Hanoi (VNA) – A recent survey by the VietnamPrivate Sector Forum has shown that the confidence of private businessexecutives keeps improving, with the private sector increasingly asserting itsimportant role in Vietnam’s economic growth. 

Don Lam, VinaCapital General Director, said Vietnam hasexerted efforts to improve the business climate, evidenced by higher rankings insurveys conducted by the World Bank.

However, half of the surveyed enterprises confirmed thatregulatory barriers, including overlapping, unclear and inefficientregulations, are hurting them, diminishing the sector’s competitiveness.

Ho Sy Hung, head of the Enterprise Development Agency underthe Ministry of Planning and Investment, said over the past few years, the sizeof private enterprises has not improved, in terms of capital or the average numberof employees, making it hard for them to invest in technology, machinery andfixed assets to reduce costs.

The failure to expand has also made cumbersome administrativeprocedures a bigger problem, such as inconsistency between the Law onInvestment, the Law on Environmental Protection, the Land Law and theConstruction Law.

Hung admitted that enterprises, especially small andmedium-sized ones, struggle to access loans and credit guarantees. He suggestedoffering loan packages with reasonable interest rates and transparent andsimple lending procedures and diversifying banking products and services toincrease access to capital.

Economist Vu Dinh Anh said policies and mechanisms for theprivate sector must be based on the principle of “equality, no preference,respect and initiative”.

The results of the survey indicated that 63 percent ofrespondents plan to expand operations while 44 percent reported they havemissed out on business opportunities due to legal barriers and marketrestrictions.

Up to 37 percent of firms said their operations performedbetter in 2017 than in previous years while 43 percent of others expressedexpectations that the economy will improve.-VNA