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Larger role of associations recognised
A survey of 7,820 enterprises nationwide conducted by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and USAID-funded Vietnam Competitiveness Initiative (VNCI) in May 2008 shows that business associations are playing a larger role in helping improve the business environment and develop businesses.
When asked what the most effective channel is through which they can make suggestions about legal documents and government policies, 36.90% of the 7,820 businesses said ‘business associations’.
Meanwhile, only 32.07% of enterprises think that direct dialogues between localities and enterprises are the way they can most effectively express their opinions and make suggestions on policies relating to business.
The survey of 64 associations conducted by VCCI in August 2008 also shows that associations think they work effectively in policy lobbying. 30.65% of associations said ‘effectively’, while 54.84% said ‘sometimes effectively and sometimes ineffectively’, while 0% said ‘absolutely ineffectively’.
The May 2008 survey also raised the question: “Do local authorities create favourable conditions for associations to be established and operate?” 60.82% of enterprises said ‘yes’, while 7.65% said ‘no’, which shows that some localities still set barriers for business associations.
While associations now play a larger role in the national economy, they have to face a lot of challenges in operation. 73% of 64 associations said that they lack money to operate, and 62% said they have problems finding qualified staffs.
Dau Tuan Anh of the Legal Department of VCCI calls this a vicious circle of associations, especially small associations. As associations are not financially capable, they do not get qualified staffs, which leads to limitations in service quality. And because of the limitations, the associations cannot get money for their operations.
Pham Trong Thinh, Secretary General, Deputy Chairman of the Hai Phong Road Transport, said that it is necessary to build up a law to replace the currently applied Decree 88 from 2003 on the operation of associations.
VNN
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