From procedural reform to development creation

Accordingly, the scope for reform models primarily based on reducing administrative procedures is gradually narrowing. The new development phase demands a higher level of reform, shifting from a "burden-reducing" mindset to a "proactive development-oriented" mindset. This change in approach is essential for provincial governments if they want to generate high and sustainable growth for their localities.

The PCI 2025 is an upgraded version of the 2021-2024 assessment framework, designed to encompass the entire private sector development ecosystem. The report shows that the median scores of the nine component indicators are forming three distinct groups.

The highest-scoring groups include Informal Costs, Administrative Compliance Costs, and Legal Institutions. This is a positive sign, reflecting the tangible results of years of efforts to reform procedures, enhance transparency, and strengthen legal trust for businesses.

The group of indicators at an average level, including Market Entry, Information Transparency, and Access to Resources, reflects that the market entry experience and access to information for businesses in many places have significantly improved.

The three indicators with the lowest scores are Fair Competition, Business Support Policies, and Proactive Government, with median scores ranging from only 5.43 to 5.51 points. Notably, Fair Competition and Proactive Government are also the two areas with the greatest disparity among localities. This indicates that some localities have begun to form a proactive governance environment, creating genuine favorable conditions for businesses, while many others remain primarily at the level of traditional administrative procedure reforms.

From these results, it can be seen that the strongest foundation of local government governance currently lies in facilitating administrative interactions and strengthening legal credibility for businesses. Conversely, areas reflecting the quality of governance and development – such as supporting businesses, ensuring fair competition, or promoting innovation – still have much room for improvement. This implies that in the coming period, the focus of reform at the provincial level needs to shift from "burden reduction" to "proactive creation."

This is a very different requirement compared to the previous period. Previously, reforms mainly focused on reducing compliance costs and removing administrative barriers for businesses; now, the focus must be on enhancing business competitiveness and creating a more attractive investment environment. Previously, the government primarily played a managerial and procedural role; now, it needs to shift strongly towards a proactive and collaborative role with businesses.

Therefore, local governments should not only act as state management agencies but also become "development partners" for businesses. This requires the ability to identify bottlenecks earlier, operate more flexibly, and provide more substantial support to businesses. Not only should governments address emerging difficulties, but they must also be able to forecast and proactively prepare for future development.

Creating a development environment requires a much higher level of governance than simply reforming procedures. Therefore, reforms at the provincial level in the coming period will be much more difficult than before. Nevertheless, localities cannot avoid change. This is because, as the gap in processing speed or the degree of procedural reduction between localities narrows, competitive development will depend more on the quality of the business environment, the ability to support innovation, and the proactive approach of the government in creating development.

In other words, localities that want to achieve breakthroughs cannot simply stop at "expediting procedures," but must truly become "creative partners," proactively removing resource barriers and maintaining a truly transparent and fair playing field.

Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/tu-cai-cach-thu-tuc-den-kien-tao-phat-trien-10417190.html