Hanoi (VNA) - The domestic business community has raised a series of measures to sustainable restore and develop the economy at the annual Vietnam Business Forum that was opened in Hanoi on February 21.

Speaking at the function, Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Pham Tan Cong held that the measure of the top importance is to facilitate the firms in accessing information on support policies and provisions.

Facilitating access to information on policies

According to Cong, 2022 can be forecast to be another year full of challenges to Vietnam’s economy. The Omicron variant of the COVID-19 pandemic is very rapidly spreading, and the situation is worsened by the uncertainties in the international arena. As a result, the world economy will be unstable although there have been signs of recovery.

The official said the domestic business community has asked state management authorities to facilitate the firms in accessing support policies and provisions.

State offices should raise their working efficiency in popularising the policies and provisions and intensify the reception of feedbacks, he said.

Secondly, the support packages should be effective in helping firms access capital to restore their production and business, while quickly implementing the already available ones, he said.

Reviving firms core direction

To quickly restore the production forces, Cong said the procedures on immigration and travel for foreign workers and experts should be simplified. Besides, he added, the policy on foreign experts should be implemented in a unified way among the localities throughout the country and publicised.

On the other hand, the localities also need to work out their own policies to raise the efficiency of training programmes in support of the workers who lost their jobs or were laid off under the impact of the pandemic, Cong said.

The government needs to work out programmes to train specific skill for each industry belonging to the key value chains and in concrete strategies so as to attract the shifting FDI flows, he stressed.

In the context of the complicated development of the pandemic, Cong called for the acceleration of the application of the IT in dealing with administrative procedures, proceeding to a total online solution. Currently there are still many procedures that cannot be made online such as electronic or digital signatures, he pointed out.

More than ever, the new situation is requiring the raising of the implementation efficiency of the administrative system and the upholding of the individual responsibilities of the unit leaders, the official stressed.

The official added that as for the policies that are slow to be realised or unsuitable, the government should adjust them at an early date to make them come in conformity with realities, focusing on reviving firms and cooperatives while ensuring the efficiency of the pandemic fight.

Market development to be accelerated

To sustainable restore production, according to Cong, policies should be focused more strongly on accelerating the development of the domestic market. Besides the acceleration of the “Vietnamese people prioritise Vietnamese goods” and the “Vietnamese goods conquer Vietnamese people” movements, there should be those on consumption connection and promotion to be held all over the country. On the other hand, ministries, sectors, localities and associations should establish links so as to boost consumption, in both online and in-person formats.

As for the international market, Cong pointed out that currently Vietnam is having 12 valid free trade agreements, including many markets to which the country is enjoying advantages. The tariff advantages created by FTAs are important tools to attract customers back to Vietnam in the time to come, he said.

Besides, the government needs to continue improving the business environment, raising the national competitiveness, and take digital economic development as the growth locomotive for the economy, Cong stressed.

𝓰 A survey by the VCCI in 2021 showed up to 94% of the firms came under impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Statistics from the General Statistics Office also revealed that some 120,000 enterprises withdrew from the market, 18% higher than the figure in 2020./.