This morning (May 9), the Vietnam Federation of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) held a ceremony to announce the PCI 2023 and the Provincial Green Index (PGI) 2023. Accordingly, Quang Ninh, Long An, Hai Phong, Bac Giang and Dong Thap are the top 5 localities in the PCI 2023 rankings.

Notably, Quang Ninh province maintained its top position for the seventh consecutive year with 71.25 points. This locality made a clear mark in reducing administrative burdens for businesses, with the Time Cost component index reaching 8.54 points, the highest in the country.

Along with that, Quang Ninh continues to effectively implement business support programs, with the Business Support component index (CSTP) reaching 7.72 points, ranking 2nd nationwide. This province also ranks 3rd nationwide in efforts to reduce the burden of informal costs for businesses, with the CSTP Informal Costs reaching 7.72 points.

PCI index

Long An became a "new star" when it rose to the runner-up position in 2023 with 70.94 points, up 8 places compared to 2022. Businesses highly appreciated this locality in its efforts to cut informal costs for businesses (with CSTP Informal Costs reaching 7.74 points), ranking 2nd out of 62 localities.

Long An province is also highly appreciated by businesses for the quality and effectiveness of administrative procedure reform, with the Time Cost Reform Index reaching 8.40 points, ranking 4th out of 63 provinces and cities. In addition, the province is also recognized for the dynamism and pioneering nature of its government apparatus with the Dynamism and Pioneering Reform Index reaching 7.24 points, ranking 4th nationwide.

Hai Phong City continues to extend its streak of 3 consecutive years in the Top 5 PCI since 2021; while Bac Giang marks its second appearance in the Top 5 since 2022. Dong Thap Province continues its streak of 16 consecutive years in the Top 5 PCI nationwide from 2008 to present.

In this PCI ranking, Ho Chi Minh City ranked 27th with 67.19 points and Hanoi ranked 28th with 67.15 points.

VCCI Chairman Pham Tan Cong said that the provinces in the bottom group are growing strongly thanks to making good use of the "advantage of being a latecomer" by actively learning and applying successful lessons from the group of provinces with higher quality of governance.

In addition, business support has seen positive changes. Most indicators assessing the implementation of business support policies in 2023 have improved compared to 2022; informal costs continue to decrease.

The proportion of enterprises reporting having to pay informal charges in 2023 is 33.3%, down sharply from 66% in 2015-2016 and a record 70% in 2006 when this indicator was first included in the survey; market entry procedures are more favorable, recording positive changes in handling administrative procedures in business registration.

“Administrative procedure reform has achieved many positive results, especially about 77% of businesses said that implementing administrative procedures online helps save more time and costs for businesses compared to traditional methods. This shows that the digital transformation efforts of localities have brought positive results,” he emphasized.

However, according to Mr. Cong, the PCI and PGI 2023 reports show that Vietnam's business environment also has some points that need attention. From the reflection of businesses, it can be seen that obstacles in accessing land are showing signs of increasing, the business environment is not truly equal for small and medium enterprises, and the dynamism and pioneering spirit of local government officials are showing signs of slowing down.

In addition, businesses are also facing many difficulties in their operations. The main difficulties include access to credit, finding customers, market fluctuations, policy and legal fluctuations, and negative impacts of natural disasters and climate change, he pointed out.

Since 2005, the PCI has measured and ranked 63 provinces and cities in Vietnam on economic governance dimensions that impact the development of the private sector. This report presents the ranking of the 30 provinces and cities with the best economic governance quality of the year.

Accordingly, the PCI Index measures the quality of economic governance of provincial governments in 10 areas important to the development of private sector enterprises.

A locality is considered to have good governance when it has: Low market entry costs; easy access to land and stable land use; transparent business environment and public business information; low informal costs; quick time for inspection, examination and implementation of regulations and administrative procedures;

In addition, there is an equal competitive environment; the provincial government is proactive and creative in solving problems for businesses; policies to support businesses in implementing to meet business needs; the quality of labor training is good and dispute resolution procedures are fair, effective and security and order are maintained.

Ben Tre: PCI index reached 68.04 points, up 5 places According to the data table published by VCCI Vietnam, Ben Tre's PCI index reached 68.04 points (up 1.7 points), up 5 places compared to 2021, ranked 13/63 provinces and cities, ranked 4/13 provinces and cities in the Mekong Delta region.