centrally planned economy and they still work with model
contracts from that era. These model legal documents are
outdated, incomplete and in some cases are contradictory with
one another. As a result, Contract Law in Vietnam is obsolete
and unable to protect businesses from contractual risks.
Dr. Pham Duy Nghia, Head of Business Law Division, Law
Department,
the National University, Hanoi
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