Crisis management by effectively connecting agencies and businesses administrators to help remove difficulties for businesses was one of the top agendas of a CEO forum held by the Vietnam Economic Times on March 15.

At the forum, economists forecast that this year would be more difficult than 2012 as the global economy continues to slow.

According to Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh, to overcome the current difficulties enterprises need to actively restructure and strictly control their input costs as well as minimise expenses.
"Businesses should also strengthen their goods distribution networks in order to offer the best prices to customers," he said.

To boost exports, businesses should further focus on taking advantage of incentives from the Free Trade Agreements (FTA) that Vietnam has already signed, he pointed out.

And they need to deploy e-commerce applications, online exports and check information from Vietnamese trade offices in other countries to exploit the available markets and penetrate new ones, he added.

Ho Sy Hung, director of the Business Development Department under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, said that companies need to continue exploiting and expanding the market, boosting exports and limiting the import of consumer goods to stimulate domestic sales.

Improving tax policies and administration is one of the solutions that would help businesses overcome difficulties, said Nguyen Quang Tien, an official from the General Tax Department.

He also emphasised the need to build an electronic portal to provide tax payment services
Professor Dao Nguyen Cat, editor-in-chief of the Vietnam Economic Times, said that the process of market restructuring would continue to take place next year with the aim of a healthier market.-VNA