To attract investment and take advantage of new-generation Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), a legally mandated "one-stop shop" mechanism is needed for industrial parks and export processing zones.
Industrial zones need mechanisms.
The regulations on handling administrative procedures under the one-stop system, when applied in practice, have shown some positive results, contributing to a fundamental change in the relationship between state administrative agencies and organizations, citizens, and businesses by reducing costs, time, and effort.
In reality, the one-stop mechanism still has many cumbersome procedures in industrial zones.
However, despite the achievements, the implementation of the one-stop shop and integrated one-stop shop mechanisms still has major limitations such as: the authority to resolve administrative procedures is fragmented with many intermediate steps and bureaucratic hurdles; the methods of resolving administrative procedures are still traditional and manual, and have not actively applied technological advancements to meet the needs of international integration.
In a more detailed discussion with DĐDN (Vietnam Business Forum), Mr. Nguyen Van Be, Chairman of the Association of Industrial Park Enterprises in Ho Chi Minh City, stated that the current one-stop mechanism still involves many cumbersome steps and procedures. Regulations and administrative procedures related to Natural Resources and Environment, as well as those of various other ministries and agencies, are bottlenecks and obstacles to attracting investment into industrial parks and export processing zones.
Specifically, there is still significant room for industrial real estate in approximately 400 industrial parks nationwide, with only about 701 units already occupied. However, the Southeast region and Ho Chi Minh City still lack available land and clean land due to various reasons, including inadequacies and difficulties in the mechanisms, compensation and resettlement processes, and the high cost of state-owned land leases.
The government needs to promptly issue regulations and legal documents on the development of industrial parks and economic zones.
In light of these obstacles, Mr. Bé suggested that the Government should soon issue regulations and legal documents on the development of industrial parks, economic zones, and export processing zones... to ensure transparency in the process of receiving and handling administrative procedures. At the same time, unnecessary and cumbersome public administrative procedures should be abolished or minimized.
This is a new one-stop mechanism, in line with the Prime Minister's directive to develop a pilot project to innovate the implementation of the one-stop and integrated one-stop mechanisms in handling administrative procedures, aiming to improve service quality, transcend administrative boundaries, enhance the application of information technology, reduce travel time and social costs, and create convenience for citizens and businesses.
“"I hope that this proposal will be approved by the National Assembly and soon promulgated by the Government, so that there will be more open, supportive, and sustainable legal regulations for businesses to develop in line with the development criteria of the current digital technology revolution."”"—Mr. Bé said.
According to investors, the biggest obstacle and bottleneck currently remains the state land lease price, with four legally mandated calculation methods: paying the state land lease fee in a lump sum or annually. If the state land lease price is too high, the industrial park infrastructure investment company will sublease at even higher prices (because they have to add the costs of investing in technical infrastructure such as electricity, water, and transportation). The consequence will be a lack of attraction for investors to build factories.
Notably, in Ho Chi Minh City alone, although hundreds of hectares of land are still available, they lack attractive prices and are not yet ready for conversion. Meanwhile, there is an urgent need to plan and implement a strategy to expand the industrial land area to create a nest for large investors and attract investment resources.
In order to attract large corporations to set up shop in major industrial zones, according to Mr. Bé, the government needs to continue reforming and improving economic institutions and policy mechanisms, especially regarding land planning, stalled projects, and various resource and environmental permits. It should also develop and review inspection and auditing systems at all levels, and abolish procedures that are still heavily reliant on a "request and grant" mechanism.
“This is a consequence of the persistent negative situations where businesses still have to deal with numerous inspection teams from various levels and sectors throughout the year, which harass them. And if violations occur, regulations are not followed correctly, or authority is abused to create difficulties for businesses, I believe that based on the provisions of the law, the "head" of the agency, organization, or unit should be held strictly accountable.”"—Proposed by a representative of the Ho Chi Minh City Industrial Zone Business Association.".
According to Phuong Thanh
Business Forum
