A workshop was held in the central city of Da Nang on October 3, offering a chance for authorities, economists and businesses in the city and other central localities to discuss ways to increase competitiveness in the country’s economic integration and restructuring process.

Nguyen Dinh Thien, head of the Institute of Economics, said that to help enterprises find the right way for development and accelerate economic restructuring, a high-level institutionalised market economic zone should be set up in Ho Chi Minh City while special economic zones should be established in the three strategic areas which are northern Quang Ninh province’s Ha Long-Van Don, southern Kien Giang province’s Phu Quoc Island and the southern coastal province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

He also stressed the need to swiftly revise the State Budget Law and relevant laws in order to make funds allocated to localities reasonably.

Vo Duy Khuong, Vice Chairman of Da Nang People’s Committee said the city now has 15,000 businesses, of which 99 percent are small and medium-sized.

So far this year, 1,200 enterprises have had to dissolve or temporarily stop operation due to the gloomy market’s impact and lack of production capital.

He reported that the city has carried out practical measures to support local businesses, adding that in the time to come, Da Nang will focus on developing more big businesses, with priority given to the fields of tourism, services and high technology.

According to a pending project on enterprise development by 2020, the city sets targets of raising the number of businesses by 10 percent per year, and creating jobs for additional 31,000 people annually.-VNA