Vietnamese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are facing a series of obstacles including low education levels of its leaders, financial shortages and slow technology approaches, said a large survey conducted by the SMEs Development Agency under Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI).
The survey found out incredible figures. Up to 55.63 per cent of SME heads experienced only intermediate education levels including 43.3 per cent with primary and senior secondary education levels, 37.82 per cent graduated from universities and 3.56 per cent from colleges.
As few as 0.66 per cent and 2.33 per cent of SME leaders have doctorate and master degrees, said the survey that involved 63,000 SMEs in 30 northern provinces.
Notably, many leaders that have college and university certificates are still untrained about business administration and economic knowledge, causing serious difficulties for enterprises to map out business orientation and development strategies.
Regarding financial shortages, the survey revealed that up to 32.28 per cent of SMEs claimed that they had no access to financial sources from the State budget, 35.24 per cent admitted difficulties in completing the process and the remainder said they had approached other sources.
In addition, SMEs are also dealing with difficulties approaching other financial sources for help, with 30.43 per cent of respondents encountering problems after approaching and another 21 per cent denied the opportunity.
Lack of financial access and support was listed as the number one obstacle for SMEs, followed by difficulties in market expansion, obtainment of land and production sites, tax incentives, lack of information, approaches to new technology and environment treatment.
Do Van Hai, vice head of the agency said though the government had issued Decree 90 to assist enterprises in approaching and receiving financial resources through the Credit Guarantee Fund, many SMEs have failed to take advantage of this resource.
“We must be aware that most enterprises who can approach this fund are state enterprises, but not from other sectors,” Haid said.
“Therefore, it is imperative to accelerate the establishment of Credit Guarantee Fund for SMEs and facilitate its smooth operation,” Hai added.
The survey also indicated SMEs’ weak awareness and slow approach of technology. Only 25.94 per cent of enterprises felt the need to develop their knowledge about new technology. The figure reflects the state of many businesses and problems they may have adapting to future change.
In fact, 92 per cent of SMEs are using and applying average or below average technologies and only 8 per cent using advanced technologies, mostly from foreign invested and state-owned enterprises, the survey was told.
“This is very serious because it means our competitiveness is also very low, not a good sign in the lead up to global integration and Vietnam joining the World Trade Organization,” Hai added.
Currently, Vietnam has 200,000 enterprises, with 97 per cent being SMEs. The number of SMEs in the country is expected to reach 500,000 by 2010.
Available statistics showed that of the SMEs, 17 per cent are operating in industry, 14 per cent in construction, 14 per cent in agriculture, and 55 per cent in services.
The SME sector was responsible for 26 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), 31 per cent of total industrial production and 78 per cent of total retail sales in 2003. They also created jobs for 26 per cent of the national labor force.
Vietnam Economic Times, VIR
Vietnamese
