The Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade has abolished and simplified 125 of its administrative procedural steps in an unprecedented reform.

The abolition and simplification were approved by Minister Tran Tuan Anh, in a move considered part of the Vietnamese government’s efforts to improve the country’s business environment and transform itself into a ‘constructive government.’

Fifteen administrative procedural steps taken by the ministry have been scrapped completely, while 108 others will be simplified, according to a ministerial decision that took effect on Friday last week.

These account for over 28 percent of the ministry’s 443 procedural steps in 19 fields, according to an announcement made on its website.

The simplified procedures include those in beverage, oil and gas businesses, food safety, energy, along with 13 other fields under its administration.

The reform is expected to reduce costs of compliance for businesses operating in Vietnam as well as improving the country’s competitiveness as an investment market.

The ministry’s Legal Department said in September that the simplification of administrative procedures until then had helped save VND4.3 billion (US$191,000) a year based on average spending on implementation time.

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