VietNamNet Bridge – The National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee has proposed further cutting banned business areas in the latest draft of the investment law from 11 to six.

The committee also requested to narrow down the number of business areas subject to State monopoly to 322. Those wanting to do business in such areas need to gain a business license or get approval from competent authorities (Appendix 4 of the law).

The committee has reviewed and detected 51 areas, fields, products and services banned in legal documents while calling for a reduction of conditional business areas from 80.

According to the committee, there are currently 386 conditional business areas regulated in 391 legal documents.

Such a move of the committee indicated the draft law is becoming less stringent after receiving a lot of comments at the committee’s September meeting.

In addition, under the draft law, the Government shall review prohibited business areas and conditional ones, and present them to the NA, which means the list of prohibited business areas must be endorsed by the NA instead of being decided by the Government.

Six business areas enterprises will be prohibited from include:

- Trafficking of humans, human bodies and organs;

- Prostitution;

- Activities related to human cloning;

- Drug trafficking prescribed in Appendix 1 of the law;

- Trading of chemicals prescribed in Table 1 of Appendix 2 of the law;

- Trading of wild plants and animals as mentioned in Appendix 1 of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), endangered, rare plants and animals of Group 1 mentioned in Appendix 3 of the law.

SGT/VNN