Da Nang has finished 2^nd in the Viet Nam’s Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) for 2017, after Quang Ninh Province-the most competitive locality in the country last year.

In detail, Quang Ninh Province impressively scored 70.69 points on a 100-point scale, followed by Da Nang with 70.11 points, Dong Thap 68.78, Long An 66.7, and Ben Tre 66.69.

The results were announced by the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) at a ceremony held in Ha Noi this morning (22 March).

In particular, the 2017 PCI report shows that Da Nang made remarkable improvements in the criteria of land access, business support services, time costs, labour training, and legal institutions.

Despite being 0.58 points behind first place winner Quang Ninh, Da Nang was highly appreciated by domestic private  firms for the effective handling of administrative procedures. 

Since PCI’s inception in 2005, Da Nang has topped the ranking for 7 occasions in total.

The 2017 PCI survey revealed an optimism amongst domestic private and foreign businesses regarding their economic prospects. 52% of the surveyed domestic firms said they planned to expand their operations in the next 2 years, the highest level since 2011, while only 8% planned to scale down or close.

In the foreign sector, 60% of firms said they planned to expand their businesses in Viet Nam.

The PCI has been a critical tool for measuring and assessing the standards of economic governance in 64 provinces nationwide from the perspective of private businesses. 

The PCI is comprised of 10 sub-indices. They are market entry costs, land access, transparency, time costs, informal charges, equitable competitive environment, proactive leadership, business support services, labour training, and legal institutions, with each accounting for 10 points.

The PCI 2017’s organisers had sent out questionnaires to 12,000 enterprises nationwide, including more than 10,200 domestic private firms and 1,800 FDI companies.