Gia Lai (VNA) – A seminarwas held in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai on May 22 to shareexperience in managing provincial-level economies and building the Departmentand District Competitiveness Index (DDCI) for the region.

Delegates from Hanoi, thenorthern province of Quang Ninh, and the central province of Thua Thien-Hue offeredtheir opinions on improving trust of the public and enterprises, better the businessclimate, the adoption of information technology in information processing andmanagement, and support for enterprises.

As many as 28 cities andprovinces nationwide have launched the DDCI, but no localities in the CentralHighlands have adopted it yet. The DDCI looks to build up the image of friendlyadministration and improve activities of departments and agencies.

Participants from northern QuangNinh and Tuyen Quang provinces, and central Da Nang city shared good practicesin building and launching the DDCI, focusing on the role of all-level authoritiesand the business community in the process.

Representatives from fiveregional provinces said Kon Tum and Gia Lai have devised plans to launch theindex.

Dau Anh Tuan, head of the VietnamChamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI)’s Department of Legal Affairs, said theCentral Highlands is home to the lowest number of businesses in the nation,averaging 25 firms per 10,000 people. There are only 144 valid foreign-investedprojects worth 900 million USD in the region.

In addition, the region’sinfrastructure scored 62.79 points in 2018, the lowest across the country. Redtape also continues to hold back processing administrative procedures,accounting for 62 percent.

Tuan asked the regional provincesto hold more dialogues with firms to learn about their difficulties and offertimely support, contributing to improving the provincial competitiveness index.–VNA