Create conditions for the private economy to develop more strongly

The private economy is considered to play an important role in the period of accelerating industrialization, modernization and international integration, contributing to enhancing Vietnam's position and prestige in the international arena. However, to help the private economy develop sustainably and become a driving force for the country's growth, it is necessary to promptly identify shortcomings and remove "bottlenecks".

Workers of Ladoda Company sew bags and leather briefcases for domestic and export markets. (Photo: TRAN HAI)

The most important thing is to create a transparent, safe and equal business investment environment; have more support policies; especially, improve the quality of the team of entrepreneurs and enterprises to meet the requirements of the new era.

Creating equality in economic sectors

The private economy in our country has developed strongly, to date there are nearly 900 thousand enterprises operating, with about 7 million entrepreneurs. The private economy is contributing nearly 45% of the country's GDP, one-third of the state budget revenue, more than 40% of the total investment capital of the whole society, creating jobs for 85% of the country's labor force; accounting for 35% of total import turnover and 25% of total export turnover. This shows that the role, position and growth of private economic resources are increasingly affirmed, contributing to changing the face of the country, creating an impression, enhancing the position and prestige of Vietnam in the international arena.

Despite many commendable achievements, according to economic experts, it is clear that the performance of the private economic sector has not met expectations and is still limited in many aspects. In particular, this sector has not yet enjoyed equality with the state economic sector and the foreign-invested sector in accessing land resources, capital, etc. In addition, the private economic development institution still has many shortcomings, lacks synchronization, and is slow to put support policies into practice. At times and in some places, it even causes difficulties and distorts the correct support policies and guidelines of the Party and the State.

According to a survey by the Vietnam Federation of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), private enterprises are always in a state of shortage of capital and cash flow for business, especially for medium, small and micro enterprises. Enterprises said that it is very difficult to access the policy package to support reducing bank interest rates and extending loan terms; 44% of surveyed enterprises could not access the support package to temporarily suspend social insurance payments and nearly 40% of enterprises said that they had not yet accessed the policy of extending payment of corporate income tax and value added tax...

Therefore, there was a time when the business efficiency of private enterprises was very low, causing most enterprises to not dare to expand their scale, and even the number of enterprises planning to reduce their scale or close was still high,...

Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Private Entrepreneurs, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Trong Dieu said that while the private economy contributes positively to GDP, creates jobs, and participates strongly in the export market, in reality, the State's support resources for this sector are not yet commensurate. In addition, the business environment is still not favorable, there are still difficulties in accessing land, capital, markets, customers; and there are also disadvantages in taxes.

Therefore, it is hoped that the Government will continue to promote the improvement of the business environment with a focus on reforming administrative procedures, removing "barriers" that cause difficulties for businesses; cutting costs for businesses by focusing on reforming administrative procedures in some areas that still cause trouble for businesses such as: land, tax, construction, etc.; at the same time, minimizing the burden of inspection and examination in the direction of applying risk management principles, creating a favorable business environment for businesses, etc.

Building a safe business environment

Therefore, in the early days of January 2024, Resolution 02/NQ-CP on key tasks and solutions to improve the business environment and enhance national competitiveness in 2024 was promptly issued by the Government. The Resolution sets out one of the key tasks as renewing old growth drivers and effectively exploiting new growth drivers. Creating a healthy competitive environment, rapidly increasing the number of newly established enterprises; reducing the rate of enterprises temporarily suspending operations; reducing policy risks; strengthening confidence, creating a fulcrum for recovery and enhancing the resilience of enterprises, etc.

In fact, in 2023, many economic experts believe that, for traditional growth drivers, the contribution to the growth of the new gross domestic product (GDP) is mainly from public investment, while the contribution of private investment is still very low, reaching only 2.7%. Notably, compared to the period 2019-2022, this is the lowest level, specifically, compared to 2019, it is 6.3 times lower, 2020 is 1.1 times lower, 2021 is 2.6 times lower and 2022 is 3.3 times lower. Therefore, the key issue is to remove legal obstacles, along with creating an open and safe business investment environment to promote private investment.

According to VCCI Chairman Pham Tan Cong, 2024 is considered a pivotal year for the socio-economic development plan for the 2021-2025 period with a growth target of 6-6.5%. And to achieve the set socio-economic goals, the private economy must contribute more. Therefore, in 2024 and the following years, macro policies must revolve around supporting and developing businesses; selectively attracting foreign investment projects, closely linking with domestic enterprises, participating more deeply in regional and global value chains, etc.

In particular, the Politburo's issuance of Resolution No. 41-NQ/TW on promoting the role of entrepreneurs in the new situation (October 10, 2023) will create more motivation and confidence for the business community and Vietnamese entrepreneurs as the Resolution clearly defines the responsibility of the Party, the State and the political system to create a favorable, safe and equal investment and business environment for businesses to develop. Businesses are very happy about this, because security and safety in production and business are very important factors and are given top priority.

With recent strong reforms and innovations in institutions and policies, the private economic sector will have more conditions to develop strongly in quantity and quality, becoming an important driving force in economic development. Therefore, in 2024, the Government needs to continue to have solutions and policies to "keep the fire burning" for the momentum of reforming the business environment, not only favorable but also safe and equal.

Improving the business environment should not only stop at passively removing difficulties but also proactively create favorable conditions for people and businesses to confidently invest, produce and do business. Importantly, management agencies need to have substantive dialogue with businesses, promote and improve the quality of policy implementation, create trust and business spirit for entrepreneurs and businesses to develop and contribute to economic growth and the common interests of the country, people and businesses.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/tao-dieu-kien-de-kinh-te-tu-nhan-phat-trien-manh-me-hon-post797871.html#797871|zone-highlight-1185|1

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