VCCI Chairman Vu Tien Loc speaks at the 2017 APEC Public-Private Dialogue on Women and the Economy in Hue city on September 28 (Photo: VNA) Thua Thien-Hue (VNA) – Women entrepreneurs and women-owned businesses are an important growth engine of not only Vietnam’s economy but also the global economy, said Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Vu Tien Loc.
Talking to the press on the fringe of the 2017 APEC Women and the Economy Forum in Hue city on September 28, he said in Vietnam, one in every four businesspersons are women.
He said in its business development and gender equality strategies, the country wants to raise the rate of enterprises run by women to about 35 percent of the total business number in 2020 and higher in the following years. It expects to have one million businesses in 2020, which means there would be 300,000 women-owned firms.
They form a very important force of the Vietnamese economy since most of companies owned by women are of small, medium, and even micro sizes. These businesses are mainly involved in trade, services and production activities.
Women-run firms usually employ many workers, especially female workers, while being able to be better tolerant of a business climate full of vagaries. They also outdo men-run companies in terms of some business performance criteria, social welfares, environmental protection, and green growth strategy implementation, Loc noted.
Support to women-owned businesses and micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) is becoming a priority in APEC economies’ policies, the VCCI leader said, expressing his hope that with policies promoting businesswomen and women-owned firms, the global economy as well as the Vietnamese economy will have a new momentum to develop in a more sustainable manner.
This time’s APEC meetings aim to enhance inclusive, innovative and sustainable economic growth, and developing women-owned businesses are one of the critical measures to realise that target, he added.
The recently approved Law on Support for SMEs requires policies that prioritise SMEs owned by women. On the basis of the law, the Government will have programmes and solutions to meet this requirement.
“It is of utmost importance to issue programmes and solutions that can help them improve their governance capacity and competitiveness. Subsidy or traditional support measures won’t work,” he stressed.
It is also necessary to step up communications and give advice and training to women entrepreneurs while boosting their access to technology, market and partners.
Support policies targeting SMEs in general and businesswomen in particular must focus on raising their capacity and internationalising the firms, instead of implementing subsidy measures. That will ensure the sustainable development of these enterprises, VCCI Chairman Loc said.-VNA
VNA
