Full and accurate information

In 2018, Bac Giang province was named in the high average group of the country in the Public Administration Reform Index (PAR INDEX) and jumped 3 places in the provincial competitiveness index (PCI), ranking 30th out of 63 provinces and cities. The results were attributed to the provincial People's Committee’s efforts to direct agencies at all levels to implement many solutions.

Officials of the Department of External Affairs introduce information about the province’s investment environment to business representatives.

However, the biggest limitation of foreign investors is language. Because they do not know Vietnamese language, it is difficult for them to grasp guidelines, policies and legal regulations in places where they land investments, while translators sometimes make incorrect translations and the procedures have many specialized terms. 

This leads to difficulties in the information approach, direction and management of business leaders. To fix this problem, in 2017, the Department of External Affairs advised the provincial People's Committee to translate some administrative procedures into English, Korean and Chinese languages.

The principle is selecting procedures related to investment such as investment registration certificate and work permit for foreign workers working in industrial zones (IPs), and then making a list and building a set of the province’s administrative procedures related to foreign investors, including 140 procedures.

Picture of the administrative procedure set in Korean.

The Department of External Affairs assigned the Center for External Information and Services to coordinate with translation centers under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be responsible for translation, ensuring full, accurate and understandable information for foreign investors.

Urgent and effective

Currently, the sets of administrative procedures related to foreign investors in three languages: English, Chinese and Korean have been completed. Each set comprises about 800 to nearly 1,000 pages and is bound into a book. 

To make this activity really effective, the Department of External Affairs sent them to the one-door sections of the Department of Planning and Investment and the Department of Industry and Trade; the provincial Industrial Zones Management Board; the Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs... in order to introduce to individuals and businesses. 

At the same time, it is necessary to classify active FDI enterprises operating in the province that use English, Chinese and Korean as their main languages and then send materials to them. Thereby, the leaders of enterprises can timely grasp the current guidelines, policies and legal regulations, facilitating their direction and management.

The production line at wholly Korean-invested JMC Vietnam Co., Ltd. (Hong Thai commune, Viet Yen district).

In October 2016, a delegation from Samsung Electronics Vietnam Co., Ltd. visited and surveyed the investment environment in the province. Here, the administrative procedure set in Korean has been given to the senior officials of the enterprise so that they can directly learn about the mechanisms and legal framework of the province without an interpreter.

Shim Won Hwan, General Director of Samsung Electronics Vietnam Co., Ltd., highly valued the preparation of the province and emphasized that this is a useful document for them to study factors in the investment process in Bac Giang. 

Meanwhile, Nguyen Thi The, a staff of the Administration and Human Resources Department of Jae A Tech Co., Ltd. (Lang Giang district), said: "Our enterprise uses a lot of foreign workers. Previously, whenever registering for their new or renewed work permits, we had to explain the process and the time to handle procedures, costing a lot of time. If the province sends the administrative procedure sets in foreign languages to enterprises, it will be very convenient for their officials to study the provisions of Vietnamese law”.

Nguyen Hoang Trung, Director of the Department of External Affairs, said: “Continuing to accompany foreign enterprises, the department will focus on doing well the situation forecasting and send documents directly to businesses operating in the province. 

At the same time, it will upgrade its website for posting news related to the administrative reform of the province in foreign languages so that investors can easily access information anytime and anywhere."

Improving quality of administrative procedures

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc signed Directive No.30/CT-TTg on October 30 for improving the quality of administrative procedures at ministries, branches and localities.

 

Bac Giang: Administrative procedures processed via post office

(BGO)) – The Department of Internal Affairs and the Post Office of Bac Giang province jointly hosted a conference on February 21 to launch a programme on receiving and returning administrative documents using post services.

 

Bac Giang aims to connect communes with software in processing administrative procedures

(BGO)- Vice Chairwoman of the Bac Giang People’s Committee Nguyen Thi Thu Ha on May 4 had a working session with representatives from the provincial Department of Information and Communications and other relevant departments, sectors and agencies to discuss the application of software in processing administrative procedures and the organisation of online conferences at communal level. 

 

Bac Giang pilots digital signature in administrative procedures

(BGO) – The Department of Information and Communications of the northern province of Bac Giang has piloted digital signatures in processing administrative applications of local units. 

 

Khoi Nguyen