US Ambassador to Vietnam Daniel J. Kritenbrink believes that the most important values and products of the PCI are not the rankings of localities, but rather the sharing of the lessons learned, along with models and technology reforms.
The past 16 years has seen the PCI play an important role in promoting transparency and accountability in provincial economic governance domestically whilst facilitating private economic development as a means of promoting the nation’s competitiveness within the international arena.
Informal fees have continued to decline in recent years due to positive results achieved in the fight against corruption. In addition, both domestic and foreign investors are applying modern technologies as part of efforts to develop a greener, more stable economy, the diplomat states.
According to Ambassador Kritenbrink, the country has yielded several positive results due to improved administrative procedures, especially in terms of customs procedures. Vietnamese success in the fight against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has also had a positive impact on the local business climate in recent times.
Despite a high proportion of firms being negatively impacted by COVID-19 last year, Vietnamese businesses were largely able to continue their operations. Overall, the PCI underscores the success in the country’s economic development strategy based on FDI attraction and domestic private sector development.
Along with these remarkable results there remains a number of areas of major concern, such as corruption control, procedural systems, regulations, infrastructure, and quality public services.
Despite significant improvements occurring in these areas, last year saw only 27% of FDI enterprises rate the level of corruption in Vietnam as less common than in China, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
Furthermore, only 32% of FDI enterprises believe that the Vietnamese system of procedures, regulations, and infrastructure is better than that of these countries, while roughly 42% of them state that the quality of Vietnamese public service delivery is better.
These figures are largely in line with the judgment of the Korean Chamber of Business in Vietnam (KORCHAM), who say that infrastructure and regulatory systems are two areas in which the nation can further improve in to attract new investors moving forward.
Foreign financiers also expect that the country will continue controlling corruption, whilst simultaneously improving the quality of public service delivery, revamping procedures, and greatly upgrading the quality of infrastructure facilities.
