Promoting role of Vietnamese entrepreneurs

Vietnam Business Day (October 13) in 2018 is a chance to look back on the seven years of the implementation of the Resolution No. 09-NQ / TW, dated December 9, 2011, on "Building and promoting the role of Vietnam's entrepreneurs in the period of accelerating industrialisation, modernisation and international integration".

Illustrative image
Illustrative image

Bright highlights in the general picture of the economy feature on the occasion of this year’s Vietnam Business Day. The statistics and objective evaluation of international organisations (such as IMF, WB, or ADB) reflect the socio-economic situation of Vietnam, which is continuing to develop comprehensively, in which the GDP growth rate for the January-September period was 6.98 percent and forecast to exceed the target of 6.7 percent (the highest in 10 years and the highest in the Southeast Asian region).

The above figures show that this year’s anniversary is the time when the internal strength of the business community has been built to create a new breakthrough. As the head of the administrative system, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has always paid special attention to entrepreneurs, who are the master force in economic development and international integration, and the issue of how to make the business community grow fast and firmly in both quantity and quality. Therefore, it is not hard to see that the mood of the Prime Minister expressed through his speeches at conference, meetings with business people, and visits to each enterprise in the region and across the country is half happy and half anxious. He was glad that the Vietnamese businessmen had many pioneers, who achieved much success at international level in the Fourth Industrial Revolution and through Vietnamese brand products, including products in the field of high technology, industry and agriculture. In addition, the worry is not small, as in the past nine months, the country had more than 96,000 new enterprises, increasing only 8% in terms of firm numbers and 6.7% in capital, while the number halting their operations temporarily has made the national target of one million enterprises in 2020 at risk of not being reached.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc noted at the recent government meeting that in the remaining three months of this year and next year, some of the risks and challenges, such as the escalation of US-China trade tensions and the tightening of monetary policy by the central banks of major countries is expected to cause interest rate rises, while some commodities will tend to increase. It can be said that without control and policy coordination, the possibility of a 4% increase in consumer price index (CPI) may also occur.

The important issue is that it is necessary to have "smart policy coordination" to improve national competitiveness as well as competitiveness of Vietnamese enterprises and products of Vietnam. Regrettably, according to the aggregated data of the Office of the Government, Ministries and branches have just reviewed and cut 60% of business conditions and it is necessary to cut down nearly 40% of the remaining business conditions. In addition, the Prime Minister also stressed that, the key objective of the economic restructuring strategy is to reduce dependence on foreign direct investment (FDI), to rely more on internal resources, and to increase domestic demand through policies.

As business develops, gross output and social consumption will increase sharply, without raising taxes and fees, the total state budget revenue will increase. Strong corporate finance will contribute to expanding the investment in production and increase the purchasing power of personal consumption. Furthermore, the functional agencies will be better at managing public finance and assets, which will ensure a positive balance of the state budget. Therefore, the focus of policies and measures on supporting enterprises and businesses should be thoroughly understood and implemented consistently in all branches and levels of government. On the business side, entrepreneurs also need to constantly improve their skills and capacity for sustainable development.