This photo shows Long Hậu Industrial Park in Long An Province. The province is committed to further improving its business environment to retain its place in the top three in the PCI rankings. VNA/VNS Photo Minh Hưng

The Mekong Delta province of Long An is committed to further improving its business environment, securing its place in the top three in the Provincial Competitiveness Index rankings, according to the provincial People’s Committee (Administration).

With 70,94 points, Long An moved up eight spots to second position in the country and first in the delta in the 2023 PCI rankings, serving as a strong testament to the province’s efforts in enhancing its business climate.

In addition, it ranked eighth nationwide and first in the delta in the 2023 Public Administrative Reform Index (PAR INDEX) rankings.

“Long An aims to achieve a PCI score of 73.95 points in 2024, an increase of 3.015 points from last year, to retain its place in the top three in the PCI rankings,” Nguyễn Văn Út, chairman of the provincial People's Committee, said.

He defined PCI as an important index in terms of measuring the quality of local administrations and also a key factor in attracting investment and developing provincial economies, and said Long An would focus on strengthening administrative reform, promptly resolving difficulties and obstacles faced by the public and businesses, and responding in a timely and comprehensive manner to their feedback and requests.

To mitigate obstacles related to overarching mechanisms and policies, he has instructed local authorities to propose timely solutions.

The province would intensify support for newly registered businesses, helping them with the registration of necessary services to commence operations.

He urged each provincial department, sector and organisation to focus on carrying out groups of solutions such as simplifying administrative procedures, and implementing the "one-stop shop" mechanism so as to lift up the province’s position in the PAR Index and the Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI) rankings.

He has directed the heads of departments and agencies and district and commune administrations to enhance communication to improve the attitude of officials to ensure the public and businesses are satisfied.

Attractive investment destination

Workers at the Interhouse LA Corporation’s furniture manufacturing factory in Hòa Bình Industrial Park in Long An Province. VNA/VNS Photo Minh Hưng

Trương Văn Liếp, director of the provincial Department of Planning and Investment, said Long An's favourable geographic location, well developed socioeconomic infrastructure, abundant industrial lands, and efforts to create a safe, friendly and conducive business environment had made the province a bright spot in the country in attracting investment over the past years.

The province had attracted investments worth US$11.5 billion in 1,339 projects from 40 countries and territories alongside over VNĐ491 trillion ($19.8 billion) from local companies in 2,250 projects, Liếp said.

Building investor trust and achieving high rankings in competitiveness and administrative reform indexes is challenging, but sustaining and rising in the rankings are even more difficult, according to Liếp.

Long An’s approach is to be a service-oriented government that fosters development, creates a favourable, safe and competitive business environment, enhances the efficiency of investment attraction efforts, and maintains a top PCI ranking to drive its sustainable development.

As an investor in the province, Sung Hwa Vina Co Ltd in Hòa Bình Industrial Park in Thủ Thừa District, one of the leading socks manufacturers for export, has a stable, long-term order book and has imported high-tech knitting machines to serve the production of various premium socks lines with an annual capacity of around 100 million pairs.

Kim Sunsook, general director of Sung Hwa Vina, said the company started production and business in Long An in 2016, and faced many challenges, especially in the early days and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“[But] thanks to support and encouragement from authorities in Long An, we managed to overcome those difficulties and continued to grow. Additionally, through cooperation with Long An College, we have implemented training and internship programmes to recruit high-quality workers. As a result, Sung Hwa Vina now has a skilled workforce that meets the diverse requirements of many customers.”

Nguyễn Thanh Nguyên, deputy director of Medcen JSC - also based in Hòa Bình Industrial Park and with interests in pharmaceutical manufacturing and trading - highlighted the province’s favourable location adjacent to HCM City and as the gateway to the Mekong Delta, which helps her company reduce logistics costs and delivery times.

She also praised the province's highly developed transport infrastructure on roads and waterways, saying industrial parks and clusters in the province are well invested in terms of technical infrastructure, electricity, water, wastewater treatment, and telecommunications systems, creating favourable conditions for production activities.

Furthermore, the province had offered various incentives, including corporate income tax reductions and land rental waivers for businesses investing in pharmaceuticals and high technology, she said.

During both the construction and operational phases, the province's Department of Health provided the company with timely guidance and support for product review and registration, Nguyên said.

The Long An Economic Zone administration also assisted with obtaining construction permits and factory operations. The province government and local trade promotion agencies regularly organised networking events, giving businesses the opportunity to find partners and expand their markets, she said.

"We hope that in the future Long An will offer more special incentives to businesses investing in high-tech, green and sustainable production," Nguyên said.

"We also expect the provincial authorities to continue organising networking events, trade fairs, and international trade promotion activities, helping businesses find strategic partners and expand their markets.”

Huỳnh Văn Sơn, vice chairman of the provincial People's Committee, said: "Long An is always ready to support investors, and continues to promote the implementation of comprehensive plans and action programmes to boost socio-economic development and drastic solutions to improve the investment environment.

"Long An also looks forward to initiatives and proposals from the business community to ensure effective investment, and develop in a sustainable manner together with the province.” VNS