(VEN) – On the sidelines of a conference focusing on earmarking financial sources and improving technological capacity to develop small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam organized by the Hanoi School of Business (HSB) under the Vietnam National University (VNU), reporter Hoang Hang spoke with enterprises’ experts and representatives.
Small and medium-sized enterprises should focus on developing science and technology
Medium and large-sized enterprises can invest in long-term research and development. However, it remains difficult for SMEs. The majority of SMEs in Vietnam have limited management capacity, lack of long-term financial sources and appropriate strategies to innovate or develop new technology. In addition, the majority of SME managers have not paid attention to investment in technology and human resources.
In my opinion, the government should support financial sources for training programs in terms of business administration for business owners, Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) in order to create favorable conditions for them to improve knowledge. In addition, strengthening links between research institutes, universities and businesses to put scientific and technological achievements into practice should be implemented. Certificates and diplomas through these training courses should be considered a favorable opportunity to help business owners, CEOs and CTOs access financial sources from domestic and foreign organizations. This is also one of the important objectives of the national technology innovation program by 2020 approved by the government. I believe that in the near future, Vietnamese SMEs could create their own technological secrets.
Macweld Co., Ltd. rebuilds all types of automotive engines, medium duty diesel engines, gas and diesel tractor engines in the chemical and paper industries. Therefore, the company always appreciates the creativity of each individual. It is an innovative technology and is expressed in every product and production line.
The company is always proud of each product. For example, a device is used in corrosive chemical environment and broken. The company will find out measures to overcome and repair at an affordable price in order to ensure that its device would work again.
Requiring the environment with modern equipment in the testing period is seen as the company’s difficulty. In addition, finding out equipment providers in Vietnam remains difficult due to the lack of information. We want the company go upwards in a sustainable manner thanks to technology.
The key tasks of the banking system at the moment are to restructure and deal with bad debts. Most commercial banks closely implement the approval of financial sources for SMEs. In particular, many SMEs have not been clear in publicizing financial situation and have not had collateral mortgage assets. Therefore, it is difficult to disburse capital for SMEs. In addition, the current financial system still lacks an independent intermediary organization to provide information about enterprises’ credit. Therefore, SMEs remain difficult in accessing bank loans.
SMEs should improve management capacity. It requires human resources at all levels to have knowledge in terms of financial management, contributing to using capital in an effective and sustainable manner. In addition, improving effectiveness of capital management in enterprises will help minimize the lack of capital. Moreover, enterprises should clearly publicize financial situation, contributing to creating favorable conditions for them in attracting investment capital from domestic and international organizations and avoiding the dependence on bank loans. In recent times, the IDG Ventures has invested millions of dollars in the information technology field in Vietnam.
The IFC has strongly invested in commercial banks. Therefore, these commercial banks will provide services to meet specific needs of SMEs, such as supporting finance for projects in terms of energy efficiency and cleaner production. The IFC has also funded hundreds of millions of dollars through the Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (Vietinbank) for Vietnamese SMEs in recent times. In the last financial year (July 2012-June 2013), the IFC invested more than US$800 million in Vietnam. There are ways to SMEs access to capital, not only from banks but also from international organizations. The most important problem is that these enterprises need to be clear their financial situation as well as business and production activities./.
Đăng ký: VietNam News