Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam was placed 67th out of the141 countries in the Global Competitiveness Report 2019, up 10 places compared to its 2018 ranking and also up 3.5 points, which arethe fastest increases in the world.

In thecontext of unpredictable and unfavourable changes in the world, especiallytrade tensions between big economies, Vietnam has been able to maintain reformpace towards a friendly, transparent, low-cost and increasingly convenient forthe business community, and for both domestic and foreign investors, which hasbeen recognised by the international community.

“Vietnam’scompetitive capacity has seen remarkable improvement in 2019 and recent years,which is the result of the high resolve, drastic efforts and efficientmanagement of the Government in performing the tasks of improving the businessenvironment, reforming administrative procedures, promoting innovation andcreativity and adapting to the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” Minister ofPlanning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung told the Vietnam News Agency.

Hesaid the Government has made important moves, with the most noteworthy onesbeing Resolution 19/NQ-CP on improving the business environment and enhancingnational competitiveness which has been issued annually since 2014, andResolution 35/NQ-CP issued in 2016 on supporting enterprises’ development to2020, towards the goal of Vietnam’s business environment catching up with the fourleading economies in ASEAN.

Inearly 2019, the Government adopted Resolution 02/NQ-CP on continuing toimplement key tasks and solutions to improve the business environment andenhance national competitiveness in 2019 with orientation to 2021. The resolution’smain targets were to raise the country’s position in international rankings ofthe WB, WEF, WIPO and the UN.

In thefive years (2014-2018) implementing Resolution 19/NQ-CP, Vietnam had 18 reformsrecognized, with continuous reforms in tax payment, social insurance, andaccess to electricity and credit information.

“Institutionreform is one of the eight pillars recording positive changes in 2019, with anincrease of 0.3 points, improving Vietnam’s position from the previous 94th to 89th. This is an encouraging result of Vietnam’s institutionalreform effort,” Minister Dung said.

However,he noted that some other component indices have become bottlenecks, such asbudget transparency, corruption and SMEs’ access to credit. Improving thoseindices requires efforts of not only the Government but also all stakeholders,especially the business community and the people.

“Inthe time ahead, bettering the business environment and enhancing nationalcompetitiveness continue to be one of the key tasks of the Government, with prioritygiven to solutions to create a stable, safe, low-cost and more convenientbusiness environment for enterprises and investors, which allows betterresilience in the context of trade tensions in the region and the world,” theMinister of Planning and Investment said./.