Seminar to support small- and medium-sized businesses

A seminar on measures to help small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) was held in the central city of Da Nang on October 26 by the Department for Business Development under the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Vietnam Association of Corporate Directors.

Reports presented at the event focused on effective measures to support SMBs and programmes to help them with business management and planning.

The seminars also aimed to help SMBs access credit loans and financial assistance, improve their competitiveness, and overcome difficulties related to production premises and administrative procedures.

Vietnam now has over 500,000 businesses, 97 percent of which are SMBs which contribute about 40 percent of the country’s GDP and ensure jobs for 50 percent of the workers, said Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy from the Department for Business Development.

Capital shortages, backward technologies, and poor management are now the biggest problems facing most SMBs, Thuy said, adding that administrators should help them with staff training, human resource development, capacity building, and market expansion.

Nguyen Ngoc Bach, Deputy Secretary General of the Vietnam Association of Corporate Directors, said SMBs themselves should improve their technical capacity to make highly-competitive products, participate in supplying public services, and work closely with local authorities to stay informed about the market. – VOV

Tags: Vietnam companies, Vietnam enterprises, Vietnam SMEs