A decree to guide implementation of the Enterprise Law is expected to be issued this month, a Ministry of Planning and Investment official said amid complaints from businesses that the law's implementation is being up held due to lack of clarity.
Tran Thi Hong Minh, director of the ministry's Agency for Business Registration, said the draft decree was submitted to the National Assembly for approval last May, two months before the law took effect.
"The draft decree has gone through all essential steps, including examination and assessment, and it will be approved and issued this month," she told Viet Nam News.
While waiting for the circular to be issued to guide the implementation, some businesses have complained about the problems they face.
Le Thanh Kinh, head of Le Nguyen Law Office in HCM City, told Thoi bao Kinh te Sai Gon (Saigon Times) that a number of documents his clients submitted for registering businesses in HCM City and Tien Giang Province have been returned, with officials saying they are waiting for guidance to implement the new law.
Hong Van Phi Suu of the HCM City-based Avery Dennison Ltd. Co told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that he has been to the local Department of Planning and Investment many times to complete procedures for changing information about his company, but the job remains undone because of the lack of guidance for the new law.
But Minh claimed that many provisions in the law do not need guidance and can be applied straightaway.
In fact, the new law is designed to safeguard the business freedom of enterprises and has many conditions that are conducive for the establishment of new enterprises as well as for the operation of businesses, she said.
But it would take time for businesses to get acquainted with them, she said.
"The fact that more than 7,000 new companies were set up in July, within a month of the law taking effect, proves the openness of the new law."
The figure represents an increase of 15 per cent from June and 60 per cent year-on-year.
Some difficulties are bound to arise while both businesses and authorities are familiarising themselves with the law's provisions, she pointed out.
To help businesses and authorities prepare for the new law, the Ministry of Planning and Investment had sent guiding documents to cities and provinces and provided training for more than 500 officials before the law took effect, she said.
"We also visited some localities where there is high demand for registration of new businesses to directly guide and help tackle difficulties."
Businesses and officials could seek help directly by telephone or email or through the ministry's website at www.mpi.gov.vn, she added.
The 2014 Enterprise Law, which took effect on July 1 this year, represents a major step forward in liberalising the business environment, giving companies the right "to freely do business in areas not prohibited by law".
With this being the guiding principle, the law removes the need to specify business activities in the business registration certificate. However, companies need to register their lines of business with competent authorities and make the same available to the National Information Gate of Enterprise Registration.
The law also scraps the need for professional certificates, reduces the time taken to register a business.
Another important provision is that companies can make more than one seals. The new seals have to be submitted to the National Business Registration Portal for public display on the National Information Gate of Enterprise Registration. Companies now also have the right to determine the form and content of their seal.