Hanoi (VNA) – Domestic businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs) need further support from state management agencies to better compete inthe context of deep global integration, said Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber ofCommerce and Industry (VCCI) Vu Tien Loc.

Loc said up to 67,000 newbusinesses were established and 21,600 companies resumed operations in thefirst six months of the year, stressing that the figures were upbeat signs inthe economic development in the period.

Although severalnew-generation free trade agreements like the Comprehensive and ProgressiveAgreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement(EVFTA) have pushed domestic institutional reforms in the past time, manybusinesses said the progress still lags behind expectations, and overlapping ofand even conflicts in regulations and jurisdiction of state management agencies,and different laws such as the Investment Law, Land Law, Construction Law andEnvironment Law has hampered their operations, he said.

Loc affirmed “transparency”is the best measure to protect SMEs and micro enterprises, and firms with lesscompetitive advantages.

Meanwhile, Director of theCentral Institute for Economic Management (CIEM) Nguyen Dinh Cung said the managementcapacity of Vietnamese firms is not as good as that of companies in other ASEANcountries.

The World Economic Forumranked Vietnam at the bottom in the corporate governance index of listedcompanies in six ASEAN member states. Meanwhile, the competitive capacity ofVietnamese firms was placed 104th among 140 economies in the region.This means, the Vietnamese business community needs more assistance to improvetheir competitive edges, thus better integrating into the global economy, hestressed.

As the CPTPP, EVFTA and many other free trade agreements offer goodopportunities for Vietnam to open door wider to international trade, VCCI willhelp local firms take full advantage of the pacts, Loc said.

According to Loc, VCCI willcontinue national programmes on supporting businesses to enhance capacity tocompete, integrate into the global economy, and develop sustainably.
Besides, it will acceleratethe implementation of bilateral cooperation agreements in trade and commercewith strategic partners, while improving the quality of business forums withkey markets.-VNA