Private business leaders voiced frustration over long standing inequalities in state policy, especially compared to state-owned enterprises, at a workshop hosted by the Ho Chi Minh City Business Association (HUBA), Friday. The leaders highlighted a need for institutional reform, transparency, and better access to land, finance, and international markets, VNExpress is reporting.
The articles also notes that:
- Vietravel Airlines Chairman Nguyen Quoc Ky criticised unequal state support, noting that private aviation firms received no aid during the pandemic while state-owned airlines did.
- IPPG Chairman Johnathan Hanh Nguyen proposed easing access for private firms to key resources like land and infrastructure, arguing that prime real estate is underused by the state and could be better developed by the private sector.
- Tran Viet Anh of Nam Thai Son said Vietnamese exporters have lacked government backing in international disputes, citing 15 years of high US anti-dumping duties on Vietnamese plastics, while competitors in Malaysia and Thailand were supported by their governments.
- Businesses also proposed tax breaks for new firms, space allocation for SMEs in industrial zones, a Japanese-style credit guarantee system, and clear roles for FDI and domestic firms in technology transfer.
Notably, equal treatment, institutional clarity, and stronger support mechanisms could be pivotal in unlocking the full potential of the private sector. This coincides with calls from Vietnam’s relatively new General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, To Lam, for an increased role for the private sector in Vietnam’s economic development.