PCI 2021: Da Nang shows many improvements in business environment
According to the national 2021 PCI (Provincial Competitiveness Index) rankings recently released by the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the US Agency for International Development (USAID), Da Nang came in fourth place with an overall score of 70.42/100, among the good performers. According to businesses, the city's business and investment environment still has a plenty of room to continue to make more improvements to create a new attraction for the investment wave in the coming time.
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| To improve PCI, the business community wants the city to strengthen administrative reform and implement effective business support policies. Workers are seen transporting goods at Da Nang Vfracht Transport and Chartering JSC based in Hoa Cam Industrial Park, Cam Le District. Photo: M.QUE |
Many indexes hit their highest scores over the past 5 years
Most notably, Da Nang topped the 2021 PCI rankings for the central coastal region, and it was followed by Thua Thien-Hue Province 69.24/100.
The overall PCI index score comprises ten sub-indices, namely market entry costs, land access, transparency, time costs, informal charges, equitable competitive environment, proactive leadership, business support policies, labour training, and legal institutions, on a 10-point scale each, all of which reflect economic governance areas that affect private sector development.
Da Nang witnessed significant improvements in five sub-indices, namely access to land (7.51/10 points, ranked 10th); informal charges (7.29/10 points, ranked 23rd), proactive leadership (7.01/10 points, ranked 26th), business support policies (7.57/10 points, ranked 9th and legal institutions and security (7.33/10 points, ranked 24th).
According to experts in the survey teams of VCCI and USAID, Da Nang is one of the localities with the most stability in terms of quality results of economic management capacity assessment. In the 3 consecutive years, 2018, 2019 and 2020, Da Nang ranked fifth in the PCI ranking, but it moved to fourth place in the 2021 PCI ranking.
In addition to the regularly- implemented administrative reform solutions, the city has established interdisciplinary working groups to remove difficulties and obstacles facing construction investment projects.
These interdisciplinary working groups have helped to quickly grasp business problems, thereby helping the local government to provide timely solutions. The working groups also actively supported investment attraction and the improvement of the business environment in the city.
In addition, Da Nang, Binh Duong and Quang Ninh were assessed to have the best infrastructure in Viet Nam in 2021, and was also one of the localities that often top the Infrastructure index for many years. This includes 4 component indexes: industrial zones/clusters; roads; electrical power; telecommunications and other infrastructure.
Strengthening administrative reform
Mr. Ho Anh Tuan, Deputy Director of the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) - Da Nang Branch said, the brightest point of PCI 2021 for Da Nang is that the Business Support Policy index increased by 1.25 points as compared to PCI 2020, showing the quality of the business environment is more positive than before.
To overcome the declining indexes as well as improve the PCI ranking in the coming time, Mr. Tuan underlined a need for the city to focus on administrative reform in a number of areas where businesses still face problems such as land access and taxes.
In addition, it is necessary to strengthen support for enterprises in administrative procedures related to many branches and levels, whilst municipal departments, agencies and sectors are suggested to reach their high consensus in solving the problem.
Mr. Le Truong Ky, Vice Chairman of the Da Nang Young Entrepreneurs Association, Chairman of the Board of Directors, General Director of DINCO Technical Construction JSC said, based on the PCI 2021 results, it can be seen that the Business Support Policy index showed the city’s proactivity in timely supporting businesses to restore post-COVID-19 production.
However, in order to have better positions in the PCI rankings in the following years, State agencies should strengthen administrative reform, especially in the field of investment and construction, and speed up the application approval process so that businesses can quickly carry out their production and trade activities.
In his perspectives, Mr. Ha Duc Hung, the General Director of Ha Giang - Phuoc Tuong Mechanical JSC assessed that the work of supporting businesses and improving the business environment over the past year has improved a lot. Accordingly, Da Nang's 4th position in the PCI rankings matches the current situation.
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PCI is the result of a major ongoing, collaborative effort between the VCCI and the USAID to enhance provincial economic governance to create a business-enabling environment for private sector development in Viet Nam. The PCI is designed to assess the ease of doing business, economic governance, and the efficacy of administrative reform efforts by local governments in all cities and provinces across Viet Nam and municipalities. Da Nang has ranked in the top 5 provinces and cities with the highest scores in the country for 11 out of the total 12 past years, in which the city won the "champion" title for 5 occasions. |
Reporting by MAI QUE – Translating by A.THU