A night view of Đà Nẵng City. The city maintained its status as the most competitive locality in the country, topping the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) 2016 for the fourth consecutive year. — Photo palmvietnamtravel.com

HÀ NỘI — Đà Nẵng maintained its status as the most competitive locality in the country, topping the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) 2016 for the fourth consecutive year and seventh year at the top position since the rank was announced.

The annual report, the 12th of is kind so far, gathers feedback and assessments from the community on the business environment, economic management quality and administrative reform efforts of the municipal and provincial governments across Việt Nam . 

According to VCCI President Vũ Tiến Lộc the PCI collects the opinions of private firms, with an aim to promote their growth, especially micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, while creating jobs for people. 

According to US Ambassador to Việt Nam Ted Osius the PCI report is important to investors and businesses interested in Việt Nam. The collection and analysis of data for the report shows that competition helps improve operation effectiveness, and will also promote trade cooperation as well as economic growth and prosperity. 

In results launched yesterday, the city gained the top score of 70 points.

Following Đà Nẵng were the north-eastern province of Quảng Ninh (65.60 points) and the southern province of Đồng Tháp (64.96 points).

Bình Dương (63.57 points), Vĩnh Long (62.76 points) and Lào Cai (63.49 points) regained their position at the top of the table this year. HCM City, Thái Nguyên, Vĩnh Phúc and Quảng Nam also received positive assessments for their efforts in improving the business environment.

Notably, Hà Nội for the first time surpassed the level of 60 points after many years, jumping to 14th position out of 63 localities.

Northern mountainous localities were still in the lowest PCI group with Cao Bằng, Lai Châu, Đắk Nông, Bắc Kạn and Hà Giang provinces at the bottom.

“PCI 2016 also revealed that provinces at the bottom of the rankings have seen efforts in improving their business environment. The gap between the highest and lowest ranked provinces was narrowed to 17 points, a record low level for the past 12 years,” said Đậu Anh Tuấn, head of the Legal Department under theViệt Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The report also revealed the most attractive destinations for investment in the country including HCM City, Đà Nẵng, Hà Nội, Bình Dương, Cần Thơ, Lào Cai, Bắc Ninh, Đồng Nai, Hải Phòng and Khánh Hòa.

VNS infographic Thái Hà

Domestic companies last year reported an increase of 11 per cent in their investment scale while the average capital saw a high growth rate of VND18.1 billion which was VND2 billion higher than that of 2015.

Local firms in 2016 also saw a 13 per cent year-on-year rise in their new employment figures, which was nearly double that of the previous year.

The rate of companies reporting losses was also reduced by 1 per cent, to 23 per cent in 2016.

The report also revealed that more than 51 per cent of FDI firms would expand their businesses in Việt Nam in the next two years.

The business prospect confidence of FDI companies operating in Việt Nam has been maintained as they have been more optimistic about business results in the current period than that in 2012-13 period.

The survey collected ideas from 1,550 FDI enterprises from 46 countries and territories. The surveyed companies have been operating in 14 cities and provinces in the country with the highest number of FDI firms.

It said the planned expansion of investment in Việt Nam was down to changes in regulations and laws that have created a friendly legal environment for foreign investors. Especially, FDI enterprises have highly praised the reduction in corruption and costs for penetrating the market.

It said that the quality of governance of cities and provinces had been improving. Compared to 2015, good signs were seen in various sectors, including dynamism and pioneering by the provincial administrations, informal cost, labour-force training, equal competition and business registration. However, the burden of administrative procedures and land access had yet to be solved, while the legal environment was not yet safe, posing obstacles for many domestic businesses. The PCI report 2016 also reflects the rising trend of household businesses, as 65 percent of the firms enjoyed profit, the highest figure in the last five years. 

The PCI, first launched in 2005, aims to assess the ease of doing business, economic governance and administrative reform efforts of local governments of 63 provinces and cities in Việt Nam. — VNS