To increase the support for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and the cooperation with APEC economies, the third annual meeting of APEC Financial Institutions was hosted by the Vietnam Industrial and Commercial Bank (Incombank) in Hanoi. On this occasion, Vietnam Business Forum had an interview with Mr. Pham Huy Hung, General Director of Incombank.
Can you tell us about some advantages of APEC member economies since the Financial Institutions Conference made a debut in 2004?
In the APEC community, there is no cooperation form for financial institutions. The initiatives to open this conference have opened new cooperative directions and contents in banking and finance service sector. This is a preparatory step for member economies, especially meaningful for Vietnam when it is on the brink of the WTO admission. Besides, attendants of the conference defined to support regional SMEs. The concentration of supports for SMEs reflected the correct economic development direction of Vietnam and APEC economies at the moment. We believed banks in the APEC member economies will become the sheet-anchor for enterprises to grow. A three-year period is not long but has laid a foundation for initial cooperation and business in this field of banks.
What is Vietnam’s role, particularly that of Incombank, at this event?
Any member always desires to bring its active roles and contributions to this conference into full play. Incombank of Vietnam is a dynamic and open bank with many domestic and overseas partners. With this spirit, we made contacts with members, maintained the cooperative bridges and sufficiently carried out the contents of both the Bangkok and Beijing agreements. In Hanoi, we put forward several initiatives to strengthen cooperation between members like setting up a secretariat, adopting specific cooperative contents and notably organising the SME product trade fair next year.
What are the obstacles that APEC SMEs need to overcome in order to develop?
The difficulty facing SMEs is the access to supporting sources and the shortage of business development services. The business development services have considerable influences on the development of SMEs. In many countries, these services contribute over 16 per cent to the GDP. However, they are rather new in Vietnam. Through the meeting, we had chances to exchange and share experience to expand services for the growth of SMEs.
What should Vietnamese banks do to operate well in the integration environment?
To operate well in the integration environment, many issues must be resolved, including human resources. We lack professional staff and the qualifications of bank employees are dissimilar, failing to keep paces of the integration process. We must quickly train more professional staff to acquire the advancements of the international banking and finance service field.
The banking service operation mechanism needs adjusting to match the WTO commitments, not to lag behind the others. In addition, many other matters must be taken into account, such as new technologies, management skill and supporting policies.
Mai Anh
Vietnamese
