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Troubled Can Tho firms air grievances
Can Tho authorities held a dialogue on Tuesday with local firms to explore ways to overcome the problems many of them have faced this year with regard to production and export.
According to the Department of Planning and Investment, a majority of businesses in the city are involved in farming, processing, or exporting aquaculture produce.
Many of the troubled companies too are in the same business.
With prices falling this year, many farmers have quit the business, bringing the area under aquaculture to 2,352ha, or just 40 per cent of last year's figure.
Further downstream, processors said the resultant shortage of shrimp and catfish meant they were unable to operate at full capacity, affecting exports.
Other problems, they said, were rising production costs, sharp decline in international demand – leading to huge inventories – and inability to get loans, especially at low interest rates.
Ha Hong Ngoc, director of the State Bank of Viet Nam's city branch, told the meeting that many enterprises could not get credit because their accounts were opaque and they lacked assets to mortgagee or feasible business plans.
Executives from Pataya Food Company and Manga Mekong Aquatic Ltd., Co expressed fears about a mass exodus of workers to other industries.
Many processors believe that temporarily suspending operations is a better option than continuing to bleed.
Nguyen Thanh Son, the city People's Committee chairman, said he would report to the Government and seek its early intervention to resolve the problems.
He also promised that the city administration would do its best to support the businesses.
vietnamnews
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