Nghe An organizes workshop to find solutions to improve the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI).
On the morning of August 9th, in Vinh City, the People's Committee of Nghe An province organized a workshop to assess the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) for 2023 and find solutions for improvement in the future.
Attending the workshop at the Vinh City venue, representing Nghe An province were: Mr. Hoang Nghia Hieu - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee; and Mr. Nguyen Nam Dinh - Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council.
Comrade Bui Thanh An - Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, and Mr. Hoang Quang Phong - Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) co-chaired the workshop.
Also attending were representatives from provincial departments and agencies, representatives from provincial business associations and entrepreneurs; the Quang Ninh Provincial Investment Promotion Support Board, the Nghe An branch of VCCI, and delegates from the People's Committees of 21 districts, cities, and towns.
Strong determination to improve the investment environment
Based on a review of the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) results from the past to the present, especially the province's PCI results in 2023, Mr. Bui Thanh An - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee - emphasized that Nghe An will have a specific plan and roadmap to improve the investment environment and enhance competitiveness.
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Nghe An is also determined and open to receiving feedback and assessments to improve its PCI (Provincial Competitiveness Index) to attract investment and promote the province's socio-economic development. Departments, agencies, and the People's Committees of districts, cities, and towns need to seriously consider and, based on research and discussion, present their opinions and suggestions to clarify and find solutions to improve the PCI index in the future…
Mr. Hoang Quang Phong, Vice President of the Vietnam Federation of Commerce and Industry, also highly appreciated Nghe An's efforts in improving the investment environment and enhancing its PCI index.
Currently, according to representatives of the Vietnam Federation of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), the PCI assessment has become an annual activity of VCCI, a result of cooperation between VCCI and USAID (USA), and is highly valued and recognized by the Government as an information channel for improving policies, the investment and business environment, and enhancing national competitiveness.
At the workshop, representatives from the VCCI's Legal Department presented a summary of the process of distributing questionnaires to assess the PCI index in 2023 across provinces and cities nationwide, as well as the PCI index results for Nghe An province.
Based on a clear analysis of the increase and decrease in scores among provinces and Nghe An, the expert also highlighted the challenges of 2023 and the next two years; and the trends in adopting and competing to improve the investment environment in the provinces. The score difference between provinces is not large, so even if the scores are low this year, they can be surpassed next year if localities and businesses work together and make efforts.
According to the VCCI's assessment and ranking, in 2023 Nghe An's PCI index reached 65.72 points, ranking 44th nationwide and 3rd in the North Central region. Compared to 2022, Nghe An's PCI index decreased by 0.88 points, dropping 21 places.
Of the 10 PCI component indicators, 3 indicators increased in score and ranking; 1 indicator increased in score but remained unchanged in ranking; 1 indicator increased in score but decreased in ranking; and 5 indicators decreased in score and ranking.
Continue to improve the component indicators.
According to the VCCI representative, although Nghe An's PCI results in 2023 were outside the top 30 provinces and cities, Nghe An has several strong indicators such as training, labor recruitment, digital transformation, and administrative procedure reform; the province has policies to support businesses but needs to do even better…
However, based on an analysis of the province's many limitations and bottlenecks, especially those with median scores lower than the national average, the VCCI representative also issued warnings and recommendations that the province needs to make greater efforts to achieve better results.
In addition, one of the new requirements is the Provincial Green Growth and Transformation Index (PGI), which also needs more attention, as the Government has made commitments to the international community and has a roadmap for implementation.
Contributing to the workshop, representatives from the Departments of Internal Affairs, Planning and Investment, the People's Committee of Vinh City, Nghi Loc District, and the business community presented their opinions, outlining the PCI assessment results for their respective localities, the indicators that increased or decreased in score, and the reasons for this.
Based on identifying the causes of existing limitations, departments, agencies, and localities also outlined roadmaps, solutions, and commitments for implementation; at the same time, by highlighting obstacles at the grassroots level and in business practice, they made recommendations to the Provincial People's Committee and central ministries and agencies to improve the provincial competitiveness index in the future.
At the workshop, Mr. Nguyen Manh Cuong - Deputy Head of the Investment Promotion and Support Board of Quang Ninh province, a unit that consistently leads the PCI ranking among 63 provinces and cities nationwide, also presented a paper sharing experiences in maintaining and sustaining the component indicators.
On behalf of the provincial leadership, Mr. Bui Thanh An, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, received the comments and suggestions from the departments, agencies, and especially the business community; and the Quang Ninh Provincial Investment Promotion and Support Board.
Frankly pointing out the shortcomings, limitations, and reasons for the decline in the province's PCI index in 2023, the Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee emphasized the requirements and goals for improving the province's PCI component indicators in the coming period.
Specifically, the Provincial People's Committee plans to have 6 groups of solutions and tasks assigned to departments, agencies, and local authorities for implementation. These include requiring departments, agencies, and localities to adhere to key indicators in implementation, considering them as criteria for year-end performance evaluation, and actively disseminating provincial policies before their issuance so that the community and people understand and grasp them.
Nghe An also hopes that business associations and entrepreneurs will continue to work alongside the province, cooperate, and strive to overcome difficulties, contributing to improving the PCI index in the coming time.
