A woman conducting administrative procedures in Quang Ninh (Photo: VNA) This is the second time Quang Ninh has held the highestposition in the 12 years the PAPI survey has been conducted in Vietnam.
The province was followed by the southernprovince of Binh Duong, and the central province of Thanh Hoa. Meanwhile, thenorthern mountainous province of Cao Bang was at the bottom.
Vietnam’s efforts to overcome the socio-economic impacts ofthe unprecedented health crisis in 2022 translated into increased economicconfidence at household and national levels. In a notable turnaround, 66.1% of the respondents viewed the nationaleconomy as “good” in 2022 – a 19.4% leap from a year earlier, while there was a13.7% drop in citizens assessing conditions as “bad” from 19.8% in 2021 to only6.1% in 2022. Similarly, at the household level, fewer citizens reported theireconomic situation was “poor” (11.4 versus 15.3% in 2021).
Despite this progress, some scarring from the health crisiswas evident. While 56% of the respondents confirmed their economic conditions werebetter in 2022 than a year earlier (52%), aside from 2021, this percentage in2022 was still the lowest since 2012. Similarly, those suggesting that theireconomic conditions were worse rose to their highest levels since 2012, exceptfor 2021. This underlined that many respondents are still feeling thelingering pain of the economic damage by the pandemic, with ethnic minoritiesand women most acutely impacted given the higher prevalence of poverty andvulnerable employment among them.
The transition to the post-pandemic era is also reflected inhealth and health insurance as 2021’s issue of greatest concern plummeting from23.84 to 6.38% to be overtaken by poverty/hunger (22.13%) – perennially at thetop of the list since 2015, aside from pandemic-hit 2021.
With a record 16,117 respondents randomly selected from all of Vietnam’s 63provinces and cities, PAPI is in a unique position to deliver invaluableinsights into government performance at all levels two years into its 2021-2026term and actualise the 2023 legislative agenda.
The index is a policy monitoring tool that assesses citizenexperiences and satisfaction with government performance at the national andsub-national levels in governance, public administration and public servicedelivery. Following the initial pilot in 2009 and a larger survey in 2010, thePAPI survey has been implemented nationwide each year since 2011. For the 2022PAPI Report, 16,117 randomly selected citizens were surveyed. In total, 178,243Vietnamese citizens nationwide have been directly interviewed for PAPI since2009.
PAPI measures eight dimensions: participation at locallevels, transparency, vertical accountability, control of corruption, publicadministrative procedures, public service delivery, environmental governanceand e-government.
Quang Ninh also topped Vietnam’s Provincial CompetitivenessIndex (PCI) 2022, as announced in the PCI 2022 report by the Vietnam Chamber ofCommerce and Industry (VCCI) on April 11.
This is the 6th year in a row it has topped the charts. Itwas followed by Bac Giang, Hai Phong, Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Dong Thap./.
VNA
