2021- Waiting for businesses to recover from the shock

	Nikkei Asia: Vietnam seen fully recovering in 2021
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Agreements have been implemented

Going upstream

HSBC's annual Navigator survey shows that 86% of Vietnamese companies surveyed expect sales to increase in 2021, higher than the global and Asia-Pacific average (64%and 60%, respectively). HSBC said that this number is testament to the success of Vietnam in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic.

The reason is that Vietnamese businesses are generally less affected by the pandemic than global businesses. Mr. Tim Evans, General Director of HSBC Bank Vietnam, commented that Vietnam's excellent resilience and very effective response to the pandemic are a great contribution to the optimism of businesses. Unlike many other countries, from a pure domestic economy perspective, in the second half of the year, Vietnam generally returned to a normal business environment.

Focusing on this issue, TS. Vu Tien Loc, Chairman of Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI),said thatin the context of the global economy, Vietnam's economy is still bright. Specifically, according to Mr. Loc, the three legs of the economy are still maintained. Those three legs include strong institutional renewal; integration is still underway and digital transformation is being vigorously implemented.

Thanks to the above motivation, businesses have found chances for business activities from the last months of 2020 to the beginning of 2021.

Representative of Duc Thanh Wood Joint Stock Company said that in 2020, revenue is estimated at more thanVND400 billion, an increase of approximately 18% compared to 2019, exceeding the plan set by the General Meeting of Shareholders at the beginning of the year. Notably, the company also said it has received many orders for the following year, with a total value of aboutUS$3.7 million, up 130% over the same period, estimated at 25% of the plan for the whole year 2021.

“We have an order for a large customer in the US to supply children's furniture, valued at more than US$300,000. But the customer also said that this is just a trial order, if this shipment meets all the strict requirements of the US market, they can place 10 times more than this order," the representative of Duc Thanh Wood said.

Similarly, many textile enterprises have also "bounced back" thanks to suitable strategies to cope with the impact of the pandemic. TNG Investment and Trading Joint Stock Company was the first enterprise to export goods. Thereafter, TNG continues to develop medical clothing products under the TNG brand name for export.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thoi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of TNG, said that although the pandemic broke the global supply chain, businesses have turned to domestic suppliers. Therefore, the business resultsfor the whole of2020 still reached the plan. TNG has signed orders until the end of June 2021. This position also stated that although in 2021, the textile and garment enterprises are not over the difficulties, they will turn up very strongly in 2022-2023.

Recognize trends and take advantage

Of course, as the Chairman of TNG said in 2021, the economy has not escaped difficulties, even until the beginning of 2022, the world economy and trade can operate normally. Therefore, businesses still have to keep going. However, businesses will not have to go alone, with many opportunities and many supporting policies from the State.

In this regard, Mr. Nguyen Van, Vice Chairman of the Hanoi Association of Supporting Industry Enterprises (Hansiba), said that Vietnam faces many opportunities to receive shifting foreign investment (FDI) inflows; such as increasing connection chain sustainability. Moreover, with 13 bilateral and multilateral Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) already in effect and negotiating two FTAs, Vietnam is one of the most open economies in the world, creating opportunities to develop new supply chains.

Mr. Nguyen Hoai Bac, Chairman of IQLinks Company, Director of Sunseap Link Vietnam PV Joint Stock Company, also emphasized the opportunity from FDI inflows into Vietnam. This is an important driving force, creating many jobs andopportunities for Vietnamese workers to approach new trends and technologies. But according to this position, it depends on mechanisms and institutions. Mr. Bac suggested that when management agencies issue policies, it should be clear from superiors to localities, creating favorable conditions for businesses and investors.

The above issues show that the recovery and rise of businesses in 2021 also depends on many factors. Economic expert TS. Vo Tri Thanh said that businesses must have enough bravery, experience, creativity, and unanimously agree with the Government to steadily develop more strongly in the post-pandemicera. At the same time, businesses must also create a foundation by recognizing trends, taking advantage of them, connecting wisely and managing risk.