Ho Chi Minh City moves to ease bottlenecks, support businesses
At a business and trade association dialogue conference organized by the HCMC Department of Industry and Trade on September 17, departments and agencies focused on addressing difficulties related to capital, costs, administrative procedures, markets.
On September 17, the HCMC Department of Industry and Trade convened a dialogue conference to tackle challenges businesses face, including capital shortages, high costs, complex administrative procedures, market access issues, and export difficulties. Despite a 10.8% increase in industrial production and a 13.7% rise in retail sales, businesses remain hampered by mounting input costs, an inability to adjust selling prices, and high export tariffs.
Around 51,800 businesses entered or re-entered the market, while 43,100 withdrew, marking a 49% and 24.4% increase respectively.
Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Business Association, Mai Huu Tin, noted that input costs rose by nearly 30% year-on-year, while selling prices remained difficult to adjust. Exporters face additional pressure due to higher tariffs on Vietnamese goods in some markets. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), already struggling with low purchasing power, face even greater challenges due to high capital, logistics, and transformation costs. Despite high lending rates exceeding 10%, businesses find it hard to afford the debt.
Mai Huu Tin proposed maintaining a 2-percentage-point reduction in value-added tax beyond 2026, implementing preferential credit or interest-rate support for SMEs, and helping businesses connect with e-commerce platforms at affordable costs. Vu Kim Hanh, Chairwoman of the High-Quality Vietnamese Goods Business Association, called for accelerating the development of a “Made by Vietnam” e-commerce platform to provide more outlets for Vietnamese products.
The city has earmarked funds to subsidize loan interest rates under its investment stimulus program. The State Bank of Vietnam's Region 2 Branch reported that 19 commercial banks have registered VND591 trillion (US$22.7 billion) in credit packages under the 2026 Bank-Business Connectivity Program. Meanwhile, Ho Chi Minh City is focusing on market demand stimulation and creating outlets for locally produced goods, with market-stimulus programs planned from November to Lunar New Year.
The goal is to help businesses increase revenue by at least 20% year-on-year. To boost exports, the city needs to enhance resources and establish mechanisms for trade promotion, particularly in overseas markets, to help businesses find customers and expand their market reach.
Written by urgent.news from SGGP English Edition Business's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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