Vietnam must not criminalize economic cases: PM

The Vietnamese authorities must facilitate business activities, such as by not making criminal proceedings against economic-civil activities, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said.

The government chief made the request at a Friday meeting between the government and outstanding businesses, ahead of the Vietnamese Entrepreneurs' Day (October 13). The move aims to ensure the legitimate rights and benefits of companies and businesspeople, he added.

He also noted solutions for boosting economic growth, including building up a fair and favorable business environment with fair competition among economic sectors and developing the infrastructure to reduce logistic costs.

Other solutions are to boost workforce training, update corporate management with the mobilization of various sources, and build a strong force of entrepreneurs, according to Vietnam’s values.

On the same page, Le Hoang Chau, chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association (HoREA), said at the event that businesses always strive to comply with the legal framework, however mistakes are unavoidable. Businesses urge the authorities not to treat economic-civil violations the same as crimes, he added.

Chau also called on the authorities to further collaborate to fix hurdles for 500 troublesome real estate projects and speed up the pace of the project to build one million affordable social housing units.

Speaking at the event, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung said Vietnam now has over 930,000 operational firms, 14,400 cooperatives, and over five million household businesses.

Proposing solutions to boost economic growth, Dung said the authorities should build up mechanisms to develop large businesses to lead key sectors, in order to meet the country’s target of becoming an industrialized and modern nation with an independent economy.