The Thai Binh Small and Medium Enterprises Association, set up on June 3, 2005 under Decision No. 1434/QD-UBND of the Thai Binh Provincial People's Committee, has satisfied expectations of enterprises in the province. This is a social and professional association, which represents small and medium-sized enterprises of all the economic sectors in Thai Binh Province .

Formation Background

The northern province of Thai Binh had 1,007 small and medium-sized enterprises as of June 2005, including limited liability companies and joint stock companies. The population of limited liability and joint stock companies increases year after year and they are engaged in almost all industries such as the industrial sector, agriculture, electronics and transport. In practice, the investment efficiency and the interest rate of small and medium-sized enterprises in Thai Binh is higher than other economic layers. Each year, they pump hundreds of billions Vietnamese dong into expanding production. The small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have created jobs for thousands of labourers. According to a recent survey, over 15 enterprises currently employ over 1,000 workers and 31 enterprises are hiring between 300 to 900 workers. In particular, enterprises engaged in bamboo and rattan fine arts, embroidery, construction, garment and textile industries have generated jobs for thousands of rural workers. 

SMEs can recover their investment capital and reinvest it in a very short term because they normally have only small sums of initial investment. Besides, they can take advantage of available land and workshops and therefore they have low depreciation costs. However, many SMEs are unwilling to keep the law and guarantee insurance policies, rights and interests for their workers. In addition, many enterprises develop unhealthy competition.

Lack of cooperation and unification in the business community are considerably attributed to bad deeds.  Many enterprises have insufficient and tardy market information. The small market size and few and scattered product sources also lead to low competitiveness. Last but not least, a lot of business owners have not experienced any official training course; therefore, their management and leadership skills are quite poor. Furthermore, SMEs are in great need of well-trained workers.

The above limits have lead SMEs in Thai Binh Province to set up the Thai Binh Small and Medium Enterprises Association, which represents their cooperation and unity.

Functions and targets

The association promotes and educates its members to understand and implement economic development guidelines of the central government, consults and provides information about trade and legal issues for its members, represents its members before local governments, resolves issues that may impact the rights and interests of its members, organises trade promotion activities to boost trade cooperation between its members, domestic enterprises and international firms, hosts seminars, trade fairs and working visits to good performing enterprises, and organises training and consulting courses in order to improve the knowledge and management ability of its members.

With such responsibilities, the association has put forward operational targets for the 2005-2010 tenure, which will focus on promoting and training its members, especially those related to economic development guidelines and policies of the Government and to legal knowledge and economic and commercial information. In addition, the association will also join hands with mass media agencies to introduce outstanding figures in the business community, cooperate with relevant bodies to build a website for the association in order to popularise its membership enterprises and create opportunities for enterprises to expand markets and seek investment. To reach these targets, the association hopes that the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and other business associations will help train its association standing members, membership enterprises and help its members to seek partners and expand markets.
Nguyen Thoa