The best-performing provinces and cities of the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) are showing strong changes in administrative system reform and creating a favorable environment for business development.

The survey showed that the quality of economic governance in best PCI performers has improved over time. In particular, the most obvious progress is demonstrated in the dynamic and creative level of the provincial government. The business environment is more equal, enterprises have more advantages to access information and legal institutions, while unofficial cost burdens ease and administrative reform produces positive results.

Appreciating the positive, dynamic and creative changes of provinces and cities with best PCI performances, VCCI President Vu Tien Loc said that in the past years, PCI has been like an ever-flying bird that persistently conveys the message of improving governance quality and creating a more favorable business environment. The competition among localities for better PCI scores and rankings will help create jobs, generate budgets, sharpen the competitive edge and enhance national prosperity.

Securing the first-place position in three consecutive years and a Top 5 position for seven consecutive years in terms of economic governance in the country, Mr. Nguyen Van Thang, Former Chairman the People's Committee of Quang Ninh province, emphasized that the scientific and methodical deployment of PCI initiatives has helped provincial leaders identify bottlenecks in economic governance and choose appropriate solutions to reform economic management.

Quang Ninh always determines that raising the PCI Index is a central, regular and continuous task. On that basis, the province has constantly endeavored to facilitate local enterprises to do business and invest in the province, maintain and improve their competitiveness. To follow up and support businesses effectively, Quang Ninh constantly reforms administrative procedures, searches and actively establishes many channels and many different ways to listen to aspirations of enterprises, build friendly and intimate relations between authorities at all levels with investors and enterprises, while effectively speeding up localized investment promotion by supporting and accompanying existing businesses with many practical solutions.

Those innovative, creative, consistent and effective efforts have significantly boosted economic development of Quang Ninh province whose GRDP growth always leads the country, reaching 12.01% in 2019 (a double-digit growth for four consecutive years); total budget revenue reached VND46,641 billion, of which domestic revenue was VND34,625 billion. GRDP per capita reached US$6,135 a year. The poverty rate was just 0.52%.

Dong Thap province has been in the Top 5 group for 12 straight years. Chairman of the Dong Thap Provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Van Duong said that for many years, Dong Thap has considered improving the investment business environment and supporting business development as a key task of governance. In the light of business support and companionship, the province has persistently changed its approach to establish an enabling government that effectively supports enterprises and makes them feel assured in doing business in the province. As a result of the effort and consensus of the whole province, businesses have helped Dong Thap province’s PCI to stand in the Top 5 of the country for 12 years in a row and be the best performer in the region for years. Particularly, during this time, the province stood in the Top 3 for five years in a row.

Currently, the province has adopted the process of receiving and processing investment and business administrative procedures and returning results in the single-window mechanism where all actions are done within a day. The province continued to create many communication channels with the business community such as telephone, email, social networks like Zalo and Facebook, and Coffee Business Talks. In addition, the province has applied new models like settling administrative procedures at home, returning the results of settlement of administrative procedures by post, and combining online public services at the single-window division with grassroots post offices. The average settlement time for a new business registration application is 1.27 days and for a change in business registration is 1.22 days. 100% of records are settled in time.

PCI rankings confirmed the province's determination to improve the business environment and effectively enhance competitiveness and strengthen belief and satisfaction of the business community and investors in the administration. Hopefully, from what they achieved in improving competitiveness, provinces and cities will continue to boost economic governance, coordinate with each other to share good practices and spread economic experience, and polish their name and image as a favorable, secure and attractive investment and business destinations by facilitating business growth and development.