Opportunities and challenges for Vietnamese SMEs in the context of international integration

DNHN - The challenges and opportunities for Vietnamese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the context of international integration are increasing, requiring sensitivity and creativity.

With market openings and joining free trade agreements, Vietnamese SMEs face competition from both foreign and domestic enterprises. This puts significant pressure on their competitiveness, ability to create added value, and innovation to survive and develop.

Therefore, SMEs often struggle to access the capital and resources necessary to invest and expand their business operations. This shortage of capital can limit their ability to improve product and service quality, enhance competitiveness, and scale up their business.

Currently, many Vietnamese SMEs still face difficulties in specialization and improving management skills. This lack can reduce operational efficiency, increase costs, and limit their ability to adapt to the continuously changing business environment.

Besides the aforementioned challenges, Vietnam has a population of over 96 million people with increasing consumer demand. This creates a significant opportunity for Vietnamese SMEs to develop and expand the domestic market.

Hence, the Government and international organizations have promoted the development of SMEs through the provision of favorable policies, financial support, training, and consultancy. This offers an opportunity for SMEs to leverage these advantages to enhance their competitiveness and expand their business scale.

Integration into international markets opens up export opportunities and market expansion for Vietnamese SMEs. Free trade agreements and preferential trade rights between Vietnam and other countries facilitate access to new markets.

Additionally, the rapid development of digital technology has opened up opportunities for Vietnamese SMEs to boost operational efficiency, enhance competitiveness, and create breakthrough products and services. Innovation in production processes, marketing, and management can help SMEs take advantage of these opportunities and improve business performance.

In summary, the community of small and medium-sized enterprises in Vietnam is facing many challenges in the process of international integration. However, there are also significant opportunities for development and business expansion. To capitalize on these opportunities, SMEs need to focus on specialization, improving management skills, and innovation. At the same time, embracing and leveraging support from the Government, organizations, and technological advancements will help Vietnamese SMEs rise in the context of international integration.

According to Mr. Tran Duy Dong - Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment, Vietnamese enterprises are still facing difficulties in participating in regional and global value chains due to limited competitiveness. There are three main reasons for this: First, businesses are still small, leading to issues in mobilizing resources, lack of long-term investment strategies, and reluctance to risk investment in development. Second, our businesses are limited in cooperation to become long-term partners aimed at common development goals. Third, the vision of small and medium-sized enterprises is still short-term, and regional linkages are fragmented, reducing export efficiency. This is a problem that the Government is always concerned about—how to strengthen and promote linkages between the FBI sector, large enterprises, and domestic private enterprises. In light of the opportunities and challenges brought by the EVFTA, the Government and the Ministry of Planning and Investment have specific plans to support Vietnamese enterprises.

Meanwhile, Dr. Nguyen Minh Thao - Head of the Business Environment and Competitiveness Research Department, Central Institute for Economic Management, stated: SMEs currently account for nearly 98% of businesses and contribute 40% of the country's GDP. With their significant contribution, SMEs have increasing opportunities for development with the participation in FTAs, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and the emergence of new business models. However, most businesses are mainly small and micro-sized, leading to low business efficiency and labor productivity.

Dinh Dai