One of the reasons for this situation is that ministries, sectors and localities have focused on fighting the pandemic since 2020 while “forgetting” about improving business environment.

In addition, the implementation of social distancing in many localities during this fourth wave has also generated blockages to the flow of goods and production materials.

A new report recently released by the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM) shows that there are currently five major barriers to Vietnam's competitiveness improvement based on the global competitiveness ranking.

They are institutional barriers, the skills of workers and quality of training, inadequacies in management and the specialised inspection of goods, a reduction in business development levels, and limitations in policies supporting innovation.

Amid this situation, Dr. Nguyen Dinh Cung, former director of CIEM, worries that if reform is suspended, it will take a few years to regain momentum.

Meanwhile, Head of the Legal Division of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry Dau Anh Tuan said it is time for Vietnam to have a new and more difficult reform programme in order to create a favourable business environment and foster business development.

Since 2014, the Government has chosen an approach to improving the business environment according to international practices with the issuance of Resolutions No. 19/NQ-CP and Resolution No. 02/NQ-CP. After seven years of its implementation, the quality of business environment reform in our country has improved positively and clearly.

The reform is not only to move up on the global rankings, but more importantly, to remove thousands of obstacles and barriers to business activities, making the business environment really open and convenient.

In addition, the Government also shows its dynamism and creativity in designing and implementing resolutions on improving the business environment and enhancing national competitiveness.

The slowdown of reform at this time is worth thinking about as business environment reform is as crucial as a vaccine for enterprises to recover and grow.

The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed the world into a new order in which improving the business environment is one of the solutions to drag the country out of the crisis.

The business environment will affect how enterprises survive the pandemic and how well they take advantage of opportunities at the beginning of the recovery process.