VCCI President Vu Tien Loc speaks at the PCI 2019 launch ceremony – PHOTO: VNA

Speaking at the PCI 2019 launch ceremony this morning, May 5, Vu Tien Loc, president of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which wrote the report, stated that the number of businesses that had to pay informal charges has dropped over the past three years.

The report indicated that nearly 60% of businesses that started construction work in the past two years claimed they had faced difficulties with administrative procedures and renting land.

“Without these informal charges and difficulties in completing administrative procedures, businesses in Vietnam could have developed significantly,” Loc said.

Many private firms stated that the business environment in Vietnam has become fairer, but it still needs further improvement, especially in terms of transparency. 

According to the report, Vietnamese localities’ average PCI score in 2019 was 65, the highest score in the 15-year history of the report.

The northern province of Quang Ninh continued to be the most competitive locality in the country for the third straight year, with 73.4 points, followed by the Mekong Delta provinces of Dong Thap and Vinh Long, with 72.1 points and 71.3 points, respectively.

Compared with the PCI 2018, HCMC fell out of the Top 10 to the 14th place, while Danang and Hanoi kept their respective positions of fifth and ninth place. 

The PCI 2019 was based on responses from some 12,400 enterprises nationwide. SGT