Vu Hai Bang, chair of Woodsland JSC

Our orders have decreased by 15-20 percent. It is very difficult to seek new orders at this moment, because clients prioritize working with old suppliers. In general, the number of orders of the entire woodwork industry has dropped by 30 percent.

This is not only attributed to recession. If Vietnam cannot improve its competitiveness, it will lose orders to other countries, such as India and Bangladesh, very populous countries. Woodwork, seafood and garment are all labor-intensive industries. Vietnam’s labor cost has been increasing year after year, and productivity has not improved considerably, which is a big challenge. 

The competitiveness here means competition in prices.  Vietnam’s policies on insurance also change every year with premiums on the rise, which increases production costs.

Second, the diversification of Vietnam’s products and services remains weak, and are not comparable to China.

Moreover, weaker competition also has relations to the environmental problem. Green development is a matter of concern for Europe. What can Vietnam do to develop green production?

Don’t let enterprises miss business opportunities and lose competitiveness just because of complex administrative procedures and paperwork. What businesses need most is not financial support, but a simple, transparent and predictable legal framework.

Tran Tuan Dai, vice president, AMY GRUPO

Despite a demand decrease in the world market, AMY GRUPO’s exports were satisfactory in the first quarter of the year. The revenue in the quarter was stable compared with the same period last year. Ceramic tiles and water-resistant floorboard remained key products exported to large markets, especially the US, Europe and Asia.

The improvement of technological and administration capability was the key factor that helped the company overcome difficulties. In 2023, we will take full advantage of the global supply source restructuring cycle to develop markets.

We focus on investment in technology and developing human resources to continue to expand production, once global trade challenges, such as logistics, are solved.

At the same time, we will grasp the opportunity to build an administration, assessment and certification system to be recognized by European and US countries. Together with human resources, AMY GRUPO will develop and transfer technology, thus ensuring the capability of five manufacturing factories of the group.

Takeo Nakajima, chief representative of JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) Hanoi

The first challenge is the sluggish global export market. The export market began declining last summer, causing sales to decrease.

The other challenge is the cost increase and pay to workers. The application of the global minimum corporate income tax has also caused enterprises’ production costs to increase.

Besides, there are many new technologies, including AI, and Vietnam needs to invest in new technologies, and in logistics technologies to ensure smooth transaction conditions.

The third challenge relates to the slow granting of certificates and the handling of administrative procedures.

Sixty-six percent of Japanese enterprises in Vietnam complain that administrative procedure reform has slowed down, while the figure is just 47 percent in ASEAN.

Vietnam needs to eliminate unofficial fees and stop unreasonable fees. This is very important because enterprises all want to spend little time on procedures and have them done in a transparent way.

Kim Huat Ooi, vice president and CEO of Intel Products Vietnam

The national economy, including Vietnam, has been affected by three factors, including geopolitical tension, the Ukraine-Russia war and inflation, which impacts the macro economy. 

Vietnam’s low GDP growth rate in the first quarter of 2023 was the result of these reasons. 

2023 is a year of full challenges of the world. 

Intel Vietnam is one of the important production bases of Intel Group and our production output makes a considerable contribution to Vietnam’s total export value. The Saigon Hi-tech Park (SHTP) contributes significantly to HCM City's GDP, especially export growth. Intel is one of the main contributors.

In the last three years, despite the pandemic, Intel’s annual export value still accounted for over 50 percent of SHPT’s export turnover. Intel made up $75 billion worth of export value over the last 13 years and generated 7,000 hi-tech jobs.

The municipal authorities have given power to SHTP Board of Management which acts as a one-stop-shop agency for all investors in the hi-tech zone. This is one of the important indicators that determine the attractiveness of investments.

We hope the one-stop-shop mechanism will be restored soon to facilitate businesses’ operations, reduce the time needed to execute all kinds of permits such as fire protection, construction and environment licenses.

Luong Bang