When entrepreneurial dreams take flight

Driven by dreams of entrepreneurship and expanding their production and business models, many young people in the province have been supported by local government funds entrusted through the Quang Tri Provincial Branch of the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP). This has spread widely, fostering a movement of young people establishing themselves and their careers, contributing their youthful energy to building a beautiful and prosperous homeland.

Training on the management and use of loan capital to support youth entrepreneurship - Photo: HN

These days, the wood carving workshop of Tran Thanh Dat's family (born in 1999) in Ho Xa town, Vinh Linh district, is focused on completing orders and products in preparation for the upcoming Lunar New Year.

After completing his military service in 2022, Dat returned to his hometown and continued working in the plumbing and electrical trade he had previously pursued. In mid-2023, upon learning about preferential loans for young people from the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP), he planned to borrow money to expand his family's fine art woodworking workshop, purchasing machinery and investing in equipment. From then on, he abandoned his plumbing and electrical work and pursued the "family tradition" to support his parents in their business.

Traditionally, fine woodworking relied on skilled hands to create products. However, the current trend is to incorporate modern machinery and technology into production to reduce labor costs and increase economic efficiency.

“Previously, in the production of fine art wooden furniture, all stages were mainly done manually by my parents, with not many machines. After borrowing 100 million VND from the Social Policy Bank, I expanded my family's production facility, bought a modern wood lathe to make more products such as vases, tables and chairs made from driftwood, etc.,” Mr. Dat shared about the reason for borrowing capital.

Although he hasn't borrowed capital for long, according to Mr. Dat, the immediate effect is that the invested machinery will replace human labor in some stages of production; the quantity of products produced will increase, leading to increased productivity and quality. In the future, he plans to link the family's handicraft households into a large-scale production facility, and from there continue to borrow capital to expand production.

Many exemplary young people in the area have demonstrated their ability to effectively utilize policy-based credit funds, affirming the significance of this source of capital. From the 2002 movement to promote creative labor and self-reliance to establish careers, to the current "Accompanying Youth in Starting and Establishing Businesses" program, targets have been set for supporting young people with loans to develop their businesses. Entrusted loan funds are a crucial channel for youth organizations to successfully achieve these targets. Therefore, young people have many opportunities to access preferential policies for economic development. This has led to the formation of many successful youth entrepreneurship and business clubs.

To ensure the effective use of capital, emphasis is placed on planning and annual monitoring. Youth union branches at all levels organize numerous activities to support the development of economic models, contributing to the effective utilization of social credit loans. These include mobilizing social resources to donate livestock to struggling economic models; coordinating with relevant departments and agencies to guide young entrepreneurs in registering for programs supporting machinery, equipment, and the transfer of new technologies; and organizing many programs and forums to connect the supply and demand of youth startup products with businesses, creating outlets for products from youth economic development models.

For Nguyen Thanh Hop (born in 2001) in Dong Ha City, receiving preferential credit from the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) through the youth union channel was a great motivation. Every day, this young man's job is to diligently work on cars, diagnosing and repairing malfunctions, ensuring customer safety. Because of his hard work and responsibility, customers frequently seek out his car repair shop. However, previously, Hop's garage only repaired cars. Thanks to the policy credit loan, Hop invested in car washing machines, car lifts, and pressure pumps to expand his car washing service, providing convenience for customers.

"Being able to borrow capital at a low interest rate first and foremost gives me peace of mind and the confidence to pursue my long-held idea. I think many other young people share the same sentiment as me when they have access to this source of funding," Hop shared.

Thanks to the support of policy-based credit, not only Mr. Hop but also many other youth union members have risen to become shining examples in the economic development movement. Every year, the high percentage of young people entering the workforce means that supporting entrepreneurship and creating jobs for young people is always a priority for all levels and sectors. Providing loans with preferential interest rates is one of the effective solutions to help young people realize their aspirations.

From 2014 to the present, the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) has disbursed an average of 50-100 million VND in loans annually to over 300 youth economic development models. To date, the province has 85 economic development clubs and cooperatives, and over 500 youth economic models generating incomes exceeding 100 million VND per year. In accordance with Resolution No. 103/NQ-HĐND of the Provincial People's Council, in 2024, the provincial budget allocated 3 billion VND to be entrusted through the provincial VBSP for 30 young people to borrow capital for production and business. The total local budget capital entrusted through the VBSP reached over 218 billion VND, an increase of 188 billion VND compared to before the implementation of Directive No. 40-CT/TW of the Party Central Committee.

To further enhance the effectiveness of preferential social credit funds, the dissemination of information by youth organizations needs to be strengthened to promptly spread new policies and guidelines on social credit to all segments of the population. Good models, effective practices, and exemplary cases of borrowing and using loans efficiently should be replicated through mass media and social networks.

Continue to seek and develop innovative startup ideas among youth union members and research ways to connect startup ideas with potential investors and other sources of capital. Support young people in developing feasible investment projects, and leverage funding sources for youth entrepreneurship and business development from the province and the Central Youth Union. In particular, effectively manage and utilize local budget funds entrusted to the Social Policy Bank to continue lending to poor households and other policy beneficiaries in the province.

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