The Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI), the Public Administration Reform Index (PAR Index), and the Satisfaction Index of Public Administrative Services (SIPAS) have been incorporated into the final draft versions of the Government’s Resolution No.02 on key tasks and solutions to improve the business environment and enhance national competitiveness in 2026.

If approved, this will mark the first time that “domestic” indices are included among the official policy solutions aimed at improving the business environment.

Since 2014, when the first resolution on improving the business environment was issued, the focus has been on benchmarking Vietnam against global standards, with measures aimed at improving the country’s rankings in international competitiveness indices.

However, in the drafting of Resolution 02 this year, the perceptions of businesses and citizens regarding the performance of local authorities have been identified as a key factor. According to Nguyen Tra Le, a business environment expert at the Government Office, this perspective most accurately reflects the realities of the business environment.

“We need external perspectives through international indices to understand where Vietnam stands, but at the same time we must look at perceptions on the ground. How businesses and citizens experience public administration is the true measure of the effectiveness of business environment reform efforts,” Le stressed.

Researching and consulting policy recommendations derived from these indices also demonstrates respect for the voices of the business community and the public, thereby helping to promote institutional and policy reforms in a more substantive and effective manner.

Despite the addition of domestic measurement tools, the objective of bringing the business environment closer to international standards remains a central policy direction.

In the early stages of implementation, reform efforts focused on simplifying procedures and documentation for tax compliance; reducing the time businesses spend on tax obligations to the average level of the ASEAN-6 group; and shortening the time required to access electricity for investment projects to a maximum of 70 days, compared with the ASEAN-6 average of 50.3 days. These measures led to clear improvements in administrative procedures related to taxation and customs.

In later phases, reform goals were expanded to improving Vietnam’s rankings across a range of international indices, including Doing Business of the World Bank, the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI 4.0) of the World Economic Forum, the Global Innovation Index (GII) of the World Intellectual Property Organization, the Logistics Performance Index (LPI) of the World Bank, the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index of the World Economic Forum, and the E-Government Development Index (EGDI) of the United Nations.

According to the draft Resolution 02, Vietnam in 2026 will take part in seven major “competitions.” Specifically, the country aims to rank among the world’s top 50 countries in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Index; improve by at least three places compared with the previous assessment in the International Property Rights Index (IPRI) of the Property Rights Alliance; and rise by at least one position in the Global Innovation Index (GII) of  the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

On the United Nations’ E-Government Development Index, the 2026 target is to improve by at least two positions compared with the previous ranking. For the Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) of the International Telecommunication Union, the draft sets the goal of maintaining Vietnam within the top Tier 1 group of countries. The World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index is targeted to improve by at least four positions, while the Travel and Tourism Development Index (TTDI) of the World Economic Forum is also expected to rise by at least four places.

In 2025, Vietnam recorded notable progress, highlighted by its classification in the “Very High” group of the EGDI, ranking 71st out of 193 countries worldwide and fifth among 11 countries in Southeast Asia. Compared with the 2022 ranking, Vietnam rose by 15 places globally, exceeding by more than seven times the target set under Resolution No. 02.

Nevertheless, substantial room for reform remains. Within the component indicators of the Sustainable Development Index, several criteria continue to score relatively low, including marine resources and environment (48.24 points), land resources and environment (49.26 points), and industry, innovation, and infrastructure (57.5 points).

With regard to the International Property Rights Index, Vietnam’s overall score declined by 0.1 point, with decreases recorded in several sub-indicators. Notably, the indicator on physical property rights fell, particularly in terms of ease of access to credit. Within the intellectual property rights category, the sharpest decline was seen in the copyright protection indicator.

Transparent business environment draws sustained FDI inflows

VOV.VN - Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnam continues to grow steadily, even amid global economic fluctuations, as rising project numbers and capital adjustments reflect strong investor confidence in both new and existing operations, according to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Finance.