HÀ NỘI — The northern province of Quảng Ninh pledged to hasten administrative reforms towards building a transparent business environment and sustainable development.

Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyễn Đức Long was speaking at a ceremony on Wednesday to announce the province’s 2017 department and district competitiveness index (DDCI).

Long said that DDCI through dialogues with firms helped the province to identify and tackle problems in administrative management.

“With DDCI, Quảng Ninh expects to convey a message to businesses about a vision of a transparent business environment and sustainable growth,” he said.

The index measures the efficiency of economic management of the local government through eight criteria, including transparency, proactivity of leadership, time costs of regulatory compliance, informal charges, policy bias, legal institutions, business support and accountability of the leader.

The index presented views of some 1,500 businesses, co-operatives and business households.

This was the third year Quảng Ninh Province announced the DDCI to evaluate the performance of 14 districts, towns and cities and 21 departments in the province.

Cẩm Phả Town, Quảng Yên Town, Móng Cái City, Uông Bí City and Hạ Long City were in the top five by competitiveness index.

The top five departments included the departments of customs, planning and investment, tax, education and training and the Economic Zone Management Board.

“Renovating mindsets, listening to the business community, implementing practical solutions and ensuring transparency have become the stimulator for reforms in the province,” Long said.

A new point this year was that the province listened to businesses’ opinions through social networks, which director of the Central Institute for Economic Management Nguyễn Đình Cung said was “brave”.

Still, the province has significant room for more reforms, Vũ Tiến Lộc, chairman of the Việt Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry said. “More can be done to satisfy businesses and residents.”

Lộc said that it was important to remove administrative procedures and reduce the roles of Government agencies in State-owned enterprises while involving the private sector in providing public services and enhancing legal institutions.

Quảng Ninh was among few provinces and cities to announce its DDCI, besides Đà Nẵng, Tuyên Quang and Lào Cai.

Quảng Ninh ranked second out of 63 provinces and cities in provincial competitiveness index in 2016. — VNS