According to the latest ranking released on Thursday, and based on responses from nearly 12,300 Vietnamese businesses, the northern province has scored 75.09 points, 2.69 more than in 2019.

Eighty nine percent of the businesses said Quang Ninh authorities have improved the business environment and made significant reforms, making it easy for them do business, while 97 percent said they receive immediate responses from provincial authorities whenever they make a complaint.

It was followed by Dong Thap, Long An and Binh Duong provinces, all in the south.

The rest of the top 10 were Da Nang City, Vinh Long, Hai Phong City, Ben Tre, Hanoi, and Bac Ninh.

The PCI has been produced annually since 2005 to assess the ease of doing business, economic governance and administrative reforms in provinces and cities to promote the development of the private sector.

Dau Anh Tuan, head of the VCCI's legal department, said the gap between the top and bottom ranking provinces has been shrinking.

Foreign investors continue to see Vietnam as an attractive destination with a stable political environment and fairly easy administrative procedures, but expect it to continue cracking down on corruption and improve public services and infrastructure.