In the 2011 PCI ranking, Quang Ngai climbed 37 levels, from 55th to 18th out of 63 provinces and cities nationwide with a total of 62.24 points. It is the first time that Quang Ngai has been listed among the good management group since PCI rankings were launched in 2005. This is attributed to tireless endeavours made by the local authority with a view to reforming administrative procedures and creating favourable conditions for investors who take an interest in Quang Ngai.
With achievements it made, Quang Ngai leapt from the group with average PCI in the period of 2007-2010 to the group having good PCI in 2011. In comparison with other central coastal provinces, Quang Ngai also makes strong improvement, ranking fifth after Da Nang, Ha Tinh, Quang Nam and Quang Tri. Particularly, Quang Ngai surpasses Da Nang, the leading province in the Central coastal in a number of indexes, including: time costs of regulatory compliance; informal charges; land access and tenure security. Delightedly, all the sub-indexes see remarkable progress, i.e. entry costs increase from 6.65 to 9.03; informal charges from 6.24 to 7.63; time costs of regulatory compliance from 6.01 to 7.46; land access and tenure security from 4.62 to 7.0.9; transparency and access to information from 5.15 to 6.59; and legal institutions from 4.99 to 6.66.
Outstanding improvement made in PCI indicators show tremendous efforts made by provincial leaders and leaders of relevant agencies in creating favourable conditions for enterprises making investment in Quang Ngai. These are optimistic signals sent out by the local authority in calling for and attracting investment in the years to come. The province has made lots of endeavours to reform its administrative procedures, minimize informal charges, and enable enterprises to perform entry procedures. In addition, transparency in announcing plans, providing consultancy and information as well as legal institutions all reach positive results.
However, it should be noted that being listed among the good management group does not mean that the investment environment of Quang Ngai has been perfect and appealing to all investors. Some sub-indexes still need improving, including the proactivity of provincial leadership (3.05 and 3.54 in 2010 and 2011, respectively), business support services (5.63 and 3.22 in 2010 and 2011, respectively), and labour and training (4.66 and 4.46 in 2010 and 2011, respectively). Business support services are still insufficient and poor; labour, particularly high quality labour, scarce; both of which hinder investors from investing here.
As such, to further improve the investment environment is the leading objective Quang Ngai aims at in the years to come. Chairman of Quang Ngai People’s Committee, Mr Cao Khoa, requested that agencies and organizations in the area enhance their awareness of and seriously consider PCI improvement as an important content in the administrative reform mission in 2012 and so on.
At the Chairman’s request, all the agencies and organizations were to kick off development of PCI improvement plan right in QI 2012. He placed emphasis on the role and responsibility of leaders of such agencies and organizations in such mission.
It can be seen that during the past years, Quang Ngai has made lots of endeavours in reforming administrative procedures and achieved certain results. However, such endeavours have not met the expectations of enterprises. Therefore, continuing to implement administrative reform is among the top priorities to upgrade the rank of Quang Ngai in PCI ranking in the coming years. The province, accordingly, will keep reviewing administrative procedures, reduce and do away with unnecessary procedures and minimize the time needed for completion of such procedures. The province has set the goal of creating a good investment environment and the most favourable conditions for investors.
Leaders of the province will seek for specific solutions to existing barriers to enterprises, aiming at establishing a transparent investment environment for enterprises to develop well in the period of integration and competition. Enterprises, especially SMEs, will accordingly be supported in their operation and production. Operation and establishment of associations will also be facilitated. They are identified as a channel for consultation before policies are issued and an official channel to reflect the proposals of enterprises. At the same time, they will act as a focal point to assist the province to propagate policies and guidelines of the State to enterprises.
Tung Lam
Vietnamese
