Supporting small and medium-sized enterprises to recover after the pandemic

According to the Vietnam Federation of Industryand Trade (VCCI), small and medium-sized enterprises currently account for about 98% of the total number of businesses operating in Vietnam, contributing 45% to the country’s GDP and 31% to the state budget, while attracting more than 5 million workers. However, they arethe most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic over the past two years.

VNLife is the operator of the cashless payment network VNPAY-QR which is used by many customers. (Photo: VU QUANG)
VNLife is the operator of the cashless payment network VNPAY-QR which is used by many customers. (Photo: VU QUANG)

Therefore, they are the subjects that need the timeliestsupport to quickly return to the “new normal” and stabilise production and business after the pandemic. Although the Law on Support for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises has been implemented for more than four years, only less than 8% of businesses have received support while 51.3% of businesses are not aware of this law.

Feedback from the business community shows that there are many bottlenecks in the Law on Support for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises such as difficult access tocredit sources and support programmes. This situation has remained over the past years, although the management agencies have had many policies and solutions to promote credit for this group of businesses. The lack of information and difficulties in complying with the procedures to receive subsidies discourages many businesses.

The communication work and the implementation of policies still have many limitations. Therefore, it is necessary to make appropriate adjustments to the implementation of the Law on Support for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, especially in the context that the business community needs more support to recover after more than two years affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Law on Support for Small and Medium-sizedEnterprises has developed 13 articles on the support programmes for enterprises, of which there are eightgeneral support policies and five articles in support ofsmall and medium-sized enterprises converting from business households.

VCCI said that the number of businesses receiving support from the programmes remains low. Only 7.34% of small and medium-sized enterprises have access to the credit guarantee support programme at the Small and Medium Enterprises Credit Guarantee Fund and about 4.75% of businesses get support on land rent reduction in industrial parks because most businesses are located outside industrial zones, so they do not benefit from this support.

Therefore, it is necessary to have different support policies for the small and medium-sized enterprise sector, especially appropriate adjustments in the implementation of the Law on Support for Small and Medium-sizedEnterprises to help enterprises receive timely support to recover after more than two years of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the implementation of support programmes, it is necessary to promptly grasp the inadequacies and problems of the support packages to make appropriate adjustments. In addition, it is advisable to design support programmes suitable for each industry, each sector and period. Particular priority should be given to small enterprises because the resilience of this type of business is still poor.

It is also important to extend the duration of support packages so that enterprises have enough time to complete extended and exempted tax payments to restore production and business. Support policies need to be clear and transparent while several conditions should be loosened to expand beneficiaries and reduce procedures to ensure the effectiveness and feasibility of the support policies.