The
Vietnam Business Forum 2011, themed “New period for Competitive Growth” opened
in Hanoi on December 2, serving as a venue for domestic and foreign-invested
enterprises, donors and the Vietnamese Government to discuss Vietnam’s business
environment.
According to the report on the current
business environment presented by the forum’s secretariat, Vietnamese
enterprises faced various difficulties in 2011.
A survey of 240 enterprises revealed that
their assessment of the business environment in 2011 was the most negative for
the past three years, with an average score of 2.04 points, in comparison with
2.52 points in 2010 and 1.9 points in 2008 (during a global financial crisis).
Only 26 per cent of surveyed enterprises said
the business environment was good or very good, half of last year’s figure.
However, 69 per cent of the surveyed
enterprises said they will expand business in the next three years, taking into
account the long-term potential of Vietnam’s economy.
Macro-economic management was listed for the
first time as one of three top concerns about the business environment.
Foreign-invested enterprises were more pessimistic than their local
counterparts.
Chairman of EuroCham in Vietnam Alain Cany
said that his office’s quarterly business environment index reduced from 78
points to 52 points in 2011. He attributed European firms’ concerns about the
28-per cent decrease in FDI in the first nine months of this year and an
inflation rate of nearly 20 per cent.
According to Cany, Vietnam needs to speed up
reform of its economy, finance and education, if the country wants to pursue a
sustainable economic development model.
To attract quality foreign investors, he
suggested the Vietnamese Government in 2012 focus efforts on removing
unnecessary restrictions in market access which harm trade liberalisation.
The Government should continue solving
bureaucratic and corruption issues, reduce and simplify administrative
procedures at all levels, as well as providing protection and effective
enforcement of intellectual property rights.
Chairman of AmCham in Vietnam Christopher
Twomey shared information on the improvement of business conditions to promote
socio-economic development in the country, stressing that trade and foreign
investment-related areas generate jobs and income while tax turnover, exports,
foreign currency and technology transfer orient the socio-economic development
strategy.
He proposed Vietnam implement sound economic
policies, legal system and regulations, transparency and efficiency in
administrative agencies and public infrastructure agencies, including
transport, electricity, communications, education and health care network, to
absorb investment, promote trade and stimulate socio-economic development.
At the forum, the Vietnamese Government’s
representatives answered recommendations and proposals from working groups on
banking, capital markets, production and distribution, taxation and land.
The Vietnam Business Forum is an annual event
held on the threshold of the Consultative Group Meeting scheduled for December
6. It was chaired by Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh,
Country Programme Director of the World Bank Keiko Santo and Regional Director
of the International Finance Corporation.
VIR - VNA
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