While advising and carrying out solutions on institutional reforms and policy improvements, the Department of Justice also informs business laws for a more open and transparent business and investment climate in Can Tho City. Mr. Ho Van Gia, Director of the Can Tho Department of Justice, grants an interview to our reporter.
In the past years, how has the Department of Justice advised and carried out institutional reforms and improved business investment policies for the city?
The city has paid close attention to building, inspecting and handling legal documents. The Department of Justice has worked from the stage of the proposal to comment, appraisal and completion of legal documents to submit to the City People's Committee and the City People's Council in the given order, procedures and authority; ensured consistency and hierarchy of legal effect; promptly concretized guidelines and policies to adjust socio-economic relations to match reality.
On business mechanisms and policies, the City People's Council issued many important guidelines and decisions such as Resolution 07/2018/NQ-HDND dated December 7, 2018 on support policies for investment projects; Resolution 11/2020/NQ-HDND dated December 4, 2020 on the content and level of the State budget for innovation startup supports to 2025.
Enforcing Instructive 09/CT-UBND dated July 3, 2019 of the City People's Committee on the coordinated improvement of the investment and business environment and the Competitiveness Index, the Department of Justice, the People's Court, the Inspectorate and the Department of Civil Judgment Execution issued a plan for coordinated improvement of Legal Institutions Index.
As a result, the department has appraised 61 draft legal documents, given comments on 112 local documents and checked 34 legal documents issued by the City People's Committee since 2021.
With those efforts, in 2021, the Lawmaking and Enforcement Index of Can Tho City reached 85.91%, an increase of 0.5% over 2020 (85.41%) and the Legal Institutions Index climbed to 7.43 points, an increase of 0.49 points over 2020 (6.94 points).
What are your solutions to effectively carry out the inter-sectoral legal support program for small and medium-sized enterprises to 2024?
Enforcing Decree 55/2019/ND-CP dated June 24, 2019 of the Government on legal support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the Department of Justice advised the Chairman of the City People's Committee to promulgate Decision 700/QD-UBND dated April 1, 2020 approving the legal support program for SMEs in Can Tho City to 2024.
The department has also advised and performed several tasks and solutions to carry out the program, including:
a) Advising the City People's Committee to issue Plan 24/KH-UBND dated February 14, 2020 on legal support for SMEs in 2020; Plan 15/KH-UBND dated January 15, 2021 on legal support for SMEs in 2021; Plan 20/KH-UBND dated January 24, 2022 on inspection, review and handling of legal documents; providing legal support for SMEs in 2022; clearly defining legal support for SMEs, and the leading and coordinating responsibility of related agencies.
b) Timely and fully updating legal documents promulgated by the People's Council and the City People's Committee. From August 16, 2019 to May 31, 2022, the department updated 91 legal documents, including 33 resolutions of the City People's Council and 58 decisions of the City People's Committee, into the National Database, thus helping individuals, organizations and businesses to look up, learn and access relevant legal information easily, conveniently and transparently.
c) Disseminating legal documents for SMEs: In 2020, the department hosted a city-level conference to inform 21 legal documents to 630 participants, including business-related laws such as Labor Code, Law on Securities, Law on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Investment; Law on Enterprises (amended); Law on Investment (amended); issued 28,000 leaflets to circulate provisions of Law on Enterprises and Law on Investment. In 2021, the agency compiled and distributed 28,000 legal brochures, and at the same time, coordinated with Department of Home Affairs and Can Tho Radio and Television Station to broadcast live the "Meet and Dialogue" Program themed “Support for administrative procedures to investors and businesses in the current COVID-19 situation”. In 2022, the department collaborated with the Department of Home Affairs and Can Tho Radio and Television Station to air live the "Meet and Dialogue" Program themed “Support for implementation of investment and business registration procedures".
d) Answering law matters to SMEs: Publishing the hotline telephone number on the department's website to receive information, promptly support, solve and remove difficulties and problems faced by local enterprises.
e) Self-inspecting and reviewing legal documents: Annually, coordinating with relevant agencies to review legal documents promulgated by the City People's Council and the City People's Committee to propose competent authorities for solutions to ensure the legitimate interests of enterprises.
f) Building and developing legal support consultants for SMEs to:
- Advise the City People's Committee to issue Official Letter 1049/UBND-NC dated April 7, 2020 to specialized agencies on the arrangement of civil servants to provide legal support for SMEs. There are 19 public employees providing legal support for businesses at 15 specialized agencies affiliated with the City People's Committee.
- Summarize and propose the Ministry of Justice on legal consultants joining the network of legal consultants in the fields administered by the Ministry of Justice as per Clause 3, Article 3 of Decree 55/2019/ND-CP dated June 24, 2019 of the Government on legal support for SMEs.
g) Promulgating a legal support policy for SMEs: In March 2022, the department conducted a survey on legal support for local SMEs; advising the City People's Committee to submit a resolution on legal support policy for local SMEs to the City People’s Council.
What do you think about the Legal Institutions Index of Can Tho City in the past years? What are your solutions to improve this indicator and then raise the PCI rankings as a whole?
From 2014 to 2021, Can Tho's Legal Institutions Index picked up significantly, from 4.14 points in 2014 to 7.43 points in 2021. This progress resulted from the great efforts of the local judicial system.
Currently, the Department of Justice is advising on the implementation of many solutions such as:
First, strengthening communications, dissemination and education to raise awareness and a sense of law observance among people and businesses.
Second, advising the City People's Committee to coordinate in organizing seminars on legal support for enterprises, thereby grasping difficulties and problems to be resolved or proposed for amendments and supplements.
Third, improving the quality of legal appraisal; working with relevant agencies to appraise, formulate and comment on resolutions of the City People's Council submitted by the City People's Committee; coordinating with the Office of the City People's Committee to consider and examine the proposal of issuing decisions; formulating, commenting and appraising draft legal documents; effectively carrying out inspection and review of legal documents.
Fourth, implementing or coordinating with specialized agencies to work out business support in accordance with the law.
What opportunities and challenges did Resolution 45/2022/QH15 open up for judicial activities? What contents does the judicial sector concern?
Resolution 45/2022/QH15 brings many opportunities but also poses many challenges for the judiciary sector: Mechanisms and policies are aimed to increase power and facilitate local authorities to act and react quickly, and promptly adapt to urgent requirements on land resources, thereby creating an open environment to attract investment projects. Locally specific mechanisms and policies also create resources for Can Tho to invest in important infrastructure construction, especially urban and traffic infrastructure.
To realize Resolution 45/2022/QH15, on February 18, 2022, the City People's Committee issued Plan 34/KH-UBND for implementation. Right from the beginning of 2022, the Department of Justice advised the City People's Committee to issue Plan 22/KH-UBND on law dissemination, education and mediation to grassroots levels; Plan 23/KH-UBND on inspection of law enforcement in the city, which defines communication and monitoring of the implementation of Resolution 45/2022/QH15 as one of the key contents in 2022.
Thank you very much!
Source: Vietnam Business Forum
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