Improving product quality and innovating trade promotion... are solutions to help businesses improve their capabilities. Photo: H.D

Challenges and difficulties outweigh opportunities and advantages

The business picture in the first months of the year is still mixed with light and dark patches. Depending on each industry and field, some businesses earn large profits, and many still struggle to overcome losses. The Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) reflects the "health" of the economy in recent months and is below 50, showing that business activities of enterprises are showing signs of shrinking, and the purchasing demand of the economy is showing signs of shrinking while the economy's demand for goods is decreasing.

Speaking at the Government's national online conference with localities and the regular Government meeting in June 2023, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh stated that in the coming time, challenges and difficulties will outweigh the opportunities and advantages in which Vietnam's economy still faces the decline in growth of trading partners, reducing import demand for Vietnamese goods, leading to Vietnamese businesses facing difficulties in both output and input.

Sharing from a business perspective, Pham Tuan Anh, Director of PMA Technology and Trading Joint Stock Company, said that all industrial production fields face difficulties, and orders have decreased by tens of per cent compared to previous years. Last year made it difficult for many businesses to maintain growth and stabilize production.

The trend of economic fluctuations in the last months of 2023 is still expected to develop rapidly, complexly, and unpredictablely. However, the situation has more "bright doors".

According to Fitch Ratings (F.R.), the global growth index shows short-term recovery; global GDP growth in 2023 is forecast to reach about 2.4%, an increase of 0.4 percentage points compared to the forecast in March 2023. Therefore, according to businesses, efforts to implement plans and goals combined with new breakthrough solutions will help businesses complete their goals satisfactorily.

Efforts to achieve positive business results

Sharing about the motivation to help businesses achieve positive business results, Tran Nhat Tan, General Director of IGUS Vietnam Co., Ltd., emphasized the business's focus on providing low-cost automatic robot products. IGUS Vietnam Co., Ltd. is an enterprise with capital and technology from its parent company in Germany, so it has approached the market by improving quality with new and unique solutions to help increase customer interest. Therefore, the Company is confident of achieving the plan set out at the beginning of the year. With the new solutions mentioned above and the recovery speed of the domestic economy, the Company's order volume has changed since July 2023, and many large projects have returned.

Similarly, Nguyen Khac Dung, Sales Director of Vietnam Engineering and Industrial Group Joint Stock Company (Intech Group), shared that the Company has continuously changed from leaders' thinking to staff and innovation from operating policy. In the difficult context of output, the Company does not "sit back" for customers but proactively searches for potential customers, expands new markets, and improves product quality to meet the most stringent requirements.

Furthermore, according to a representative of Intech Group, in the last months of the year, taking advantage of opportunities from Japanese customers shifting their market search to suppliers outside of China, the business has stepped up marketing and increased trade with the Japanese market. Thanks to that, the business plan for 2023 and the coming years remains positive and can achieve the set goals.

The fact is that many fields have been gradually recording the return of orders. For example, in the export of wood and wooden products, although export turnover in the first 7 months of 2023 decreased by 26% over the same period last year due to main markets being heavily affected by inflation, export turnover in June and July showed signs of recovery. Do Xuan Lap, Chairman of the Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association (Viforest), said he has seen signs of economic recovery in the U.S. - Vietnam's main market, accounting for more than 50% of the wood industry's export turnover.

A recent Ho Chi Minh City Business Association survey showed that nearly 53% of businesses had stabilized their operations entering the third quarter. Businesses are actively restructuring, digital transformation, and green production to penetrate niche markets and increase competitiveness.

The Vietnamese business community's most "explosive" story is that VinFast Production and Trading Company Limited has impressively "listed" on the New York Stock Exchange. Dr Majo George, Senior Lecturer in Supply Chain Management and Logistics, Faculty of Business, RMIT University Vietnam, commented that VinFast's journey would be a model for ambitious startups wishing to find a Breakthrough way to thrive.

To find development opportunities, businesses must find more niche markets, promote research creativity and launch new products to meet market and customer requirements... However, according to experts, businesses must have a strategic orientation for long-term business development based on solutions for sustainable business development. In addition, businesses also need support to remove difficulties in production and business, with priority given to promoting growth associated with macroeconomic stability. Management agencies must support businesses in promoting trade, strengthening domestic and foreign markets, and diversifying capital sources, thereby increasing motivation and resources for future recovery and development.