Improving PCI
FNF supports improving investment environment and provincial competitiveness
On June 13, 2020, Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF) Vietnam had co-organized the conference of "Analysis of Bac Giang’s components of PCI (Provincial Competitiveness Index) in 2019 - Solutions to improve these PCI components in 2020". The conference was successfully conducted in Bac Giang City under the direction of the provincial People's Committee, in collaboration with the Department of Information and Communications, the Department of Health, the City People's Committee and the central and local press agencies.
The Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) is an important indicator reflecting the business environment, the quality of economic administration and the administrative reform efforts of provincial governments, thus, the promotion of private sector’s development. The PCI was made by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Vietnam.
FNF Vietnam had realized that, during the 4th industrial revolution and the broader international economic integration, the importance of quality growth and sustainability have changed significantly and provoked the pressure to renovate provincial production and business models. Moreover, after the European – Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) was officially ratified by the National Assembly and the mission of Vietnam to rise up after the crisis, the country and its cities/provinces are under pressure to improve the investment environment, to promote the private economy development and catch up with new waves of FDI. In this context, PCI plays an important role to improve business environment, quality of economic governance and administrative reforms at provincial level.
The conference was held in Bac Giang City, also watched live by participants of different areas in the province. More than 2.000 leaders, business representatives and leaders of organizations had the opportunity to be informed in detail about Bac Giang’s PCI component indicators in 2019. Experts from the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) had also shared the reasons behind these indicators’ decrease in the past year, then proposed solutions to drastically improve this index in 2020 in the long term. Furthermore, representatives of Quang Ninh and Bac Ninh - provinces with high national PCI, also shared practical experience in applying innovations from the index to make a difference between provinces and cities.
The conference had showed the partnership between Bac Giang Department of Planning and Investment, the Investment Promotion Center (IPC Bac Giang) and FNF Vietnam. Also, it presents the important role and contribution of FNF Vietnam in the process of helping the province improve their business investment environment.
In the period of 2016-2020, the FNF Vietnam has co-organized with IPC Bac Giang the following activities:
- 02 scientific research topics;
- 04 conferences to improve provincial business environment and competitiveness;
- 06 training programs with the participation of over 1.300 officials and businesses to disseminate the content and benefits of EVFTA.
In short, not only the PCI creates a truly open and transparent business environment, it also builds trust between the business community and authorities. It is undeniable that raising the PCI is an important mission of cities and provinces to support administrative reforms and improve their state management efficiency.