Mr. Hoang Quang Phong, Executiv Vice President of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry

How do you assess the adverse impacts on the business operations of enterprises in the first months of 2023 and the coming time?

Vietnam's economic picture in the first months of the year has been unfavourable since the end of 2022. In particular, export and import turnover decreased sharply due to demand decrease from Vietnam's main markets, such as the United States, ASEAN, the European Union (EU) and some East Asian countries. This also causes the output of some of Vietnam's main industrial products to decrease sharply compared to the same period in 2022.

The enterprise's production and business activities will still face many difficulties in the coming time, such as the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, along with the problem of unusual climate change and strategic competition of major powers, inflation problems in many countries, high prices of gasoline, fuel, and raw materials, and slow and difficult recovery of major trading partners. In addition, value chain shift, requirements of partners and markets towards sustainable production and consumption, trends of green economy and digital economy.

In your opinion, how have Vietnamese enterprises responded?

Vietnamese enterprises strive to improve their competitiveness despite difficult circumstances and proactively seek opportunities to recover and develop. Accordingly, they are still flexible in finding ways to restructure production, find new products and find new markets to expand operations... so even though import-export turnover has decreased, we still maintain a trade surplus at a high level.

However, although the enterprise sector is prominent in number, due to its small scale and potential, limit ed resilience and competitiveness, orders from small and medium-sized enterprises have decreased significantly, and output is difficult, which affects revenue, especially the employment and income of workers. In the first 7 months of 2023, on average, each month, there were about 18,800 new enterprises established and returned to operation, but more than 16,000 enterprises withdrew from the market. This reflects that the enterprise sector is still seriously vulnerable to the difficulties of the world and domestic economy.

The remaining months of 2023 are coming; what is the motivation for the enterprise to continue to grow, Sir?

In that challenging context, Vietnamese enterprises must make even more efforts, determination and innovation to develop. Currently, the motivation and room for enterprises to develop still exists, especially thanks to policies supporting enterprises in promoting trade, expanding markets or from free trade agreements (FTAs) that Vietnam has signed. Furthermore, fiscal and monetary support policies such as tax reduction, interest rate reduction, and land rent reduction... have taken effect and helped them to have more resources for recovery.

Therefore, the business community needs to identify specific challenges and opportunities to come up with solutions to help enterprises develop. Reality shows that only enterprises know what they need most, so enterprises themselves must proactively seize opportunities and find an exit from the difficulties of the economy.

Regarding prices, management agencies must create a foundation and space for enterprises to recover and develop smoothly. In the coming time, completing the legal framework, improving the business investment environment and enhancing national competitiveness should be implemented continuously, thereby providing solutions to reduce costs and enhancing access to capital from State support packages. Management agencies need to build and improve the legal framework to facilitate starting and developing business models based on innovation and creativity.

In the field of import and export, related activities and procedures need to continue to be reformed, improve the effectiveness of the National Single Window and reform specialized inspection procedures. Reduce, simplify and thoroughly digitize the process of receiving and handling administrative procedures to make it more convenient. The good news is that the Ministry of Finance and the General Department of Customs have been coordinating with ministries and branches to carry out effectively these tasks, especially through consultations and dialogues with enterprises to solve problems for them quickly.

The goal that VCCI hopes is that by 2025, private enterprises will contribute 15% of GDP, and by 2030, 20% of GDP. Currently, the contribution figure is only about 9% of GDP. Therefore, VCCI will continue to organize consultation activities and provide comments on legal policies; Promote orientation activities and campaigns to build business ethics and business culture; Strengthen enterprise connections and implement regional and local economic plans and links...

Thank Sir!