VietNamNet Bridge – Only more than 30% of 485,000 operational enterprises in Vietnam have been profitable in the year to October despite lingering economic woes, according to the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).

Illustrative image. – File photo

VCCI Chairman Vu Tien Loc gave the number at a discussion session of the legislature in Hanoi last week on the socioeconomic situation this year and next.

The National Assembly deputy from Thai Binh Province said nearly 54,000 enterprises suspended operations or went bust in the first 10 months of this year.

The good news in the period was that around 60,000 enterprises were established and 13,000 companies resumed operations, according to Loc. The number of profitable firms was on the rise.

To overcome tough times, Loc called for enterprises to re-position on the market, focus on core businesses, improve governance, and invest in modern technologies.

The Government should help enterprises by creating a favorable and safe business environment and providing more support in terms of technology application, finance, human resources and infrastructure development for them, especially small- and medium-sized enterprises.

The VCCI chairman also suggested the NA assign the Government to review the laws and regulations affecting enterprises every six months and propose solutions to help them get out of difficulties.

Deputy Nguyen Duc Kien from the Mekong Delta Province of Soc Trang said the Government has resorted to many urgent solutions in the past two years to help enterprises and fuel the country’s economic growth.

Kien said reports of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) showed that a number of countries have revised down their economic growth targets while Vietnam still sticks to the growth target of 5.8%. Therefore, Kien wanted to know what would enable Vietnam to achieve that goal.    

SGT/VNN