Small businesses need support

CA - Support policies for small- and medium-sized enterprises need to be updated if they are to develop, a senior Government official told a workshop in HCM City on July 28.

Nguyen Trong Hieu, deputy director of the Ministry of Planning and Investment's Enterprise Development Department, said financial support, technology and technical skills were key to increasing their competitiveness.

"The support policies aim to increase the number of SMEs and strengthen their competitiveness so that they become global," he said.

They seek to create a favourable legal environment that will provide an equal and transparent playing field and stimulate the development of SMEs.

They also seek to encourage credit guarantee funds and banks to step up financial support to these companies.

The Vietnam Development Bank (VDB), which was set up to help implement the State's credit policies for development and export, offers soft loans to small projects to create jobs.

The Bank for Social Policies provides loans to businesses in remote areas.

Hieu said: "In the third quarter, the ministries of Planning and Investment, and Finance will propose to the Prime Minister the establishment of the Small- and Medium-sized Enterprise Development Fund."

The finance ministry will also suggest an amendment of banks' policies on investment and export credit to give priority to SMEs, especially those in the agro-forestry and fisheries sectors.

Hieu said: "The Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) has petitioned the Government to draft policies to support use of new technologies and technology transfer."

It has also submitted to the Prime Minister the national technology renovation programme through 2020 which seeks to increase support for SMEs in renovating and upgrading technology and technical capacity.

National technology and science funds will support SMEs in upgrading their technologies.

MoST as well as provincial and municipal People's Committees will provide SMEs funding to obtain ISO and other international quality certification.

Ta Viet Dung, deputy head of MoST's Department of Technology Application and Development, said if the national technology renovation programme was approved, close links would be required between Government agencies and enterprises to implement it.

There was also a need to draft policies for technological development and import of technologies, with priority given to key sectors.

Hieu said provincial and municipal authorities would set aside land for industrial zones for SMEs in urban areas to move into.