(MPI Portal) – On June 03rd 2013, Ministry of Planning and Investment in collaboration with the World Bank (WB), International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Vietnam Business Forum consortium organized mid-term Vietnam Business Forum (VBF) 2013, in the co-chairmanship of the Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh, Director of WB in Vietnam Victoria Kwakwa and Regional Director of IFC Simon Andrews.
The forum was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh and the diplomatic missions, international organizations, donors, ambassadors and media agencies.
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Minister Bui Quang Vinh at the event. Photo: Duc Trung (MPI Portal)
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In his opening speech, Minister Bui Quang Vinh said that VBF is the channel of policy dialogue between Government and the domestic and foreign business community to establish a favourable business environment, attract private investment and promote sustainable economic development in Vietnam. Forum activities are included in 8 mission groups relating to banking, capital market, education and trainning, infrastructure, trade and investment, land, human resources, motorbikes, minerals. After being transferred to the private sector in 2012, the Forum has been developed well, the VBF Consortium has the 16th member and added two new groups of customs and transparent governance which showed operation and effectiveness of the Forum continues to attract the attention of the business community.
Although Vietnam is still in difficult period, but with the efforts of the Government and contribution of enterprises, macroeconomy has had continuously positive changes, inflation has been curbed, economic growth rate has increased again.
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Mr. Vu Tien Loc, President of Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI). Photo: Duc Trung (MPI Portal)
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In the overview of the investment environment Mr. Vu Tien Loc, President of Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), presented the recommendations of the domestic business community. In which, enterprises propose Government to be consistent with the objectives of macroeconomic stability, inflation control and growth at a reasonable rate, alert to pressures of rapid but not stable growth. This is of especially important meaning to the formation, survival and growth of the business in the long run.
Government should prioritize institutional reform, promote economic restructuring without being caught in the short-term solutions. The measures to help enterprises in the short term now also should encourage promoting restructuring and improving long-term competitiveness. In this direction, the enterprises suggest the State not to delay the reform of State enterprises. In which, the most important requirement is to build an environment for fair competition between economic sectors, increasing transparency, and applying modern management standards in state enterprises. The State should urgently withdraw capital from businesses that the State doesn’t need to hold, in order to transfer a portion of resources to meet other more urgent and necessary needs such as infrastructure development, social service goals.
The private sector can be a key driving force for the economic development of Vietnam in the coming time. Therefore, the State should more powerfully promote development of this sector and should have a consistent orientation and policy from the amendment of the Constitution to the specific policies to ensure a truthly fair and favourable business environment.
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Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh at the event. Photo: Duc Trung
(MPI Portal)
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Addressing the forum, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh appreciated the candid opinions of the business community as well as the positive feedback from the leaders of Ministries, sectors of Vietnam. In the 6 months since the last VBF, the Government of Vietnam has absorbed the proper ideas of enterprises, the investors who have been developing solutions to promote production to help their businesses overcome challenges.
In early 5 months of 2013 with comprehensive measures, Vietnam has striven and made initially positive changes, inflation was curbed at a low level, total gross domestic product reached higher goals over last year’s same period, overall interest rate decreased faster than expected, credit oustanding began to rise again, the foreign exchange market and exchange rate is stable, foreign exchange reserves rose significantly, the operation of the credit organizations was secured, liquidity was improved, export-import increased, the Government's solutions to remove difficulties for enterprises and business, such as reschedule and delay tax, interest support for the prioritized sectors, administrative procedures reform, obtained initial results.
Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh said that in the future the Government would continue to improve the operational efficiency of the banking system, strengthen supervision and management, and restructure credit institutions for the period of 2011 -2015.
Regarding fiscal and monetary policy, the State would focus on NPLs resolvement, bring asset management companies into effective operation, enable businesses to access loans with reasonable interest rates, remove difficulties for production, and accelerate the loan support for social housing for low-income people, closely control gold trading activities...
The government would focus on solving problems, promoting business, increasing purchasing power, increasing aggregate demand of the economy, promoting the sale of goods; continuosly effectively implement solutions to remove difficulties for business especially the policies of tax rescheduling, delay, exemption and decrease and credit supporting policy; continue to review and adjust out of date policies, reform policies of tax, fees, procedures for business registration, credit, taxes, customs, real estate; continuosly conduct solutions to develop domestic market, and promote export, strengthen market and price management, prevent transfer pricing.
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The event. Photo: Duc Trung
(MPI Portal)
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The government would promote equitization and continue to withdraw capital from businesses that the State doesn’t need to hold in the state enterprises; focus on attracting multinational corporations to invest in big, high-tech and infrastructure projects to creat shifts in restructuring, promote supporting technology and facilitate local business development.
The speed of construction and disbursement of basic investment would be accelerated especially the state budget funds, government bonds, ODA, FDI. Government bonds would be considered to further issue for a number of important and urgent buildings completed in 2013; resources outside the state budget would be mobilized in the form of project bidding. The last is administrative reform, capacity building and deployment of scientific and technological development strategy. /.