Hanoi (VNA) – Unceasing effortshave helped Quang Ninh continue to rise in the ranking of provincial competitivenessindex (PCI), from the fifth place in 2014 to the third position in 2015 and thesecond place in 2016. The northern coastal provinceparticularly recorded remarkable improvements in the sub-indices of entry costsfor business startup, informal charge, transparent business environment,proactive and creative provincial leadership, and business support services. Chairman of the provincial People’sCommittee Nguyen Duc Long affirmed that the province has made uninterruptedefforts over the past four years to improve its PCI ranking. Quang Ninh’sposition among the top five localities reflected the active involvement of theentire political system in the province. According to the chairman, Quang Ninhhas developed its own Department and District Competition Index (DDCI), whichcontributed to enhancing the competition capacity of local agencies andauthorities and was applauded by the business community. Chairman of Texhong group Hong Tianzhusaid the group chose Quang Ninh for its investment as it received attention andtimely support of the local authority, as seen through the rapid land clearanceand technical infrastructure building. The group was also satisfied with theshort duration of dealing with administrative procedures. In 2017, Quang Ninh attracted a seriesof tourism projects from major economic groups such as Sun Group, Vingroup andFLC, with total investment capital amounting to 100 trillion VND. The province is accelerating the pace ofseveral transport plans to create stronger momentum for economic activities,such as a highway connecting to the Hanoi-Hai Phong highway, the Van Doninternational airport and the Van Don special administrative-economic zone. Quang Ninh has emerged as a cradle ofdaring ideas and reform models, said Vu Tien Loc, Chairman of the VietnamChamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI). He cited as examples the building of apublic administrative centre to improve public services and the establishment ofan independent investment promotion agency. The province has also been able toget the community and businesses involved in reform efforts by giving them the powerto assess the performance of management agencies and authorities through theDDCI. As early as 2015, Quang Ninh deployedthe model “Business cafe” which sought to connect State management agencies andenterprises and provide a venue for interaction and open talks between authoritiesand business community. The model proved to be a success in bringingauthorities and businesses closer and promote dialogue between the sides. The provincial authorities have also beenholding quarterly discussions with the business community, while assigning People’sCommittees at lower levels to hold regular meetings with local enterprises inorder to timely address their problems. Chairman of the Quang Ninh BusinessAssociation Pham Van The said the meetings at local level give more firms theopportunities to come face-to-face with relevant agencies and have their difficultiesheard. In order to maintain its high ranking inthe national PCI, Quang Ninh is aware that there is more it has to do. Theprovince can be considered a model of success thanks to its strong shift in theway of thinking, from managing to serving the business community andconsidering businesses as long-term cooperative partners in local economicdevelopment.

Quang Ninh drew in more than 47 million USD in foreigndirect investment (FDI) in the first six months of 2017.

The sum came from two new and six existing projects,raising the number of valid FDI projects in the province to 58, with totalregistered capital worth over 2.3 billion USD.

The gross regional domestic product (GRDP) of the provinceexpanded by 9.6 percent in the first half of this year as compared with 9.2percent in the same period last year.

In the first quarter, the province’s GRDP grew 8.3percent while the figure recorded in the second quarter was 10.7 percent, thefastest pace since 2012.

With the performance, Quang Ninh has been listed asone of the leading cities and provinces in the northern key economic region andnationwide as well.

✃ In order to reach the target of a 10 percent growthrate, the province will focus on drastically instructing the implementation ofsocio-economic development tasks and solutions set for 2017.-VNA