PM chairs meeting to seek solutions to promote SMEs

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chaired a meeting between standing Cabinet members and leaders of domestic small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Hanoi on February 26 to identify and address challenges and obstacles facing the firms, and outline strategies for them to thrive and contribute to the country's rapid and sustainable growth.

As the Vietnamese business community is largely comprised of SMEs, the Government is drafting a new resolution on fostering the growth of private enterprises, to be presented to the Politburo and the Party Central Committee, the PM said.

He urged delegates to assess the current state of SMEs, engage in open discussions, identify key challenges, and propose practical solutions to enable collaborative progress and mutual success.

At the meeting, Mr. Nguyen Van Than, Chairman of the Association of SMEs proposed  some solutions to help further promote the enterprises’ growth, including creating conditions for SMEs to take part in major national projects, reducing corporate income tax, and helping SMEs to get better access to credits.

Other measures, according to Mr. Than's proposal, include continuing to promote administrative reform and improve business environment, setting SME development quota for localities to fulfill the target of 1.5 million SMEs this year.

The private economic sector has contributed around 50% of  GDP and 56% of total social investment of the country.