Previously, Vinh Phuc province always secured a very high rank in the provincial competitiveness index (PCI). However, in the past few years, its PCI has weakened in some criteria. Therefore, making clear the current status and influencing factors to find effective solutions to raise PCI ranking is an urgent task for the province.
PCI is an information channel for provincial leaders to know where to focus on to enhance public administration reform; raise professional qualifications, skills and performances of officials and civil servants; improve the business environment; and attract high-value investment projects in order to maintain sustainable economic growth. PCI also helps investors and enterprises to envisage the general economic picture of the province, its advantages and disadvantages, to forecast future development. At the same time, they will have a better overview look on investment and business environment of each locality and of the country as a whole to determine the most exact and efficient investment locations.
For the above reasons, in 2012, at the request of Vinh Phuc Provincial People’s Committee, the Vinh Phuc Industrial Zones Authority carried out a topic called “Current situation and solutions to improve and raise PCI of Vinh Phuc.” After one year of deployment, the topic introduced scientific and practical bases and pointed out solutions for PCI improvement.
According to the overall PCI ranking from 2005 to 2011, Vinh Phuc always stood in good and very good groups, with high-ranking index components which gained scores year after year. Survey data showed that private firms in Vinh Phuc province sensed reform and renewal of the provincial government. Vinh Phuc had good initiatives to build mechanisms and support policies, resolve problems and create favourable conditions for business community development. Many important policies and mechanisms on construction and implementation of production and business investment projects were issued by the provincial government. The province launched and implemented a number of measures to create a favourable environment and a level playing field for businesses, continued improving and developing electronics interfaces and web pages of competent agencies, including the Vinh Phuc Industrial Zones Authority, to provide necessary information for investors and enterprises.
The province also applies Central Government-based policies on reform of administrative procedures and organisation of one-stop source mechanism in order to provide better support for investors and businesses to deal with difficulties and obstacles in business registration, tax payment and construction permit application. As of 2011, the province had 4,843 registered enterprises with a combined investment capital of VND30,115 billion, which paid VND15,450 billion of taxes to the State Budget in the year. These results partly reflected the province’s efforts to improve the quality of the business environment.
Despite positive results, the province’s PCI ranking in recent years plummeted. It dropped three places in 2009 over 2008, ranking sixth among 63 provinces and cities throughout the country, lost nine spots in 2010 to the 15th position, fell another two places in 2011 to 17th position, and went down 26 places to the 43rd position. Some PCI component indices declined in the ranking, particularly access to land, labour training, legal institutions, dynamism of provincial leadership, and business support services.
To have a facelift, the Provincial People’s Committee issued many solutions to improve the investment climate and raise PCI ranking like issuing the Plan 1775/KH-UBND dated May 16, 2012 on propaganda and information of investment environment improvement and PCI enhancement, directed provincial agencies, districts and cities, within their capacity, to study, propose and advise the Provincial People’s Committee on specific solutions to raise the quality, efficiency of investment promotion activities, improve and enhance PCI in the future.
Knowing that it is not easy to lift the PCI ranking in the national scale and that this process requires regular, continuous and creative efforts, Vinh Phuc province introduced a number of solutions to address existing problems. The province will continue to improve operational efficiency of governmental apparatus at all levels, ensure uninterrupted communication among State agencies and inform all subjects of the province’s efforts to better investment environment and heighten PCI ranking. Specially, the province will place emphasis on accelerating public administration reform, apply one-stop source mechanism, enhance accountability and ethical quality of civil servants and officials, and often regularly review the simplification of administrative procedures.
The province will also strengthen and renovate investment promotion activities, develop long-term investment promotion strategies, integrate investment promotion programmes of the province and the country, enhance publicity and transparency of socioeconomic development planning, industry development planning and related information to investors and businesses.
Vinh Phuc province drops a lot of scores in land access and land-use stability index over the past years. So, in the future, the province will continue to improve land access and land-use sustainability regulations. In particular, it will specify land price rates, introduce cleared land sites for investors, stabilise land prices and grant land-use rights certificates.
In particular, the province will continue to uplift vocational training quality to ensure quality manpower supply, improve the quality of business support services, intensify meetings and dialogues with businesses, and settle requests and proposals from enterprises.
Le Hien
Đăng ký: VietNam News