Workers at Sao Khue Rice Production and Processing Factory (Thanh Hoa City) during a production shift.

Strong "Start"

From 2021 to present, the Provincial Party Committee, People's Council, People's Committee and Chairman of the People's Committee of Thanh Hoa province have issued more than 120 directives and management documents to promote administrative reform (AR) and improve the investment and business environment. These documents focus on key tasks such as perfecting institutions, streamlining the apparatus, amending and supplementing investment incentive policies, reforming administrative procedures (AP) towards publicity, transparency, shortening processing time and promoting comprehensive digital transformation in State management.

In line with this orientation, provincial departments, branches and People's Committees of districts, towns and cities have proactively developed plans to implement the breakthrough, and disseminated them to all cadres, civil servants, workers and the business community in many forms. At the same time, a system of directives, instructions and assignment of tasks has been issued synchronously, helping the implementation to be monitored, urged more closely and effectively.

Notably, Thanh Hoa has organized inspections of the implementation of reform tasks at 161 agencies and units across the province. Through inspections, many shortcomings and limitations have been promptly overcome, contributing to improving implementation efficiency. In addition, a number of innovative reform models have been applied such as: "No appointment day - No writing day", notification of administrative procedure results via social networks, SMS; "Friendly Government" model, "9th working hour"... These initiatives not only shorten processing time but also increase the satisfaction of people and businesses, thereby creating a modern, friendly and effective administrative environment, contributing to attracting more and more investment to the province.

Thanks to drastic and synchronous efforts, the indicators reflecting the quality of governance and investment environment of Thanh Hoa have changed positively. The Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) in 2023 increased by 17 places compared to 2022, showing a significant improvement in business satisfaction. The PAPI index - reflecting the effectiveness of governance and public administration - continuously maintained its 13th position nationwide in 2023-2024, demonstrating stability and uniformity in the provision of public services. In particular, the implementation of the DDCI index at the grassroots level has become an "on-site measure", contributing to promoting departments, branches and localities to improve their governance capacity and be more proactive in supporting businesses. In 2023, the average DDCI score of all departments, branches and districts increased compared to the previous year, showing the spread of reforms to the implementation level. These results not only reflect Thanh Hoa's determination to reform, but also create a solid foundation for an increasingly transparent, efficient and friendly investment environment.

Thanh Hoa currently ranks first in the North Central region and eighth in the country in attracting FDI. From 2017 to present, the province has had 28,750 newly registered enterprises, with a total registered charter capital of up to VND 255,938 billion. Also during this period, the private enterprise sector mobilized up to VND 611,700 billion for development investment, accounting for 60.55% of the total social investment capital, creating stable jobs for hundreds of thousands of workers and contributing to nearly 60% of the province's GRDP. These figures reflect the stature and continuous growth of the private enterprise sector in an increasingly improved environment.

Create a long-term foundation by being determined to remove “bottlenecks”

Although there have been many positive steps forward and results, looking directly at reality, Thanh Hoa's investment and business environment still has "bottlenecks" that need to be fundamentally and decisively resolved.

Production of bamboo for export at Bamboo King Vina Bamboo and Modified Wood Factory, Lang Chanh District.

Assessment of the Public Administration Reform Index (PAR index), Satisfaction Index (SIPAS), and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI) over the past years has shown that it is still unstable. Although the Competitiveness Index (PCI) has improved significantly, some component indexes of PCI in 2023 are still ranked low compared to the whole country. Some PCI component indicators have increased at a low level such as: Labor training increased from 5.1 to 5.58 points; transparency from 5.51 to 5.94 points. Along with that, there are 2 indicators that have decreased: equal competition from 5.31 to 5.0 points; legal institutions and security and order decreased from 7.92 to 7.42.

Along with that, the overcoming of shortcomings and limitations pointed out after the public service inspection and administrative reform inspection in some units is not complete. The situation of delays in handling administrative procedures still exists, especially in the land sector. Some cadres, civil servants and public employees have not adapted to the changes of promoting administrative reform and digital transformation. Specialized databases have not been closely connected, information technology infrastructure has not been invested synchronously, especially at the commune level, leading to difficulties in sharing and exploiting the province's database, as a basis for handling administrative procedures quickly, neatly and effectively. The above reasons lead to the attraction of direct investment projects of the province not being commensurate with its potential; in particular, Thanh Hoa has attracted few projects in the social fields such as: health, education, environment, clean water, markets...

Along with improving the index, businesses really expect changes that “touch” the legal corridor, procedures, and each implementation step at the grassroots level. Mr. Mai Xuan Thong, Vice Chairman of the Thanh Hoa Provincial Business Association, emphasized: “Departments, branches, functional agencies, and localities need to continue to promote administrative reform, streamline investment and business licensing procedures, reduce file processing time, make processes and criteria transparent, and create maximum convenience for businesses. At the same time, it is necessary to increase the application of digital technology in public services and a substantive dialogue mechanism with businesses.”

To build a truly attractive investment environment, Thanh Hoa is aiming to bring the PAR INDEX, SIPAS, PCI, PAPI and National Digital Transformation Index (DTI) of the province into the top 10 provinces in the country by 2030. However, in addition to the goals of "beautiful numbers", the units accompanying enterprises need to pay more attention to practical reform "experiences" such as: Continuing to review, simplify and digitize administrative procedures related to investment, production and business; promoting the implementation of e-government, ensuring that all procedures are resolved quickly, transparently, without incurring "extra" costs; establishing a substantive dialogue mechanism between the government and the business community. Putting enterprises at the center of service is the most substantive measure of a friendly, transparent and sustainable investment environment.

Article and photos: Tung Lam

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/cai-cach-vi-mot-moi-truong-dau-tu-ben-vung-247556.htm