The Global Competitiveness Report, published by the World Economic Forum annually, ranks countries based on the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI). The GCI reviews factors affecting economic growth in 141 economies and provides a detailed map of the attributes that drive productivity, growth, and human development. The USAID Linkages for Small and Medium Enterprises (USAID LinkSME) project is supporting the Government of Vietnam to explore how the GCI can be applied as a management and evaluation tool to improve the business environment and national competitiveness.

As a first step, USAID LinkSME and the Ministry of Justice organized workshops in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City on “Reducing the Regulatory Compliance Burden to Improve the Business Environment and Enhance National Competitiveness'' on October 27 and October 30 respectively. Ministries representatives, local authorities, and business support organizations discussed how to measure the cost of regulatory compliance in Vietnam and improve Vietnam’s rank in the GCI. This feedback will inform an analysis that USAID LinkSME will provide to the Office of the Government to improve Vietnam’s performance in the GCI’s “Burden of government regulation” indicator.

So What? Once completed, the analysis will identify areas for policy reform and state management to improve the business environment and enhance national competitiveness in Vietnam, a core tenet under the trade and competitiveness pillar of the Indo-Pacific Vision.