HCM City (VNA) - DespiteVietnam’s rise in the global competitiveness index, further reforms are neededto achieve economic targets set by the Government, speakers said at a workshopin Ho Chi Minh City on October 24.

Nguyen Minh Thao, head of theCentral Institute for Economic Management (CIEM)’s BusinessEnvironment and Competitiveness Committee, said that Vietnamhad jumped 10 places to 67th in the Global Competitiveness Index(GCI), with 61.5 points, a rise of 3.5 points compared to last year. 

The Global Competitiveness Report2019, which compared 141 economies, was published by the World Economic Forum(WEF). According to the report, Singapore this year overtook the US tobecome the most competitive nation in the world.

The most significant reform of thebusiness environment has been the reduction of conditional business lines,as well as the reduction and simplification of business conditions, Thaosaid. 

Other major reforms include the useof electronic transactions in administrative procedures and cashlesspayments, and in inspection methods.

Thao noted, however,that the business environment still “has many barriers asministries and agencies ‘compromise’ to abuse their management rights”.

Business conditions are still themain obstacle, she said, adding that newly issued business regulations are notpractical and go against the direction of the Government. 

Inspections conductedby authorised agencies are a major concern of businesses. “Somepolicy provisions are enforced differently among agencies, causing hugefrustrations for businesses,” Thao said. 

“Further reforms should includeefforts to enhance competition to promote innovation, regulatory reform toimprove allocation efficiency, and new plans to use public resources moreeffectively,” she added. 

Nguyen Van Duc, deputy head of thelegal department at the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI)’sBranch in HCM City, said the government had launched e-government andpromoted the digital economy while supporting a start-up ecosystem.

It has also been helping citiesand provinces increase competitiveness indices.

“It’s important to accelerate growthin private sector employment, strengthen property rights, develop morecompetitive factor markets, and improve enforcement of competition policy,” hesaid. 

The Global Competitiveness Index(GCI) is based on 12 pillars: institutions, infrastructure, information andcommunication technology adoption, macroeconomic stability, health, skills,product markets, labour markets, financial systems, market size, businessdynamism, and innovation capacity.

The Global CompetitivenessReport’s competitive indicators include gross domestic product,quality of overall infrastructure, effect of taxation on incentives to invest,and the availability and quality of information and legislation.

The workshop was jointly organisedby the Central Institute for Economic Management and Aus4Reform./.