Making efforts to recover the economy

The Government has set an immediate goal of achieving GDP growth of over 5% and bringing the economy back to a "new normal" state within 2020 and then making breakthrough towards the target of turning the country to a prosperous nation in 2045.

This is the task of the whole political system, with the indispensable role of business community and entrepreneurs.

The number of enterprises has reduced significantly from 750,000 at the end of 2019. However, their resident vitality and entrepreneurship have remained high. According to a study by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) on business prospects during the third quarter of 2020, around 55% of enterprises intend to maintain the current scale; 22% others decided to expand their scale, and only 21% planned to narrow them. The Covid-19 epidemic has caused many negative consequences, including supply chain disruptions, reduction in aggregate demand and increasing the number of loss-making enterprises. However, many businesses are somehow managing to maintain jobs for their workers. Their efforts have not only demonstrated their sharing with the difficulties of their employees but also expressed their social responsibilities amidst the difficult time in the country.

At that time, the big question is that how to start and promote the economic recovery to overcome all challenges. Since the beginning of March, the Government has provided credit, fiscal and social welfare aid packages and their scale are being increased. However, several enterprises are currently struggling to approach to the support packages. This is mainly due to cumbersome administrative procedures, complicated process, slow implementation progress and the low sense of responsibility of policy enforcement officials.

In order to promote the growth once the epidemic is controlled, as per the Prime Minister’s determination, the whole political system should join hands on the economic front. The efforts have helped Vietnam win the fight against Covid-19, towards a "double victory" on economic front. It is crucial to thoroughly grasp the Government’s support viewpoint and create the most favourable conditions for enterprises to develop. The relevant agencies should carry out consistently and thoroughly administrative reform, improve business environment and focus on addressing bottlenecks and inadequacies that are hindering the development of enterprises. The economic experts said that these measures are more important than spending relief money and are also the greatest aspiration of the Vietnamese business community. Amidst the recent outbreak of Covid-19, the biggest petition of enterprises was not financial support packages, but the mechanism that can help them to seize opportunities in a new world’s order during the post-epidemic revival.