After many years of implementing short-term measures to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the Decree No. 56/2009/ND-CP dated June 30, 2009 on SME supports is considered an important and practical legal corridor. However, not until May 5, 2010 when the Resolution No. 22/NQ-CP of the Government is issued, the assistance for SMEs is expected to be accelerated.
In this resolution, the Government assigned the Ministry of Planning and Investment to coordinate with other ministries, branches, localities and business associations to build the five-year SME Development Plan from 2010 to 2010, which will be submitted to the Prime Minister for approval in 2011.
The Government instructs the State Bank of Vietnam to adjust monetary policies and manage credit activities in favour of SMEs operating in the fields of manufacturing, export, agriculture, etc. Besides, the central bank is assigned to work with the Ministry of Planning and Investment to negotiate, receive and allocate ODA funds to provide technical assistance and enhance the capacity for credit institutions to widen credit access for SMEs.
The Government requires Provincial/Municipal People’s Committees to allocate more land for SMEs and help them seek for premises for production and business activities. Annually, provinces/cities have to report on land areas for SMEs and industrial parks for SMEs and help them deal with problems in finding business premises.
In 2010, the Ministry of Finance will submit amendments and supplements to the Decree No. 151/2006/ND-CP and the Decree No. 106/2008/ND-CP on investment credit and export credit of the State where SMEs, especially those operating in export fields or agriculture and rural development, will be given priority.
Together with the Resolution 22, the Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has recently approved to spend VND 190 billion in providing enterprises with necessary legal knowledge, aiming to help them increase business efficiency, avoid legal risks and edge competitiveness. The legal assistance programme for enterprises will be carried nationwide in two stages from 2010 to 2014. The programme will be carried out nationwide and initially focused in several provinces and cities of Can Tho, Dak Lak, Dong Nai, Quang Binh, Tuyen Quang, Vinh Phuc and Hanoi.
One of key targets of the programme is to organise training programmes on basic business laws for 65,000 business managers while enhancing professional skills for 97,000 business legal officials. Besides, various consultancy networks, including lawyers, legal consultants, and business legal collaborators, will be installed in disadvantaged socioeconomic areas to assist about 80 percent of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The programme will also enhance the capacity of business legal assistance agencies.
The total expense of this programme is VND190 billion (US$10 million), in which VND170 billion is sourced from the State Budget and VND20 billion from participants.
The Ministry of Justice is assigned to be in charge of executing the programme. The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), the Vietnam Small and Medium Enterprise Association, the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance, the Vietnam Bar Association, and corporate legal clubs will be coordinators of the programme.
Thanh Yen
Vietnamese
