Challenging economic slowdown has wrecked on most businesses. The business environment turns harder to stay alive. However, according to many experts, now is an opportunity to enhance competitiveness and sustainable development.
At a workshop entitled "Economic crisis - opportunity to enhance competitiveness of enterprises" jointly held by the Ho Chi Minh City Business Association and Saigon Entrepreneur Newspaper in HCM City, many senior economists, including Luong Van Tu, Le Dang Doanh, Pham Phu Ngoc Trai, Le Chi Hieu, Dang Duc Thanh, and Pham Linh, shared their standpoint on opportunities for businesses to improve their competitiveness in the time of economic crisis.
Mr Luong Van Tu, former chief of the Vietnamese WTO entry negotiation delegation, said, in the market economy, whenever economic stagnation, recession and crisis at the climax occur, companies are exposed to tremendous challenges. However, this is the time to get shot of inefficient enterprises and create the room for better ones. Sharing this viewpoint, Mr Pham Ngoc Hung, Vice Chairman of the HCM City Business Association, said, in the current difficult context, businesses need to self-assess their internal resources first. He said that companies that have good development orientations and strong workforce will overcome current challenges while companies without clear strategies and good labour force will be excreted in the financial storm.
In the current context, the Government can only provide ‘midwife’ support, not do the role of enterprises. To survive, they must reassess their management apparatus, human resources, technology and finally product competitiveness.
Mr Pham Linh, Deputy CEO of Orient Commercial Joint Stock Bank (OCB), to deal with hardships, companies need to focus on factors that raise labour productivity, apply science and technology, and enhance intelligent management. In particular, they need to put a premium on core activities; reorganise linked production models or organise cross-linked groups of producers and processors in many ways like cooperation groups, cooperatives, clubs, and production consortiums.
Mr Linh said financially troubled businesses must select suitable orders and strive to fulfill in the shortest time to reduce borrowing costs, actively seek preferential capital from foreign partners in the form of loan, bond and stock; and link with enterprises and associations to seek markets.
On this occasion, he introduced six major products OCB offers to enterprises: Loans for plastics businesses, loans for rice businesses, loans for coffee businesses, loans for clean and green businesses, loans for women-led businesses, and loans for energy efficiency projects. "OCB hopes businesses will soon access this credit package. This will be a solution to help businesses to remove difficulties in the current tough context," said Mr Linh.
According to statistics from the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), in 2011 and especially in the first quarter of 2012, indexes of production and business activities of enterprises worsened, especially profit, revenue, inventory, machine efficiency, and personnel indicators. As many as 8.4 per cent of enterprises ended operations in 2011 and the first quarter of 2012.
Quynh Anh
Vietnamese
