According to General Statistics Office (GSO), Ho Chi Minh City grants licenses to around 23,000 businesses in 2007. Of them, some private enterprises specialise in multi-sectors business with wider scale namely Nam Thai Son Company, Thuan Phat Company, and Cophaco Company. They employ about three million laborers, contributing to 25 per-cent of the GDP. This is a great figure as it partly contributes to the local economic restructure in the national renewal and the global economic integration context.
Mr Hoang Nam Son, Secretary-General of the HCM City’s Businesses’ Association, said competitiveness of Vietnamese small and medium enterprises is still weak in terms of capital and legal procedures. Of the total Vietnamese businesses, 10 per-cent are super small businesses, and 13 per-cent are small ones. Therefore, in the first nine months of 2007, the association launched many activities through websites to support SMEs with the aim at helping them better get access to updated information. Since May 1, 2007, the association has received much support from the Saigon Commercial Joint Stock Company (SCB) and A Dong IT Company to carry out programmes to build free-of-charge websites for associations and businesses who own chartered capital of no less than VND1 billion.
Easing SMEs’ lack of capital
A study carried out by the SMEs Development Department (the Ministry of Planning and Investment) on more than 63,000 businesses in 30 provinces and cities showed that there are 50 per-cent of businesses with chartered capital of less than VND1 billion in HCM City, and only 32.28 per-cent of SMEs are able to get access to banks’ loans. However, more banks have showed their interest in these potential customers. Huy Ha, Vice General Manager of the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), said, there are more than 100 loan projects registered at banks by SMEs with total proposed capital of VND630 billion. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of Vietnam (Incombank) has also set a plan to become the leading commercial bank in Vietnam in terms of loans and capital support for SMEs by 2010. To date, Incombank has spent VND500 billion for the programme.
The State Bank of Vietnam has also selected nine financial sanctions to implement the plan to disburse credits of VND850 billion funded by the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) for the SMEs Assistance Project II (SMEEP II) to help business development of SMEs. According to Ms Vu Phuong Lien from the State Bank of Vietnam, the goals of the projects is to further help Vietnamese businesses get access to middle-term and long-term financial assistance through financial sanctions. The projects also encourage banks to give more funding to SMEs, contributing to help the country fulfil the national economic-social development goal. To date, nine financial sanctions have been selected as a bridge between banks and SMEs. BIDV, INCOMBANK, the Mekong Delta Housing Development Bank (MHB), central and local people’s credit funds and commercial joint stock banks like Dong A, A Chau, Sacombank, and HCM City Housing Development Bank will directly assess and give loans to SMEs who meet all necessary requirements.
Under the SBV plan, when Vietnam finished the SMEEP I with capital of VND560 billion, JBIC approved the next lending for SMEEP II with more extended articles. The lending schedule is 30 years. If Vietnam successfully carries out the SMEEP II, the country will have more chances to receive more lending. However, the capital utilisation is a matter of special concern.
Kim Bao
Vietnamese
