HANOI: Vietnam will continue to improve its tax and customs policies, streamline administrative procedures and address businesses’ concerns to create a more transparent and predictable investment environment, Deputy Finance Minister Cao Anh Tuan says.
Speaking at an annual dialogue between the Finance Ministry and South Korean businesses in Hanoi, Tuan said the ministry would work to ensure that regulations were transparent, stable and aligned with international practices, while responding promptly to business recommendations.
The event, co-organised by the ministry, the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Vietnam, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency or Kotra and the Korean Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam, brought together more than 100 South Korean companies operating in the country.
Tuan said that the ministry has made efforts to improve the legal framework, simplify procedures, accelerate digital transformation and remove obstacles to production and business activities.
The tax authority has met its target of cutting administrative procedure costs and processing time by at least 50%, while the customs authority has simplified 11 administrative procedures and abolished 21 together with modernisation of electronic tax services and adoption of information technology such as artificial intelligence chatbot to support businesses.
The ministry is also refining regulations on tax administration for related-party transactions, implementing the global minimum tax and providing guidance on double taxation avoidance agreements.
Tuan said the ministry will strengthen risk-based inspections of transactions between related parties, drawing on centralised data, and expand international cooperation.
South Korean ambassador to Vietnam Lee Mi Yon said the annual tax and customs dialogue, held regularly since 2008, had provided an important channel for businesses to raise concerns and discuss practical solutions with regulators with policy discussions translated into concrete measures. — Viet Nam News/ANN
