Final Performance Report Provincial Competitiveness Index

The program aimed to improve the business environment and competitiveness of Vietnam's provinces through the development of a Provincial Competitiveness Index. The PCI is a 100-point scale that ranks Vietnam's 63 provinces based on business perceptions of the local business environment, combined with administrative data and statistics. The program has been institutionalized by the central Government of Vietnam as a benchmark for provincial reform efforts to build an enabling business environment. During the 2019-2022 period, the PCI program focused on three objectives: promoting public-private policy dialogue on economic governance through the annual PCI Survey, improving understanding of economic governance based on the findings of the PCI, and promoting economic governance improvement through recommendations, inputs to provincial development strategies, and action plans. In the one-year extension period 2022-2023, the program undertook additional objectives for the Provincial Green Index (PGI), which aims to drive provincial reforms that foster an environmentally friendly business ecosystem and realize greater environmental sustainability in provinces across Vietnam. The PGI survey has been integrated into the annual PCI surveys since 2022. The PCI program achieved several key accomplishments, including reaching out to 39,534 firm respondents overall, maintaining high response rates for international standard business survey-based research, and surpassing the target of 120 provincial leaders attending PCI launch events. The number of provincial action plans developed and/or adopted using PCI findings and/or recommendations far exceeded the year target of 32, with a much higher number of provincial documents issued each year to improve the performance of the PCI. The program also made significant progress in building sustainability, with efforts to seek other funding opportunities beyond USAID, leveraging in-kind contributions from provincial governments, and integrating sustainability elements into the PCI program. The PCI program included analysis of gender issues that may hinder the full potential of firms or may point to a need to raise awareness or attention to address gender gaps. The median PCI score has steadily maintained its height in the four years of the PCI program, signifying that the national economic governance has been improving over time. The program also participated in 11 workshops on the PCI for Provincial People's Council members and two training workshops for VCCI branches and business associations to help improve and deepen understanding of economic governance and environmental sustainability issues. The PCI program has made significant contributions to improving the business environment and competitiveness of Vietnam's provinces, and its sustainability elements have been progressively integrated into the program. The program's achievements demonstrate its effectiveness in promoting economic governance improvement and building an enabling business environment in Vietnam.