PCI 2023: Businesses hope to see more dynamism and pioneering spirit from provincial government
The average score of the component index of Dynamism and Pioneering of the local government apparatus in 2023 showed signs of decline compared to previous years.
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| Private enterprise thermometer. Source: Provincial Competitiveness Index PCI 2023 Report, VCCI announced on May 9, 2024. |
The information was just released at the Announcement Ceremony of the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) and Provincial Green Index (PGI) 2023 taking place in Hanoi.
Many departments and branches do not properly implement policies.
According to a survey by the Vietnam Federation of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) of 10,676 enterprises, 82.1% of enterprises said that the Provincial People's Committee is flexible within the legal framework to create a favorable business environment for private enterprises.
Although this is a very high rate, compared to the 86% level in 2022, there is a decrease in businesses' perception of local government flexibility.
Similarly, 77.1% of businesses still acknowledge the dynamism and creativity of the Provincial People's Committee in solving newly arising problems. This rate also decreased compared to 79.7% in 2022.
Notably, 51.5% of businesses agreed with the statement that "departments and branches do not properly implement the policies of provincial and municipal leaders", up from 50.4% in 2022. Only 40.8% of businesses observed that "province and municipal policies and guidelines on facilitating business operations are stable and consistent" in 2023, down significantly from 50% in 2022 and 53.4% in 2021.
"This is the third consecutive year that the dynamism and creativity of local governments has decreased in score," said Mr. Dau Anh Tuan, Deputy Secretary General of VCCI and Director of the PCI Project.
Private enterprises are less optimistic.
Perhaps the above assessments of businesses should be placed in the difficult context of the volatile and challenging business environment of 2023. Survey results on this issue show that businesses report facing more difficulties than in 2022.
Of the 15 specific difficulties listed, 11 of them recorded a higher rate of businesses facing difficulties in 2023 than before. These were access to credit, finding business premises, finding suppliers, finding personnel, implementing administrative procedures, infrastructure quality, market fluctuations, legal policy fluctuations, protecting intellectual property rights, ensuring contract performance, and natural disasters and climate change.
In particular, the level of optimism among private enterprises is low compared to previous years.
Specifically, only 27% of private enterprises said they would expand production and business in the next two years, a significant decrease from 35% in 2022.
This figure of 27% is also lower than the previous bottom in 2012 - 2013 when the Vietnamese economy faced the double impact of the global financial crisis and domestic macroeconomic instability.
The survey data also showed that the proportion of businesses planning to reduce the scale of business or close down in the 2023 survey reached 16.2%. This figure is significantly higher than the 10.7% recorded in the 2022 survey and close to the record high of 16.6% in the 2021 survey when Vietnam was still in the center of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In this context, businesses will tend to look to the dynamism and creativity of local authorities in supporting and facilitating production and business activities.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the PCI 2023 announcement ceremony, Mr. Pham Tan Cong, Chairman of VCCI, said that the results of the PCI and PGI 2023 survey showed that the Vietnamese business community highly appreciated the active efforts of provincial and municipal authorities in improving the business environment compared to before. Specifically, Mr. Cong mentioned 5 highlights.
(1) The quality of economic management at the provincial level continues to improve over time, with the median PCI index score of the whole country reaching 66.66 points in 2023, an increase of nearly 1.44 points compared to 2022.
(2) Business support work has positive changes. Most of the assessment indicators on the implementation of business support policies in 2023 have improved compared to 2022;
(3) Informal costs continue to decline. The proportion of enterprises reporting having to pay informal costs in 2023 is 33.3%, down sharply from 66% in 2015-2016 and the record high of 70% in 2006 when this indicator was first included in the survey;
(4) Market entry procedures are more favorable, recording positive changes in handling administrative procedures in business registration;
(5) 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.
Source: https://baodautu.vn/pci-2023-doanh-nghiep-mong-thay-nhieu-hon-tinh-than-nang-dong-tien-phong-cua-chinh-quyen-tinh-d214708.html
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