The government stands shoulder to shoulder with businesses

Speaking at the seminar: "Government and Businesses: Together to overcome difficulties", President of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Pham Tan Cong said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government has been closely accompanying and standing shoulder to shoulder with the business community.

“The government has been perceptive and made three big decisions. Firstly, the government changed the pandemic prevention and control strategy from zero-COVID-19 to an adaptive, flexible response to the pandemic, living with the pandemic. Secondly, vaccination was organized throughout the country in a very timely manner. Third, the government put forth solutions to support businesses to recover in the post-COVID-19 period. These policies have worked well, supporting workers, helping businesses recover, and contributing to the high growth of GDP in the third quarter.

In response, businesses also joined efforts with the government by contributing great resources to the pandemic containment activities, creating jobs for workers, and stabilizing society.

When the pandemic subsided, the spirit of enterprises rose. As economic expert Tran Dinh Thien analyzed, the spirit of enterprises in line with the government's requirements is recovery and development, not merely recovery. That creates momentum for the economy.

Ms. Nguyen Duc Thach Diem, Standing Vice Chair of the Board of Directors cum General Director of Sacombank, shared that in 2021, Sacombank contributed nearly VND3,000 billion by offering interest rate support, fee exemption and reduction, loan interest exemption and reduction, and supporting the pandemic containment program.

Solving the capital difficulty

After 2-3 years of the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses have become short of capital. VCCI President Pham Tan Cong said that capital is a matter of concern for the Government in economic management.

“I think that in the near future, solving this problem will not be easy. I hope the government will make a special decision,” said Mr. Pham Tan Cong.

Mr. Ho Thanh Tung, General Director of CMC Group, said for large enterprises with good governance capacity and good projects it is not a problem, but many others still have difficulty in accessing bank capital. Businesses still need support from the government as well as programs to promote capital clearance.

“I think the majority of businesses are seeking capital, we need a supporting legal framework to unlock the cash flow. Not only about capital, applying for a license is always a headache with cumbersome procedures. We need solutions, we need to have a mindset like a warrior during COVID-19, stakeholders need to work together to find a solution not to talk about the story of doing this or that," said Mr. Ho Thanh Tung.

Ms. Nguyen Duc Thach Diem, General Director of Sacombank, said that we also recognize the fact that there is a very great distance between the orientations, decisions and decrees of the State in reality. The State Bank and the government launched the interest rate support package, but businesses find it hard to access it due to conditions, inspection and post-audit. Therefore, it is necessary to pay more attention to the issue between decrees, policies and implementation.

From the perspective of the business community, VCCI President Pham Tan Cong said that Vietnamese businesses also need to make more efforts, especially in the upcoming period, when it is urgent to compete successfully, they must pay attention to business ethics and business culture.