The Business Association signed a memorandum of understanding with the Center for Investment Promotion, Trade and Enterprise Support of Hue City.

Evaluate policy implementation effectiveness

Practical experience from many previous support policies shows that not all policies issued reach businesses. There are regulations and incentives that only exist on paper and are stuck in the implementation stage, making it impossible for businesses to access them. When policies do not "go" into life, it not only wastes resources, but also erodes the trust of businesses.

One policy that has received the most feedback from businesses is support for production and business premises. Specifically, according to the provisions of Resolution No. 21/2022/NQ-HDND, dated October 26, 2022 of the People's Council of Thua Thien Hue province (now Hue city) on regulations on a number of policies to support small and medium enterprises, the form of support is regulated to be transferred directly to the infrastructure business unit with which the small and medium enterprises have signed a lease contract. However, in the area of industrial parks and industrial clusters, the proportion of infrastructure business units is very small. Currently, the whole city has 6 industrial parks, of which 2 industrial parks, Quang Vinh and Phu Da, do not have infrastructure investors; out of 9 industrial clusters in operation, only 3 have infrastructure business units, which somewhat affects the rate of benefiting from the above support policy.

Regarding the support period, this resolution also limits the maximum period to 5 years from the date the small and medium-sized enterprise signs the first lease contract with the infrastructure business unit. However, in reality, the number of enterprises meeting this criterion is very small, because most of them have operated in industrial parks and clusters for more than 5 years or have re-signed the contract (not for the first time).

In addition, no enterprise has yet accessed the policy of supporting participation in international e-commerce trading floors. The reason is that according to the regulations on support conditions for international e-commerce trading floors, enterprises must have certificates of intellectual property, production process standards, origin of raw materials, etc., while most small and medium enterprises in the area have not met these conditions and standards. Therefore, in order for policies to reach enterprises, the most important thing is to evaluate the effectiveness of implementation.

At a recent business forum, some businesses pointed out that many policies from the Central Government are designed from a state management perspective, with macro goals but lacking a survey of the actual needs of businesses, so they sometimes go "off track".

Businesses are allowed to discuss difficulties in their operations.

Mr. Phan The Tru, Vice President of the Young Entrepreneurs Association, said that local small and medium-sized enterprises have limited financial resources, lack technology, high-quality human resources, have difficulty accessing large markets, and have difficulty participating in regional and international supply chains. Clean land funds for small and medium-sized enterprises are still limited; rental costs in central locations are relatively high compared to the financial capacity of enterprises, especially start-ups. In addition, despite potential, most enterprises still do not have a clear digital transformation strategy; lack of experts, lack of appropriate advice; the rate of enterprises applying technology to operations, marketing and management is still low. Therefore, policies need to target these difficulties to best accompany enterprises.

Hitting the bottleneck of enterprises is one of the factors that determine the success of the policy.

Chairman of Hue CEO Club, Mr. Phan Van Nhat, once shared that the requirements for implementing business training programs are quite difficult for implementing agencies such as associations. Specifically, when supporting training courses, relevant authorities will require experts with master's degrees, doctorates, etc. However, in some fields, experts are required to have more practical experience than degrees, so it is very difficult to "ask" for support sources from the State. Inviting these experts to directly teach classes requires a large budget, and without additional support from departments and branches, it is very difficult to organize, while the demand of businesses in these fields is very large. Many businesses have to spend tens of millions of VND to participate in these training courses in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City, while recruiting students for some other training courses is not without many difficulties.

Hue City Center for Investment Promotion, Trade and Enterprise Support has many activities to coordinate and organize trade promotion activities.

Towards an ecosystem that supports businesses

Mr. Phan Van Nhat proposed that in order to bring policies closer to businesses, it is necessary to build an ecosystem to support businesses, or a common information system on business support activities. This ecosystem will gather leaders from associations, unions, and business clubs in the area. When there are new policies or support programs, these focal points will be channels to spread information, increase the number of businesses accessing policies, and at the same time enhance the position of associations, unions, and clubs.

In fact, this proposal has been accepted when the digital platform for enterprises and the digital working platform for business associations were recently announced. With 3 information blocks: News block for enterprises; functional block and business information block, this platform promises to open up a digital space connecting information and utilities for the business community. However, the core is how to make enterprises truly access and exploit this platform most effectively. To do so, there needs to be a close "handshake" between the government and associations to bring the platform to the right people and maximize its value in practice.

The story of building close relationships with large enterprises, banks and non-governmental organizations to create more support opportunities for local enterprises is also taken into account. At the recent 6-month meeting of the Association of Enterprises, Mr. Tran Van My, Chairman of the Association of Enterprises, affirmed that the Association is promoting the construction of an ecosystem to support enterprises and a business advisory group according to a multi-component linkage model. The Association will work with leading experts in each specific field, with practical experience in operating and developing enterprises; banks, schools and institutes to build a consulting network to support small and medium enterprises in the area. This is expected to be a "hub" connecting knowledge, experience and financial resources, helping enterprises orient their strategies and improve their competitiveness.

Mr. Phan Quoc Son, Deputy Director of the Department of Finance, said that in order for the policy to be effectively implemented, in addition to the participation of the government, it is necessary to have the support of associations, unions, and business clubs. In addition, businesses also need to identify specific goals, business strategies, and difficulties; proactively provide and give feedback to the government on support programs, and learn about policies. This will be an important basis for the government to improve the quality of policies and ensure that support programs meet the needs of businesses.

Recently, the Business Association signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in supporting businesses with the City's Center for Investment, Trade and Enterprise Support. The two sides also agreed to cooperate and develop action plans to promote the development of small and medium enterprises to contribute to the goal of "Striving to have at least 1 million more businesses nationwide by 2030" in accordance with the direction of the Prime Minister in Directive No. 10/CT-TTg, dated March 25, 2025 on promoting the development of small and medium enterprises. Previously, the Business Association also signed a cooperation agreement with the Department of Planning and Investment (now the Department of Finance); Department of Industry and Trade, Department of Science and Technology.

Article and photos: Hoang Loan

Source: https://huengaynay.vn/kinh-te/ho-tro-doanh-nghiep-mot-ban-tay-kho-lam-nen-tieng-vo-bai-3-xay-dung-he-sinh-thai-ho-tro-doanh-nghiep-156863.html