Small and medium-size enterprises are having difficulty in getting funds to adapt their businesses to the impacts of climate change.

Pham Thi Thanh Hang, director of the Investment Cooperation and Development Centre for Small and Medium Enterprises, told a November 29 workshop in Hanoi that it is hard for enterprises to meet requirements for borrowing.

Although mechanisms have been issued to encourage enterprises to adapt to climate impacts, she said they are ineffective.

"I expect policy-makers and managers to do something to fix the situation," she added.

Pham Thi Kim Hoa, a participant at the conference, said that dozens of small-and medium enterprises in the northern province of Hoa Binh were rejected when applying to borrow money from supporting funds.

This was because they lacked the skills to draw up detailed plans to persuade fund management boards to lend them money.

According to Hoa, many small and medium enterprises in Hoa Binh province have no idea what to do to cope with climate changes.

She recommended that the mass media should provide specific messages about how climate changes will affect enterprises.

The workshop was co-organised by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment's Department of Meteorology, Hydrology and Climate Change.-VNA