Dr. Mac Quoc Anh, Director of the Institute of Economics and Business Development, Vice President and General Secretary of the Hanoi Association of Small and Medium Enterprises.

How do you assess the recovery momentum of businesses in the first months of 2022?

In 2021, the pandemic has really hit businesses, many businesses have to reduce production and business or temporarily suspend operations.

But this year is different, the pandemic continues, but the economy has reopened with practical support packages from the Government, with the active participation of local authorities and with their own efforts, enterprises have also been more proactive and finding ways to adapt.

In the past, many businesses had the habit of finishing production for backup, selling products to the market in season, but now it's different, some produce in moderation, and others switch to other more suitable industries. In addition, in order to reduce costs, they must moderate staffing, promote digital transformation to sell online, pay online, work from home, meet online partners.

Many businesses also have quickly adapted, flexibly restructured industries, and invested in technology to restructure products.

Thereby, enterprises maintain production while minimizing costs, improving competitiveness, and exporting products to new markets. It can be said that the more difficult the situation, the more entrepreneurs and businesses uphold the spirit of social responsibility, strongly promote the spirit of solidarity, and support each other to overcome challenges.

However, there are many businesses leaving the market, why is this?

Statistics show that, in the first quarter of 2022, on average, about 17,100 businesses withdrew from the market every month. This is really unfortunate. But many of these people just temporarily quit their jobs to switch to other industries.

These business owners closed their doors to make the transition from one industry to another.

The pandemic and many difficulties are good conditions for businesses to restructure production. Moreover, in my opinion, entrepreneurs who have been in business will be very passionate, they will not give up but will continue to find ways to build a career, create jobs, and contribute to society.

Businesses are determined, but difficulties from the external economic context are ongoing. How will this affect businesses, sir?

Many businesses have recovered, but there are still many businesses, especially small and medium enterprises, facing difficulties. The aggregate demand fell sharply, causing orders, contracts, and output to also decrease.

Meanwhile, input costs and transportation costs are increasing day by day, leading to a shortage of raw materials and input materials, making production costs more expensive. Many affected manufacturing and export enterprises had to delay or cancel orders.

Due to the impact of the pandemic on society, as well as the impact of political and commercial conflicts around the world, production and business activities need to target clear segments in the new era.

Moreover, businesses also need to link strongly with each other through associations and industry organizations to jointly seek business opportunities, promote trade, exchange goods, and recommend difficult policies.

Enterprises need to find ways to adapt and be more dynamic, but at the same time must have support from management agencies. Those businesses that are standing need to be stimulated to recover.

Could you tell me more about the support from the Government to remove difficulties for businesses?

In the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Government had a timely response to support businesses through solutions to create favorable conditions for production, business, goods circulation, restructuring debt, extension, postponement, exemption and reduction of taxes, fees, charges, extension of time to pay land rent, reduction of electricity bills, electricity prices.

These policies have encouraged the spirit of businesses, especially the small and medium-sized business community.

For example, the policy of reducing value-added tax will stimulate investment and business, because input materials can also be directly reduced, helping to increase the competitiveness of enterprises. Moreover, tax reduction is considered a lever to stimulate consumption demand, thereby creating more production opportunities and expanding markets for businesses.

However, through the association's survey, many support policies were evaluated as useful, but there was a distance from policy to actual implementation. So in my opinion, when policies are promulgated they should be calculated in the long term, should not change much and must be put into practice effectively with businesses.

Support for business recovery should prioritize industries and fields that play a leading role so as not to break the supply chain, such as the food industry, light industry, and information technology. In addition, the business community always wants the business environment to continue to be improved in the direction of cutting unnecessary conditions, being more transparent, saving time and costs for businesses.

Thank you Sir!