B-Ready Index suggests solutions to improve the quality of investment environment in Vietnam

DNVN - The World Bank (WB) is currently using the Business Readiness Index (B-Ready) to assess more comprehensively and focus on the life cycle of enterprises and analyze more deeply the effectiveness of policy implementation. This set of indicators is considered very effective and useful for Vietnam to refer to in the process of improving the business investment environment.

Ms. Trinh Thi Huong - Deputy Director of the Department of Private Enterprise Development and Collective Economy, Ministry of Finance .

According to the 2024 Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) report, 74% of businesses said they had delayed or abandoned their production and business plans because of complicated procedures related to land use rights, and 54% of surveyed businesses said they still faced many difficulties in accessing financial resources.

This information was given at the workshop “Introducing the B-Ready index and measures to improve the investment and business environment in Vietnam”, organized by the Ministry of Finance in coordination with the World Bank on December 9, in Hanoi to find solutions to improve the investment environment in Vietnam.

Speaking at the opening of the workshop, Ms. Trinh Thi Huong - Deputy Director of the Department of Private Enterprise and Collective Economy Development, Ministry of Finance, said: "The State and Government are very interested in and making efforts to improve the business investment environment and enhance national competitiveness, demonstrated through the issuance of Resolution No. 02 on improving the business investment environment and enhancing national competitiveness".

According to Ms. Huong, improving the business investment environment is a process that requires continuous innovation, continuous review and improvement. In that process, the Government really needs the accompaniment and coordinated actions from international partners as well as from the business community itself.

Along with Vietnam, partners are also continuously improving tools and methods for assessing the business investment environment of countries. A few years ago, the World Bank (WB) used the Doing Business index to evaluate and rank the business environment of countries around the world. Currently, WB has replaced this index with the B-Ready index (Business readiness index).

“This index has a more comprehensive assessment method and focuses on the life cycle of the enterprise and a deeper assessment of the effectiveness of policy implementation. We think this is a very effective and useful set of indexes for Vietnam so that we can refer to it in the process of improving the business investment environment,” Ms. Huong commented.

Presenting the B-Ready index, Ms. Subica Farazi - WB senior expert on B-Ready, said that the B-Ready project is a new data collection and analysis project of the World Bank to assess the business and investment environment worldwide. This project comes with an annual report and is being implemented in a three-year pilot phase.

B-Ready's goals are to advocate for policy reform, provide information, provide specific policy advice, and provide data for policy-related research.

“Sustainable economic growth is essential to raise living standards, create new and better jobs, increase government revenue and improve public services. In this context, the role of the private sector is particularly important as it is the main source of employment and the driver of innovation and economic activity. The private sector generates about 90% of employment, 75% of investment, 70% of output and more than 80% of government revenue in developing economies. However, for the private sector to thrive and reach its full potential, it needs a supportive and enabling environment,” said a WB expert.

Commenting on Vietnam's business environment, Ms. Subica Farazi said that Vietnam performs better than the average of the lower middle-income (LMI) group of countries in all three pillars of Legal Framework, Public Services and Operational Efficiency.

For Pillar 3 of Performance, Vietnam performed much stronger than the average of both the lower middle-income and upper middle-income (UMI) groups, placing it in the top quintile of performance.

Meanwhile, for Pillar 1 on Legal Framework and Pillar 2 on Public Services, Vietnam's scores are close to or slightly lower than the average of the upper middle-income group.

Vietnam scored highest in the topics of Utilities, Labor and International Trade, while it scored lower in the topics of Business Insolvency, Tax and Financial Services.

“Vietnam still needs to improve in some indicators,” commented Ms. Subica Farazi.

Accordingly, Vietnam lacks legal regulations requiring employers to establish an internal complaint resolution mechanism for reporting violence or discrimination in the workplace, fully electronic business registration is incomplete, there is no online platform for registering property ownership transfers, it takes a long time to establish a company...

Accessing the B-Ready index not only helps Vietnam see more clearly the existing bottlenecks but also opens up opportunities to learn international standards in reforming the business environment. With the support of international organizations such as the World Bank, the determination of the Government and proactive efforts from the business community, Vietnam can fully expect a more transparent, favorable and competitive investment environment, becoming an important driving force for sustainable economic growth in the coming years.

B-Ready is structured around 10 different themes, corresponding to different stages in the life cycle of a business (when opening, operating or expanding, and when closing or restructuring). B-Ready is based on 3 main pillars: Legal Framework, Public Services and Operational Efficiency. Data sources are from the Expert Questionnaire and Business Survey.

Hien Thao

Source: https://doanhnghiepvn.vn/doanh-nhan/bo-chi-so-b-ready-goi-mo-giai-phap-nang-cao-chat-luong-moi-truong-dau-tu-tai-viet-nam/20251209114104210