Capital resources promote private economy

Recognizing the importance of the private economic sector to the development of the economy, in recent times, the banking sector, as the "bloodline" of the economy, has introduced many mechanisms and policies, especially policies on credit, interest rates, exchange rates, etc., to help businesses, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs), expand production and business, and improve competitiveness.

"Launch pad" of business

According to the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kim Nam Group, Nguyen Kim Hung, the capital of private enterprises today mostly depends on banks. In other words, banks are the "launching pad" for capital for enterprises to "take off". In fact, there have been many enterprises in the entire journey, from establishment to later development, that could not do without the companionship of bank credit capital. Enterprises specializing in the production, processing and export of seafood such as Bien Quynh Joint Stock Company (Hoang Mai town, Nghe An province) are a typical example.

Data from the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) shows that by the end of 2024, outstanding credit for private enterprises at credit institutions will reach nearly VND7 million billion, an increase of about 14.7% compared to 2023, accounting for about 44% of total outstanding debt in the economy.

Deputy Director Hoang Van Long said that Bien Quynh Company was established in 2018. After 7 years of establishment and development, each milestone of "transformation" was based on capital leverage from the bank. On the first day of establishment, the entire capital contribution of 2 billion VND of the company was used to invest in building the factory, leaving no working capital. Thanks to the support of Agribank Hoang Mai branch, the company was able to borrow 500 million VND of working capital to buy raw materials for production.

Next, thanks to participating in a trade promotion program organized by the Nghe An Department of Industry and Trade, Bien Quynh was able to access the Big C system. The problem became more difficult when the partner asked the business to increase production capacity if it wanted to bring goods to the supermarket chain.

This time, Agribank continues to accompany the enterprise when deciding to disburse an additional loan of 1 billion VND. “In the near future, the company plans to implement an import-export factory project to send goods abroad with a scale of about 1.7 hectares, with a total investment of about 40 billion VND. And certainly at that time, we hope to continue to receive the support of Agribank's credit capital,” Mr. Long expressed his wish.

In recent times, along with Agribank, hundreds of other credit institutions have deployed capital support for the private economic sector. Data from the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) shows that by the end of 2024, outstanding credit for private enterprises at credit institutions reached nearly 7 million billion VND, an increase of about 14.7% compared to 2023, accounting for about 44% of total outstanding debt of the economy. Of which, 100 credit institutions have generated outstanding credit for SMEs with a total outstanding debt of 2.74 million billion VND, an increase of 10.7% compared to the end of 2023, accounting for 17.6% of outstanding debt of the economy; there are nearly 209 thousand SMEs with outstanding debt. “This figure shows that bank credit capital has promptly met the capital needs for production and business purposes of private enterprises, while contributing to promoting economic development and increasing budget revenue,” affirmed Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Dao Minh Tu.

Agribank Deputy General Director Phung Thi Binh also said that Agribank's investment credit capital for the private economic sector has always been focused on. Up to now, the investment credit ratio for this sector is about 80% of Agribank's total outstanding loans with nearly 1.4 million billion VND, of which enterprises in the private economic sector with a scale of more than 400 trillion VND, accounting for about 90% of outstanding loans for corporate customers and increasing by more than 30% in the past 5 years. To further support the private economic sector, in the first 2 months of 2025, Agribank continued to reduce the short-term lending interest rate floor by 0.2-0.5% to promote credit growth. For enterprises in the private economic sector alone, Agribank has allocated a capital source of 240 trillion VND, applicable to many subjects such as: large corporate customers, SMEs, FDI customers, import-export customers, etc.

Institutional reform, capital diversification

However, according to experts, businesses still face many difficulties. The reason is that most businesses are small and medium-sized, with limited financial resources and competitiveness. This is also one of the reasons why private businesses still face many difficulties in accessing capital.

According to Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Dao Minh Tu, it is forecasted that in 2025, the world economy will continue to develop complicatedly, with geopolitical conflicts, increasing trade tensions and high borrowing costs in many countries, etc. This will have a major impact on an open economy like Vietnam, including the private economic sector. Therefore, in order to improve access to capital for private enterprises, support this sector to make a breakthrough, and contribute to the country's rapid and sustainable development in the new era, the State Bank of Vietnam will continue to operate a proactive and flexible monetary policy to stabilize the macro economy, control inflation, stabilize exchange rates and stabilize lending interest rates, contributing to creating a stable business environment for people and businesses. The State Bank of Vietnam will monitor, inspect and examine commercial banks that increase deposit and loan interest rates and do not comply with the direction of the Prime Minister and the State Bank of Vietnam; research, review and perfect bank credit mechanisms and policies; etc.

Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises Nguyen Van Than assessed: An important factor is that businesses need to ensure that banks feel secure in lending. Accordingly, to improve access to capital, SMEs need to have closer links, thereby increasing their credibility with banks. The Association of Small and Medium Enterprises can act as a bridge between businesses and banks, helping to reduce loan approval time as well as increase banks' confidence in businesses.

According to economist Dr. Nguyen Dinh Cung, the role of the private economic sector is very important and increasingly affirmed, but up to now, private enterprises are still developing passively and facing many barriers, the biggest of which is institutions. From there, he proposed two important pillars, including institutional reform, creating an open and transparent business environment, ensuring the freedom of business of private enterprises and secondly, developing the capital market. To reduce pressure on the banking system and create conditions for sustainable development, it is necessary to expand other capital mobilization channels such as investment funds, stock markets, corporate bonds, etc. instead of private enterprises still depending heavily on bank credit capital.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/nguon-luc-von-thuc-day-kinh-te-tu-nhan-post867421.html