SMEs advised to seize opportunities with both hands

“The Vietnam government has signed many free and bilateral trade agreements with a large number of partners,” Deputy Minister Tu said at a recent seminar, with hopes that they would serve as a platform for local businesses to springboard into the export market.

Additionally, with the dong depreciating against the US dollar, Deputy Minister Tu reiterated that now is a good time to re-evaluate the possibilities presented by the global market.

“Fundamentally, the nation’s currency is still strong even with the US dollar strengthening” Tu said. “Inflation remains under control, we have full employment and the Made-in-Vietnam brand is, albeit much to slowly, gaining in international recognition.”

Local businessmen and women need to be hungrier for exports and more steadfast in their determination to actively seek out and pursue every avenue for growth that presents itself.

Though it is true that a stronger US dollar also means more expensive imports of raw materials, there are effective strategies to reduce those costs, such as using non-US currencies in negotiating deals for trade.

He also encouraged local SMEs to make more effective use of e-commerce platforms in markets such as the US, EU, Middle East and African economies to reach a wider international market.

Governmental agencies have been organizing numerous overseas exhibitions to introduce commercial goods and services to markets and the Deputy Minister said he hopes to see more active participation from the business community in the future.

He noted the number of SMEs currently capitalizing on trade agreements has been estimated to be less than 30% of the number of registered businesses with the rate for the very smallest virtually nonexistent.

“We need to see more of the business community joining our national marketing and other promotional programs and aggressively pursuing increased exports in foreign markets,” Tu underscored.

Director Tran Ba Cuong in turn said officials at the Ministry of Industry and Trade have thought long and hard about how to improve our SME landscape.

“We know we need a multi-pronged approach to help small businesses invest more, grow more, employ more, and export more he said,” but most importantly we need more active participation from the business community itself.

Simply gaining improved access to foreign markets through elimination of tariffs and trade liberalization brought about by trade agreements will not guarantee success of the nation’s SMEs in the international marketplace.

The government wants to help get businesses export ready and the goal is to use trade agreements to open doors for export opportunities, as a means to create more prosperity for the nation.

Once signed, trade agreements real rewards only flow to those who do the hard work— the entrepreneurial businesses, the innovators, the hard workers throughout the nation who will jump at the new market openings.

Lastly, Vice Director Tran Thi Thanh Tam of the Centre of Support for SMEs said the government wants to conclude great trade deals and work with SMEs to turn them into new sources of economic growth.

Business leaders need to understand the provisions of trade agreements, make comprehensive plans for accessing export markets, and thoroughly understand complex certificate of origin as well as other regulations, he said.

However, most importantly they need to seize with both hands the breaks trade agreements present and coordinate with the Ministry of Industry and Trade to effectively deal with the complex challenges they pose.