Mekong Delta localities improve business environment

Dong Thap province's Cao Lanh city. Dong Thap ranks second in the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) ranking in 2015. (Source: www.dulichvn.org.vn)

Dong Thap (VNA) – Localities in the Mekong Delta region have improved their rankings in the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI), particularly in business environment, according to the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).

In a conference on PCI 2015 held in the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap province on May 9 by the VCCI’s Can Tho chapter, Pham Ngoc Thach, Deputy Head of the VCCI’s Legal Department highlighted Dong Thap’s PCI, which puts the province in second place out of the 63 provinces and cities nationwide and in first place in the Mekong Delta region.

The province leads the country’s ranking in terms of time cost and dynamism.

Dau Anh Tuan, Head of the VCCI’s Legal Department and Director of the Project on Enhancing Provincial Competiveness, said improvements in administrative reform in the Mekong Delta region are seen in many aspects such as 78 percent of civil servants are friendly and effective.

The role of associations increased from 28 to 45 percent in 2015 and the dynamism and creativity of the local governments reached from 62 to 82 percent, he added.

However, Tuan said, the quality of labourers in Mekong Delta region is still low, just 5.2 percent, and only 31.2 percent of labourers are trained, the lowest level in the whole country.

The services assisting enterprises have yet to be developed and the execution quality in some departments and sectors has been limited.

According to representatives in Ben Tre and Vinh Long provinces and Can Tho city, to improve the PCI, it is necessary to improve business environment, reform administrative procedures, use information technology, promote investment environment and pro-business policies, and invest in infrastructure development.

Vo Hung Dung, Director of the VCCI Can Tho, it is the fact that Mekong Delta localities benefit from the PCI, which helps improve image of the region and its attractiveness to foreign investors.

In 2005, the region attracted only 148 million USD in foreign direct investment capital but the figure rose to 3.53 billion USD in 2015.-VNA