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Crisis impacts on two-thirds of local SMEs
Two-thirds of the small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in Vietnam were affected by the global financial crisis but most of them said these challenges were temporary.
This is the result of a survey conducted at SMEs in 10 cities and provinces nationwide, which was announced at a seminar held in Hanoi on Sept. 17 by the Central Institute of Economic Management (CIEM) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.
Prof. Finn Tarp, coordinator and supervisor of the survey, said the business environment of SMEs in Vietnam seemed to worsen between 2007 and 2009, when SMEs faced more barriers, including the falls in both demands for products and supply of credits.
The rate of SMEs that annually survived the crisis dropped, while a large number of other SMEs were forced to halt operations, said the professor.
However, Tarp said super-small companies suffered fewer impacts from the crisis than bigger enterprises, as the crisis helped improve their business conditions, make competition less tough and push the government to offer them better assistance programmes.
According to the survey, SMEs in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh city and the central province of Nghe An were hardest hit by the crisis, while those in the provinces of Phu Tho, Khanh Hoa and Lam Dong and Hai Phong city suffered fewer negative influences.
Almost 40 percent of the SMEs facing credit-related difficulties were in rural areas and household businesses in cities.
The survey, the sixth of its kind, was jointly carried out by CIEM, the Institute of Labour Science and Social Affairs under the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs, and the Faculty of Economics at Copenhagen University.
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