Enhance competitiveness, green and sustainable development

BHG - The efforts to improve the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) and Provincial Green Index (PGI) in recent times are a testament to the strong determination of the provincial Party Committee and government in administrative reform and improving the quality of economic management. At the same time, it shows that the orientation of green and sustainable development is gradually becoming a pillar in the province's investment attraction strategy.

Bright spots from PCI and PGI

According to the announcement of the Vietnam Federation of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) in early May, the province's PCI Index reached 66.71 points, an increase of 4.86 points compared to 2023. Although it has not yet entered the top 30 localities with the highest scores on the ranking of 63 provinces and cities, this increase in points shows a positive signal in improving the business investment environment and enhancing the province's competitiveness.

Production associated with environmental landscape protection, Viet Shan Tea Company Limited (Hoang Su Phi) contributes to realizing the green growth goal of the province.

Of the 10 PCI component indexes of the province, 5 indexes increased from 0.32 to 1.46 points, including: Market entry; transparency; business support policies; labor training; legal institutions and security and order. Notably, the market entry index reached 8.22 points, demonstrating that business start-up procedures are becoming simpler, more transparent and more friendly to businesses. 100% of the staff at the one-stop-shop department are highly appreciated by people and businesses for their expertise, 93% are assessed as providing dedicated and friendly service. The business support policy index also recorded a clear improvement with 6.4 points, an increase of 1.07 points. This result affirms the province's efforts in supporting small and medium enterprises, especially in accessing vocational training, policy consulting... In particular, the labor training CSTP reached 6.08 points, becoming the strongest increase among CSTPs, clearly reflecting the province's efforts in improving the quality of human resources. The rate of workers receiving vocational training increased to 65.39%; the rate of workers meeting the needs of enterprises reached 61%...

Notably, 2024 is the second year that VCCI has published the PGI Index - a toolkit to assess the level of environmental friendliness in economic management. As a result, the province's PGI Index reached 23.84 points, an increase of 3.39 points compared to 2023, recording important changes in environmental governance, towards the goal of green and sustainable economic development.

Among the 4 CSTPs of PGI, CSTP ensuring compliance with minimum environmental standards achieved an impressive score of 6.67. This result reflects the encouraging fact that enterprises increasingly attach importance to and seriously implement environmental regulations, contributing to building sustainable production and business. Along with that, CSTP on preferential policies and support services for enterprises in environmental protection reached 6.26 points and leadership role in environmental protection reached 5.76 points. These results continue to affirm the strong direction and strategic vision of provincial leaders in economic development associated with environmental protection.

Overcoming "barriers", breaking through the index

Although 5/10 PCI CSTPs increased their scores, their weight only accounted for 45%. Meanwhile, the remaining 5 CSTPs with large weights have not been improved, decreasing from 0.04 - 0.96 points including: Land access; time costs; informal costs; dynamism of provincial authorities; fair competition. This reality poses a difficult "problem", requiring more fundamental and drastic solutions.

Staff of the Provincial Public Administration Service Center guide people and businesses to quickly carry out procedures, contributing to improving the province's PCI Index.

The results of the analysis of the above CSTPs show that: Only 20% of enterprises believe that they will be compensated adequately when land is recovered, 76% believe that land procedures are processed slower than the listed time. Many enterprises reflect the situation of overlapping and prolonged inspections and checks, even showing signs of harassment. In particular, the rate of enterprises having to "grease the wheels" when carrying out administrative procedures (TTHC) or applying for licenses increased to 38%, 23% higher than the previous year. Over 70% of enterprises believe that economic resources mainly fall into the hands of enterprises "friendly" with the government, while 66% believe that the government favors large enterprises rather than supporting small and medium enterprises, affecting the expectations and psychology of the business community. Moreover, the gap between the government's commitment and actions to improve the business environment needs to be narrowed soon to unleash the driving force for sustainable development for enterprises.

Regarding the PGI, although the total score increased, the factor of reducing environmental pollution and negative impacts of climate change only reached 5.15 points - the lowest among the four factors that make up the PGI. This reflects the perception of enterprises about the low effectiveness of implementing environmental policies, and the punishment of polluting acts is not strong enough to deter.

Clearly identifying the "barriers", the province is focusing on synchronously implementing many key groups of solutions to strongly improve the PCI and PGI Indexes in 2025. In particular, continuing to promote administrative procedure reform in a substantive direction, shortening processing time, reducing reception points; expanding online public services, publicizing procedures, costs, and time limits for handling administrative procedures; establishing a business feedback system to promptly receive and handle suggestions and feedback to enhance supervision, publicity, and transparency. In particular, the province is determined to strictly handle acts of causing trouble, harassment, and unfair competition to protect the rights of legitimate businesses. Regarding the PGI Index, the province identifies improving environmental governance capacity as a key factor; encouraging businesses to apply clean technology, invest in circular economic models. At the same time, improving the capacity to respond to climate change and tightening environmental inspection and examination.

Despite many challenges, the increase in both PCI and PGI scores once again affirms the province’s determination to strongly reform administrative procedures. This is not only an important stepping stone to create a transparent and friendly investment environment, but also an important foundation for the province to realize the dual goals of rapid growth, green and sustainable development.

Article and photos: THU PHUONG

Source: https://baohagiang.vn/chuyen-muc-cai-cach-hanh-chinh/202505/nang-suc-canh-tranh-phat-trien-xanh-va-ben-vung-4896ab7/