Mr. Dau Anh Tuan, Deputy Secretary General, Head of the Legal Department of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and Mr. Shivaram Pokharel, Director General, Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Head of the Nepalese Delegation.

During the working session, Mr. Dau Anh Tuan, Deputy Secretary General and Head of the Legal Department of VCCI, welcomed the Nepalese delegation on their visit and working session at VCCI.

Additionally, the Deputy Secretary General of VCCI shared some basic information about VCCI, as well as the process of researching and developing the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) and the Provincial Green Index (PGI).

Accordingly, the PCI and PGI reports are annual publications produced by VCCI with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and private sector partners, aimed at promoting the development of a favorable business environment and an environmentally friendly approach for enterprises.

The Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) is a notable initiative of VCCI. First piloted in 2005, the PCI is built from the perceptions and evaluations of businesses in the private sector operating in various localities.

Deputy Secretary General of VCCI, Dau Anh Tuan, took a photo with the Nepalese delegation and experts and officials from the World Bank

To develop the PCI, VCCI conducts surveys of businesses in provinces and cities using a random stratified sampling method. Each year, nearly 10,000 private enterprises respond to the PCI survey. In addition to survey data, the PCI research team at VCCI also uses other published information from various ministries and agencies.

According to the Deputy Secretary General of VCCI, the PCI encourages provincial governments to improve the quality of their administrative work. Moreover, the PCI is based on the evaluations of businesses, thus reflecting an objective and honest view of the local investment and business environment.

To date, the PCI is considered an important "voice" of private enterprises regarding the local business environment, a reliable reference for investment locations, and a significant impetus for reforms in the provincial business environment.

Meanwhile, the Provincial Green Index (PGI), implemented and published by VCCI since 2023, is a set of indicators that assess and rank the quality of local environmental governance from a business perspective. This includes the extent of environmentally friendly technology application by businesses, the level of management and environmental behavior of companies, the degree of interest and readiness to invest in environmental issues by local governments, and many other important environmental issues.

The Provincial Green Index gathers business perceptions and conveys the "voice" of the business community regarding the quality of environmental governance to all levels of government. On a scale of 40, the Provincial Green Index measures the aforementioned criteria through four component indices made up of 45 indicators assessing the quality of the environment and the effectiveness of environmental governance in provinces and cities.

The findings from the PCI and PGI have helped provincial and city governments develop appropriate action plans to continuously improve economic governance towards sustainable growth, creating favorable conditions for business development and recovery.

Mr. Dau Anh Tuan emphasized: "The contributions of PCI and PGI have created a business environment with many optimistic aspects. Local governments are increasingly dynamic, pioneering, and have numerous initiatives to support businesses. The voice of the private sector is valued, and there is almost no longer unequal treatment between different economic sectors. Government-business dialogue is held regularly, and compliance costs with administrative procedures have significantly decreased."

During the working session, Mr. Shivaram Pokharel, Director General of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Supplies and head of the Nepalese delegation, thanked VCCI for sharing insights on building the PCI & PGI indexes. He also expressed that Nepal will continue to study, learn from, and apply the information provided by VCCI.

During the session, experts and officials also posed questions to VCCI regarding the development of the PCI & PGI indexes.

Source: Cam Anh (Business Forum Magazine)