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No country can achieve rapid growth with an administrative system that operates slowly. For an economy aiming for two-digit growth, long procedures, gatekeeping, and hidden compliance costs can weigh on businesses every day.
At the launch ceremony for the Government’s term 2026-2031, General Secretary and President Tô Lâm emphasized that two-digit growth must rely on strong institutional reform, including continuing to reduce administrative procedures and business conditions. Implementing the directive of Conclusion No. 18 of the Central Committee, the Government has issued eight resolutions on decentralization, simplification, and cutting administrative procedures and business conditions, and is expected to issue additional resolutions in other areas.
Among them, Resolution 19/2026/NQ-CP reduces, decentralizes, and simplifies administrative procedures and business conditions under the purview of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Resolution 19 does not begin with the easiest areas to reform. Instead, it focuses directly on sectors that are sensitive and complex and that affect the speed of the economy’s circulation, including fuels, electricity, import-export, chemicals, logistics, and e-commerce.
This approach reflects a broader shift: reform is entering the most difficult areas to improve the speed of economic operation and the country’s development capacity.
The most notable aspect of the reform is not only the number of procedures cut, but the change in management thinking. The reform signals a shift from pre-transaction controls to post-transaction controls; from paper-based management to data-driven management; from behavioral control to risk governance; and from a mindset of “seeking permission” to a mindset of “creating a market”.
Under the previous model, the State sought to control activities from the outset: businesses had to obtain permission, goods required confirmation, and operations often faced multiple layers of approval. The article argues that while this approach may fit a small, closed economy with slow growth, a modern economy requires speed, data, and quick adaptability.
Resolution 19 is described as reflecting this shift through requirements such as decentralization and delegation; reducing filing components; not requiring re-submission of information and data already digitized; and accelerating e-governance.
These requirements are presented as moving governance from a paperwork-control model toward data-driven governance, aligning with the modern public administration approach used in many developed countries: setting clear standards, increasing data transparency, monitoring risks, and addressing violations.
The reform’s emphasis on reducing requests to resubmit data already held by the State, increasing interconnection of procedures, and accelerating digitization is described as a recognition that public administration cannot operate effectively with “paper copies”.
The article also notes that this reform signals a gradual shift from “granting permits to manage” toward “creating an environment for development”.
Fuels, electricity, chemicals, and import-export are described as sectors with significant influence on economic security and social stability. For years, these sectors have tended toward tight control and slower reform, so changes here carry particular significance.
In the fuels sector, Resolution 19 is said to require simplifying procedures related to licensing of business activities, reducing filing components, and shortening processing times. The article frames this as a move away from a default approach of restricting risk through more procedures, toward risk-based governance that opens opportunities for development.
The article argues that businesses need more than incentives: they need a predictable environment with clear procedures, reasonable processing times, low costs, stable regulation, and transparent mechanisms. In this view, the most important factor for the market is institutional trust.
It cites Prime Minister Lê Minh Hùng’s emphasis that the reform’s most important aspect is strengthening public and business confidence. When the business community perceives that procedures are becoming simpler, costs are lowering, and regulators are more collaborative, it is expected to support longer-term investment.
Resolution 19 is described as aiming not only to cut procedures but also to require transparency in the procedure-resolution process, increase accountability, link reform with digital transformation, and reduce compliance costs for businesses—elements presented as core to building institutional trust.
The article cautions that reforms could revert if management thinking does not change—such as if officials continue to rely on pre-approval processes, if data are not interconnected, or if accountability remains unclear.
It concludes that the ultimate determinant of success is not only how many procedures are cut, but building a new governance model: operating on data, managing risk, pursuing development outcomes, and measuring success by the convenience of people and businesses.
Dr. Nguyen Sy Dung
Government Portal (Báo Chính phủ) — 15:00 12/05/2026
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