(HBO) – Affirming Hoa Binh province’s consistent viewpoint of building an administration that stands by the side of enterprises for common development, Nguyen Phi Long, alternate member of the Party Central Committee and Secretary of the provincial Party Committee, demanded all-level Party committees and authorities address difficulties and assist businesses. He also pledged that the standing members of the provincial Party Committee will frequently listen to and take in opinions from the business community to give timely directions and support so that enterprises and investors can join the province on the path to sustainable development.

As of December 31, 2022, there were 3,298 businesses operating across Hoa Binh. They contribute more than 2.3 trillion VND (98 million USD) to the state budget each year, accounting for 47% of the total state budget collection. They also provide jobs for about 82,000 people with monthly per capita income of 5 - 6 million VND on average.

Last year, the number of newly registered companies increased 9% from 2021 while those resuming operations rose 66%.

As many as 729 investment projects are being carried out in the province at present, including 37 foreign direct invested projects worth 608 million USD and 692 domestically invested ones with registered capital totaling nearly 195.9 trillion VND.

Local authorities have taken various measures to support enterprises, especially improving the provincial competitiveness index (PCI). In 2022, Hoa Binh stood at the 53rd position among the 63 provinces and centrally run cities in the PCI rankings, up nine places from 2021, showing improvement in the provincial administration’s economic governance.

However, enterprises have still encountered numerous difficulties while the investment and business climate has yet to be improved considerably.

State agencies still lack substantive coordination in handling administrative procedures while difficulties and obstacles facing businesses have yet to be addressed in a timely manner. Besides, the governance capacity of most small- and medium-sized firms as well as their products’ competitiveness remain modest.

Improving the business environment and giving practical and concrete assistance for enterprises and investors are a long-term task of the entire political system, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Van Toan affirmed.

The provincial People’s Committee has directed the implementation of measures for tackling hindrances and assisting enterprises and investors to carry out projects. Some focal measures include completing the provincial planning for 2021 – 2030, with a vision to 2050, to be submitted for approval; attracting investment to the fields for which Hoa Binh holds potential and advantages such as tourism, eco-city, hi-tech agriculture, processing and manufacturing, and clean energy; and prioritising resources for developing socio-economic infrastructure, especially strategic transport facilities, thus helping create breakthroughs in investment attraction and economic restructuring.

The administration has ordered seriously implementing of the Government’s resolutions and directives on the business climate betterment; enhancing the settlement and effective prevention of bureaucracy among the civil servants; improving poor-performing PCI sub-indexes such as time costs, access to land, and informal charges; continuing the District and Department Competitiveness Index (DDCI) survey to evaluate the performance of district-level administrations, departments, and sectors; and tackling obstacles facing enterprises and creating the best possible conditions for them to explore business opportunities and carry out investment projects in the province.

In addition, it is taking measures for enhancing administrative discipline and promoting the quality of civil servants’ performance; ramping up the settlement of administrative procedures, particularly those related to sensitive fields like investment, planning, construction, land, natural resources and environment, mineral, finance, budget, and personnel affairs, as well as the ones directly related to people and enterprises; and inspecting to detect and stringently deal with violating collectives and individuals in line with the Party’s rules and the State’s laws.

Besides, the provincial People’s Committee has also asked investors to speed up projects, assisted them in site clearance, and revoked shelved or sluggish projects and those breaking investment regulations./.