A workshop took place in Da Nang on Wednesday entitled ‘Viet Nam 2035 Aspirations: Development of a Dynamic Private Sector and the Need for Institutional Modernisation’.

The event was jointly organised by the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment, and the World Bank’s office in Viet Nam.

According to the latest figures released by VCCI, Viet Nam now has around 500,000 private businesses and 4.5 million business households.  This figure is still very modest in comparison with the country’s great achievements after its 3-decade renewal process.  In addition, domestic private businesses are showing a dramatic decrease in their production capacity, resulting in a significant slowdown in the country’s productivity growth.  In particular, between 1993 and 2013, the average labour productivity in Viet Nam had declined from 6% to around 3%.

A Non Nuoc stone production establishment in Da Nang

Vietnamese senior economic expert Pham Chi Lan remarked, “Currently, 97% of Viet Nam’s private businesses are small and even very small in size.  They lack the factors to ensure sustainable growth such as operation scale, specialised capacity, innovation, and creativity”.

The Lead Economist of the World Bank in Viet Nam, Mr Sandeep Mahajan, said “The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement and the Viet Nam-EU free trade agreement will bring numerous benefits to Vietnamese private businesses.  In attempting to help them take full advantage of these agreements, the focus should be on creating a competitive market environment, and ensuring their intellectual property rights”.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Phu Hoang Transport Services Company, Mr Le Vinh Quang, said “Top priority should be given to creating preferential policies and a favourable environment for domestic private businesses”.

The Chairman of the Da Nang Coordination Council for Business Start-up Network, Mr Vo Duy Khuong, remarked “In a project for developing the city’s private businesses by 2020, greater efforts will be made to enhance the efficiency of local administrative procedures, with a focus on creating favourable conditions for private businesses to access loans and land lease fees, as well as implementing other related business procedures”.

Da Nang People’s Committee Vice Chairman Ho Ky Minh pledged, “The city authorities will issue more incentive policies for local private businesses to help them boost their production and create a strong momentum for furthering the city’s progress”.