Quang Ninh (VNA) – The northeasternprovince of Quang Ninh recorded economic growth of 10.16 percent in the firstsix months of 2018, the highest level in the last six years.

The figure was released at the eighth session ofthe 13th tenure of the provincial People’s Council on July 12.

Budget collection exceeded the same period lastyear to top 20.9 trillion VND (907.7 million USD). Domestic revenue made up morethan 75 percent of the total budget collection.

Total social investment was estimated at morethan 23.3 trillion VND, a year-on-year rise of 11.6 percent. 

The number of visitors increased 26 percent to7.5 million in the first half of the year, while tourism revenue rose by 31percent.

Secretary of the provincial Party Committee andChairman of the provincial People’s Council Nguyen Van Doc said theJanuary-June growth is expected to fuel development in the last six months ofthe year.

At the meeting, participants proposed solutionsto expanding the gross regional domestic product (GRDP) by 11 percent in 2018,improving quality of tourism services and transport infrastructure andpromoting border trade and the seaport system.

They suggested speeding up the implementation ofhigh-end tourism projects at Van Don economic zone, building management methodsto make best use of local potential and attracting more investment in additionto developing human resources and ensuring defence-security.

Delegates also discussed measures to improve theinvestment environment, develop the private economy and support start-ups. 

Inspired by the provincial competitiveness index(PCI), Quang Ninh launched the Department and District Competitiveness Index (DDCI)in 2015.

The index measures the efficiency of economicmanagement of the local government through eight criteria, namely transparency,proactivity of leadership, time costs of regulatory compliance, informalcharges, policy bias, legal institutions, business support and accountabilityof leaders.

The DDCI was implemented in 21 departments and14 localities across the province in 2016.

The programme helps the province identifyshortcomings and improve the quality of economic governance of local authoritiesand departments.

Furthermore, the DDCI creates a transparent andreliable channel for businesses and investors to give feedback to localauthorities and increases the role of the business community in building alocal management apparatus.

After two years of implementation, the programmehas brought positive outcomes. Businesses are required to build annual actionprogrammes on improving the investment environment, the PCI and DDCI.

Quang Ninh, for the first time, became the mostcompetitive locality in the country, topping the PCI 2017 with 70.7 on the 100-pointscale, according to a report launched by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce andIndustry and the US Agency for International Development in March 2018.

The report has been produced annually since 2005to assess the ease of doing business, economic governance and administrativereform efforts by provinces and cities in Vietnam.

The 2017 PCI Report is the 13th iteration and isbased on responses from 12,000 enterprises, including more than 10,200 private domesticenterprises from 63 cities and provinces and nearly 1,800 foreign investedenterprises in 21 provinces nationwide.

According to the report, Quang Ninh was followedclosely by central Da Nang city (70.1 points). The Mekong Delta province ofDong Thap ranked third with 68.8 points.

Quang Ninh attracted only 3.39 billion USD inthe 15 years from 1986 to 2011. However, foreign direct investment (FDI) pouredinto Quang Ninh in 2012-2017 exceeded 3 billion USD, raising total foreigninvestment to the locality to more than 6 billion USD.

Major investors at home and abroad such as theUS, Japan, Singapore and Thailand have created strong momentum for the localeconomy.-VNA