Improve business environment to unlock potential for businesses

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Mr. Mac Quoc Anh, Vice President and General Secretary of the Hanoi Association of Small and Medium Enterprises

How do you evaluate business operations in the first months of 2024?

In the first months of the year, despite ongoing difficulties such as lack of orders, capital access inability, escalating transportation costs, etc., businesses still strived to achieve targets. As shown in the 6-month report, many businesses have performed well, thereby helping the overall results of the national economy to grow positively.

Currently, many businesses, especially small and medium enterprises, have innovated and created in production and business as well as effectively utilized resources from 4.0 technology to modernize production processes and participate in the global supply chain. Many businesses are implement successfully both on online platforms and traditional platforms to attract more new orders, expand market size, and increase the value of orders. At the same time, businesses have also built good financial plans and reserved resources to cope with difficulties.

In the remaining months of 2024, what should businesses do to successfully "reach the finish line", sir?

Both domestic and global geo-political fluctuations still hurt businesses severely; therefore, reinforcing efficiency and sustainable quality in production and business is one of major concerns. Accordingly, businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, need to control and improve quality, increase after-sales services, focus on payment and transportation to ensure that products reach partners and customers as required.

Furthermore, expanding and diversifying markets and partners paralleling with optimizing opportunities from Free Trade Agreements are essential in the current context. Along with that, businesses need to focus on setting aside financial costs to prevent risks from the market as well as increasing solutions and policies to retain employees and recruit high-quality human resources.

What support will businesses receive in production and business in the coming time, sir?

2024 is a year of acceleration and breakthrough, which is of special significance for the successful implementation of the 5-year Socio-Economic Development Plan 2021-2025. In the context of forecasting many difficulties in the world economy, the Government, the Prime Minister as well as ministries, branches and localities have issued many directives to focus on removing difficulties for production and business, stabilizing the macro-economy.

Along with that, the improvement of the business environment and the completion of institutions continue to be promoted, including the guidance on the implementation of important laws such as the Land Law, the Housing Law, the Real Estate Business Law, the amended Law on Credit Institutions, etc. The amendment of these laws is expected to help unlock resources for key markets and economic sectors. In addition, the solid foundation of enterprises also lies in the improved domestic macroeconomic situation, political stability - increasing the confidence of foreign investors, helping to increase the ability to attract investment, technology transfer and cooperation for mutual development between foreign enterprises and domestic enterprises. In particular, fiscal and monetary policies have been implemented with focus and key points, especially policies on tax and fee extension, deferral and reduction, contributing to stimulating consumption, supporting production and business recovery.

Improving the business environment plays an important role in promoting business activities, could you please share more specifically about this issue?

The recent moves in the Government's legal review have brought a mixture of expectation and caution to businesses. Some businesses make use of this renovation to improve the business environment, reduce complicated administrative procedures and create the most favorable conditions for investors and businesses to develop and grow, especially for small and medium enterprises, craft village enterprises and the start-up business community.

However, many businesses also expressed concerns about the lack of consistency and transparency in the implementation of new policies and regulations. Accordingly, businesses are concerned that new regulations may increase compliance costs. Furthermore, many businesses believe that some regulations are not predictable, making it difficult for businesses to adjust their business plans, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises that do not have enough resources to adapt to unexpected changes.

Therefore, businesses expect the Government to not only review the law but also ensure the stability and consistency of the legal system to avoid too rapid changes, leading to difficulties in adaptation and implementation at the local level. At the same time, it is necessary to ensure consistency and transparency, increase consultation from businesses to simplify administrative procedures, eliminate the request-grant mechanism, prevent harassment and inconvenience for people and businesses, etc. In addition, management agencies also need to accompany and implement training support programs to help businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, improve their compliance capacity and access support policies from state agencies. Implementing these solutions will unlock the potential of businesses; effectively exploit investment resources for development.

Thank you very much!