(VEN) – Currently, 375,000 businesses are operational nationwide with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) accounting for 97.5 percent of the total. The government has applied many policies to support SMEs but the desired results have not been achieved.
Improper implementation
According to the Agency for Enterprises Development under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the government has applied many mechanisms and policies aimed at supporting SME development in terms of finance, credit, production spaces, market expansion, business management, information and consultancy. These policies are specified in the government’s legal documents on SME support.
The results of a survey carried out by the General Statistics Office with 10,120 businesses in April 2012 showed that about 90 percent of these businesses said they had no access to preferential loans despite a number of government programs and other promotion programs. A recent survey conducted by the Agency for Enterprises Development with assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) also showed that more than 60 percent of surveyed SMEs said they did not know anything about state support policies in terms of technical and technological innovation, while 35.5 percent said they heard about the policies but lacked detailed information, and over 60 percent said they had never received any government support for technological innovation as well as trade promotion and industry promotion.
A liaison organization is lacking
The leadership of the Agency for Enterprises Development said state support did not reach SMEs due to various reasons. One of the reasons is that a liaison organization responsible for coordinating the implementation of state support policies from the central level to the local level is lacking. Another reason is that state support policies are not really practical and do not receive an active response from businesses.
Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Dang Huy Dong said although lots of SME support policies have been implemented in the recent times, they have not met the desires of SMEs.
Le Minh Hien, Head of the Business Registration Office of Hai Duong Province, said there had been times when local businesses within one week received three invitation letters with almost the same contents from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the General Department of Taxation, which provided them with access to business management consultancy. There must be a liaison organization to prevent such overlaps.
What do businesses want?
| The SME sector has developed very rapidly since 2000 when the Enterprise Law came into effect. The number of SMEs in 2011 was 8.5 times higher that that of 2000. Also in 2011, the SME sector created jobs for over five million workers, 5.2 times higher compared with 2000. Revenue of the SME sector in 2011 grew 17.2 times compared with 2000, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment. |
With his 10-year experience of working as a business leader, Le Minh Hien said what SMEs want is not money but assistance in terms of the law. Sharing the opinion of Le Minh Hien, the leader of the Yen Bai Province Department of Planning and Investment said what SMEs want now was not VND5-10 million but assistance in terms of mechanism, administrative procedures and law, which helps them accelerate the implementation of investment projects.
Assisting and creating favorable conditions for SMEs to develop is necessary, but it is necessary to ensure that state support reaches the correct businesses and meets their desires. The government must learn what SMEs need in order to provide them with the most practical support and ensure that state support reaches the correct businesses, especially in the current context of limited state budget, Deputy Minister Dang Huy Dong emphasized./.
By Tat Binh
Đăng ký: VietNam News