Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh addresses the session.

Addressing the event, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that after 35 years of implementing its "Doi moi" (renewal) process, Vietnam has obtained historical achievements.

He highlighted that in 2021, despite unprecedented challenges and difficulties, Vietnam gained encouraging achievements with the solidarity and unanimity of the people and business community as well as support from international friends and partners.

Last year, the country’s import-export revenue surged 22.6 percent year on year to a record of nearly 670 billion USD, bringing Vietnam to the top 20 countries with largest trade scale in the world, he noted, adding that the country enjoyed a 9.2-percent rise in foreign direct investment attraction.

Vietnam has become one of the six countries in the world with highest COVID-19 vaccination coverage, he said, adding the country has switched to safe, flexible adaptation to and effective control of the pandemic since October 2021.

The Party, State and Government of Vietnam highly values the contributions of the business community and share the difficulties that they are facing, especially amid COVID-19, he stressed.

He underlined that with the motto of placing businesses in the centre, the Vietnamese Government will continue to implement three strategic breakthroughs – completing institution, developing human resources, and building synchronised and modern infrastructure system.

Vietnam is seeing an opportunity to rise strongly on the foundation of the national synergy, position and prestige after 35 years of Doi moi, he said, stressing that it is the time for the country to challenge the mettle, creativity and adaptation capacity of both the Government and business community in the spirit of mutual support, harmonious benefit and shared risk.
Along with effectively implementing the socio-economic recovery and development programme in parallel with COVID-19 prevention and control, Vietnam will continue to work to keep macro-economy stable, improving the business and investment environment, speeding up digital transformation, boosting the growth of digital economy, digital society, green economy and circular economy, and mitigating climate changes, he said.

The PM stated that Vietnam will roll out measures to recover the supply chains as well as business and production activities, while speeding up administrative reform, and developing different factors serving production such as capital, land, resources and science-technology markets.

The Vietnamese Government will also work to create an equal environment for all economic sectors, he underscored, saying that the country encourages private and foreign investments in the fields of high technology, support industries, smart agriculture, environmental protection, renewable energy, infrastructure building and social welfare.

Vietnam will make full use of advantages from free trade agreements, including the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) to expand markets and diversify business partnership, while strictly handling smuggling and trade fraud, he said.

At the event, PM Chinh asked ministries, sectors and relevant agencies to collect ideas from the business community and respond to their feedback.

He expressed his hope that the business community will continue to join hands with the Vietnamese Government and people to effectively implement socio-economic targets for 2022.

At the event, representatives from business associations gave ideas on how to improve the domestic production capacity, expand the supporting industry, develop inter-sectoral industrial clusters and value chains, and increase linkages between foreign-invested enterprises and their domestic peers.

They highlighted the role of financial resources to the development of industrial clusters and supply chains, as well as the significance of sustainable energy and digital economy. They also gave proposals on what Vietnam should do to help the business community to grow fast and sustainably.

Established in 1997, VBF is a regular and high-level channel of communication between the business community and Vietnamese Government.

Vietnam Business Forum: Businesses offer recommendations on reviving economy post-pandemic

Various recommendations have been put forward at the Vietnam Business Forum (VBF) 2022 to revive and sustainably develop the economy in the face of adverse impacts from the COVID-19.

Themed “Restoring the economy and developing supply chain in the new normal,” the VBF was co-hosted by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), Ministry of Planning and Investment, World Bank (WB), and International Finance Corporation (IFC) in Hanoi on February 21.

In his remarks at the event, VCCI Chairman Pham Tan Cong cited results of a survey that showed the COVID-19 pandemic had taken a toll on up to 93.9 percent of enterprises in Vietnam last year. Firms in all sectors have experienced difficulties caused by COVID-19, most notably challenges in accessing customers, cash flow imbalance, labour shortage, and supply chain disruption, according to the VCCI survey.

The number of newly-established enterprises and those re-entering the market was down 10.7 percent compared to the previous year to nearly 160,000 in 2021, data from the General Statistics Office shows. Meanwhile, up to 119,800 firms were dissolved, up 17.8 percent year-on-year.

2022 is likely to be another challenging year for the economy. To fulfil this year’s goals and successfully implement the Government’s tasks and solutions, the business communities came up with ten recommendations. They suggest the Government, ministries and local administrations to continue facilitating access to information relating to supporting policies and regulations for enterprises and providing them with help to gain easier access to funding to recover production.

They also urge for simplified exit and entry rules to facilitate travel of workers and experts and effective implementation of supporting programmes offering training for people left jobless by COVID-19.

They want to receive support to accelerate application of information technology in accessing public administrative services and make full use of preferential tariffs from free trade agreements.

The business community show interest in developing digital economy, deemed as the growth engine of the economy; and call on ministries and local administrations to boost the development of the domestic market, strengthen the linkages between business and industry associations to reduce the independence on imported products, and accelerate public administration reforms.

Source: VNA