The Vietnam Federation of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) has just announced the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) Report 2024 and marked 20 years of continuous improvement of the business environment in Vietnam. The published data has raised many issues regarding the investment and business environment in the Mekong Delta region, including Bac Lieu.
BAC LIEU FALLS AGAIN IN THE RANKING
Mr. Pham Tan Cong - Chairman of VCCI, said: “In 2024, the PCI report shows a positive picture of improved economic management at the provincial level. The median score reached 67.67 points, up 1 point compared to the previous year and the 8th consecutive year exceeding the 60-point mark - the threshold considered to reflect a favorable business environment. In particular, the original PCI Index, an index reflecting the quality of core economic management, reached 68.18 points and has been continuously improving since 2016. This is the result of the persistence and perseverance in reform of many localities and the active supervision of the business community”. For the Mekong Delta region, in the top 10 localities in the PCI rankings in 2024, this region has 3 provinces, including: Long An ranked 3rd, Hau Giang ranked 7th and Dong Thap ranked 9th. Some other localities such as: Can Tho, Ben Tre, Tra Vinh... also have quite good positions. The remaining provinces have fallen to the average or bottom group, such as Kien Giang ranked last and Bac Lieu ranked 62nd!
Developing high-quality human resources contributes to improving the PCI Index. Photo: KT
It is noteworthy that in the recent announcement of the PCI Index in 2024, many provinces have continuously lost points despite their great efforts to improve this index. For example, Bac Lieu province, out of 10 component indexes in 2024, Bac Lieu continues to have 5 component indexes that have lost points, including: market entry, land access, transparency, informal costs and labor training, while these 5 component indexes are all "hard indexes" related to the relationship between the business community and the government apparatus. As well as, reflecting the satisfaction of businesses with the investment and business environment. If in 2023, the market entry index was 7.82 points, then in 2024 it was only 5.55 points. From this score, it can be seen that businesses have to spend a lot of time in handling administrative procedures related to businesses and also encounter difficulties, even harassment. Or the labor training index will decrease from 4.90 points in 2023 to 5.80 points in 2024, and this is the component index that has decreased in score for 5 consecutive years.
NOT JUST A REFERENCE TOOL
The PCI Index is not only a tool to assess provincial management capacity, but also a “mirror” for the public administration to reflect on and correct itself. According to Dr. Tran Huu Hiep - an economic expert in the Mekong Delta region: “In the new context, we should consider redesigning the PCI Index in the direction that, in addition to assessing competitiveness, there should be additional measures reflecting the level of policy coordination, the ability to develop dynamic regions and the effectiveness of inter-regional public investment. This is even more necessary for regions with large territorial scales and high requirements and demands for sustainable development”.
After merging provinces and cities, the whole country will have only 34 provincial-level administrative units (including 28 provinces and 6 cities). Therefore, the scale and space of the economy will be more open, associated with restructuring the apparatus towards streamlining and efficiency, which also raises the issue of redesigning component indicators in the direction of praise and punishment, instead of just being a reference tool. This is very necessary in promoting the role and responsibility of local and unit leaders. Only then can we demonstrate the leadership role of the Party and the creation of the State, taking enterprises as the subject and center in the era of striving, aiming for prosperity, and gradually eliminating from the apparatus those officials who lack enthusiasm and capacity and still take advantage of mechanisms and policies to make things difficult for enterprises.
KIM TRUNG
Source: https://www.baobaclieu.vn/kinh-te/nang-cao-chi-so-pci-can-lay-doanh-nghiep-lam-trung-tam-100670.html
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