Workers in HCM City make shoes for export to the EU market last year. (Photo: VNA) Nguyen Phuoc Hung,Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Business Association, said that Vietnam’sexports would continue to outperform the region by benefiting from costcompetitiveness and a number of major free trade agreements.
The tradedeals the country had signed had opened up access to countless markets, hesaid.
Despite amajor outbreak of COVID-19 last year exports rose by 19 percent to 336.3billion USD for a trade surplus of 4.08 billion USD, he pointed out.
Foreigninvestment is also forecast to pick up this year, according to Hung.
Most small andmedium-sized enterprises still lack labour and capital.
Enterprisesshould be prepared to deal with unexpected hurdles like the rising oil pricesand long-term impacts of the sanctions on Russia by diversifying exportmarkets, Hung said.
They shouldembrace digital transformation and e-commerce.
Nguyen Dang Hien,General Director of Tan Quang Minh Co. Ltd, said the pandemic had disruptedglobal supply chains and urged the company to look for alternativesources.
"Theimports of raw materials face delays due to the conflict and increases intransportation costs.
“My companyhas shifted to buying domestic raw materials to cut costs and transporttime.”
Nguyen Tu Anh,director of the general economic affairs department under the Central PartyCommittee’s Economic Commission, said most businesses resumed normal operationsat the end of 2021.
As of the endof last year the country had 854,000 enterprises, and the number was on therise, he said.
Tourism torebound
The servicesand tourism sectors are expected to recover this year since the countryhas announced a road map to reopen the tourism industry starting on Tuesday andplans to remove most entry restrictions for visitors.
Internationalflights have resumed, an important factor in the recovery of tourism andbusiness investment.
DeputyMinister of Planning and Investment Tran Quoc Phuong said the recent Governmentsupport package of 350 trillion VND (15.42 billion USD) would play a majorrole in reviving the economy.
Tran Du Lich,a member of the Prime Minister’s economic advisory group, said HCM City was hithard by the pandemic and so required more intensive recovery policies.
Removingproblems hindering public and private investments, and providing financialsupport to small businesses were needed to speed up recovery, he said.
The economywas very likely to achieve the targets set for this year, but it was veryimportant to accelerate public investment in key projects, he warned.
Major projectsincluded Ring Road Nos 2 and 3, clearing slums along canals and developingsocial housing.
It was alsoimportant to control land prices, he added.
Experts saidthe Russia-Ukraine conflict was unlikely to have a significant direct impact onVietnamese businesses, but warned they must prepare for the long-termimpacts.
Internationalorganisations are optimistic about the recovery of the Vietnamese economywith Fitch Ratings being the most upbeat, saying it is set to grow by 7.9 percentthis year and 6.5 percent next year./.
VNA
