Hanoi redoubles efforts to rank among top 10 in PCI

Tran Ngoc Nam, deputy director of the municipal Department of Planning and Investment, said the business community has always been considered as the driving force for the city’s development.

Therefore throughout 2018, Hanoi pressed ahead with measures to improve the business climate and promote startups by simplifying administrative formalities, and applying information technology in public services so as to reduce time and costs for business operations.

As a result, many enterprises can now register their business formalities via the internet and receive business licenses three days after submitting documents online.

Apart from implementing a project to support startups in the city until 2020, the capital city has provided four efficient services in support of businesses, which won plaudits from the business community.

Notably, administrative formalities for land lease, the withdrawal of land rights, and a change of land use purpose have been reduced from 30 days to only 14 days.

Furthermore, the city has also strengthened the application of information technology and increased the rate of dealing with administrative procedures via the internet as well as promoting online public services in the field of the environment and natural resources.

The good performance has helped push forward Hanoi’s PCI in the annual ranking, thereby turning the city into a friendly and effective investment destination.

In 2018, over 26,000 new enterprises were established in the capital city while US$7.5 billion was attracted in foreign direct investment, the highest level during the past 30 years.

Hanoi has so far handed investment licenses to 616 projects with a registered capital of US$5.03 billion. Of which, some major new projects have received certificates of investment registration.

These include a capital contribution of US$1 billion in Vietnam Beverage by BeerCo Limited, the US$4.138 million smart city project in Dong Anh district, two projects developed by the Japanese NIDEC Group at US$400 million, and the Lotte Mall Hanoi project, which was allowed to add US$300 million to its capital.

At a recent online government conference to implement tasks for the year ahead, Nguyen Duc Chung,Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee, affirmed Hanoi’s determination to accelerate the process of administrative reforms, improve the city’s business climate, noting that 2019 will be the breakthrough year for the implementation of the five-year plan for 2016-2020.

Major focus will also be placed on improving the efficiency of the political system and fulfilling its 22 targets for socio-economic development.