Removal of barriers to facilitate business operations

DTO/NDO- In the first two months of 2026, Viet Nam’s economy continued to record strong recovery signals from the business sector. According to data from the General Statistics Office (Ministry of Finance), the country had 35,471 newly established enterprises, up 70.69% compared with the same period in 2025.

Total registered capital reached 313,690 billion VND, up 36.12%, along with 167,537 registered workers, up 19.09%. This is the highest increase in many recent years, more than double the average for the 2021–2025 period. At the same time, there were 29,013 enterprises resuming operations, bringing the total number of enterprises entering and re-entering the market to nearly 64,500, up 29.4% compared with the same period in 2025.

According to the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), these figures reflect the vibrancy of the business environment, reinforcing confidence in the prospects for economic recovery and expansion. Enterprises are embracing a new momentum after a period heavily affected by global fluctuations.

However, the “picture” of the economy still has some less bright tones, as the business environment continues to face a number of shortcomings, with many “bottlenecks” hindering production and business activities.

Many opinions from the business community indicate that some recently issued circulars have introduced unreasonable provisions; proposals to cut business conditions have not been substantive, sometimes merely formal, with short preparation time and not closely reflecting operational realities.

The cause of this situation is identified as the persistence of outdated management thinking that has not been thoroughly changed; regulations remain inflexible, failing to facilitate business operations and even creating additional burdens for enterprises.

In addition, the legal system changes rapidly but lacks predictability and sufficient consultation with businesses, making it difficult for enterprises to grasp and comply.

The rapid issuance of legal documents to complete the legal system has, however, made it difficult for enterprises, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, to update and apply them.
At the same time, administrative procedures remain overlapping and cumbersome, with unofficial costs still common, especially in the fields of land and finance. This increases the compliance burden and reduces business efficiency.

Notably, the lack of consistency among regulations and the overlap of various taxes and fees have led to increased production and business costs. Policy implementation at the local level remains weak and lacks transparency, while the list of conditional business lines is too extensive, creating unnecessary legal barriers.

To remove these “bottlenecks”, breakthrough solutions in administrative reform are needed, along with building an appropriate legal framework that keeps pace with economic development. It is necessary to focus on improving the legal system for a socialist-oriented market economy, towards a favourable, transparent and fair environment.

It is necessary to minimise business conditions, as well as the time and cost of complying with administrative procedures; resolutely abolish unnecessary business lines and strongly shift from pre-inspection to effective post-inspection. Promoting digital transformation is a key direction, implementing end-to-end online public services, striving for at least 80% of dossiers to be processed online and 100% of procedures to be independent of administrative boundaries.

Regular dialogue with enterprises should be strengthened through channels such as VCCI to substantively review business feedback in order to promptly amend and supplement regulations. In particular, it is necessary to restructure operational processes and innovate the way procedures are handled to genuinely reduce the burden on enterprises.

Only when these steps are implemented resolutely and synchronously can all social resources be mobilised, sustainable growth be promoted, and the goal of double-digit growth this year be achieved, while best serving the needs of people and enterprises.

(Source: NDO)