A police officer guides citizens on how to use VNeID app. (Photo: VNA)
 Vietnam is accelerating the development of digital government and economy, betting that faster processing, simpler administrative procedures and wider data sharing will make a strong shift toward a modern governance model built around citizens and businesses.

Fifteen years after the Government’s Decree No. 63/2010/ND-CP took effect on June 8, 2010, the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) said Vietnam has cut administrative procedures and business conditions considerably. But the system still rewards “form and compliance” over “risk management and effectiveness”. It also lacks an effective way to control pre-approval inspection procedures, licensing requirements and discretionary “ask – give” practices that inflate compliance costs and constrain the business environment.

Reviews remain fragmented and are not designed around the actual lifecycle of a filing or the experience of users, the ministry said. They focus on whether rules are necessary, legal and reasonable while ignoring practical data on processing times, costs, convenience and interoperability. Many procedures end up serving regulators rather than citizens and companies.

In the new landscape, the urgent shift is from controlling paper documents to controlling procedures electronically, using data and interconnected systems.

Local feedback identifies a deeper flaw: the decree did not adopt a modern data governance approach. Without legal rules for reusing data, agencies continue to operate with paper files or disconnected electronic records. Citizens and enterprises must repeatedly submit the same information for different procedures, raising time and compliance costs.

The Vietnam Leather, Footwear and Handbag Association recently asked the Ministry of Industry and Trade to fix delays in certificates of origin (C/O) after responsibility shifted from the Agency of Foreign Trade to provincial-level departments. Companies said they must re-register trader dossiers. a process that can take up to 10 days, and cannot apply for C/Os during that period, disrupting export documentation.

LEFASO wants the ministry to retain trader data already registered in the eCoSys system so companies don’t have to start over.

Under a draft decree replacing Decree 63, authorities will have to proactively pull information from databases and records for informational or technical procedures. Applicants would no longer be required to resubmit documents, and certification or information requests could not be turned into discretionary licensing through an “ask – give” mechanism.

Results will have to be delivered electronically, with paper copies available on request. Agencies could not require procedures that haven’t been published in the National Database on Administrative Procedures. Processing would need to run through the single-window system in a connected, data-sharing electronic environment.

Agencies will be required to assign qualified staff with proper ethics and communication skills and provide timely, accurate guidance for applicants, including pregnant women, orphans and others eligible for social protection.

Reviews should identify rules that no longer fit real conditions and weigh their impact on citizens, businesses, investment, production, competition and state management efficiency, the MOJ proposed./.

VNA