USAID supports Vietnamese small and medium-sized enterprises to increase export capacity

At the seminar under the event “Enterprise Connection Day” on May 3 in the framework of the Vietnam Private Economic Forum 2019, Mr. Ron Ashkin – USAID’s LinkSME project director outlined the reasons for weak connection between small and medium enterprises of Vietnam and the US.

Vietnam's small and medium-sized enterprises account for 98% of all businesses and create 63% of jobs, contributing 45% of the country's GDP. However, foreign direct investment (FDI) accounts for 70% of export turnover and only 21% of Vietnam's small and medium enterprises (SMEs) participate in the supply chain for foreign businesses.

Talking about the cause of this situation, Mr. Ron said that the cause comes from the existence of Vietnamese enterprises with outdated technology systems, low labor productivity, lack of experience in working with foreign enterprises, governance systems are not fully standardized and financial access is low.

Therefore, in order to connect and promote the supply-demand relationship between Vietnamese and foreign enterprises, the "Enterprise Connection Day" has shared information to many domestic and oversea companies, creating opportunities for Vietnamese enterprises to increase exports, develop markets and improve economic value.

At the event, representatives of international corporations such as retailer BigC – Thailand, Seafoodwatch – U.S. seafood company, Cargill – U.S. Purchasing giant of agricultural products directly pointed out the reasons why Vietnamese products face difficulties in joining global value chain.

At "2019 Supplier Day in Hanoi" with the topic of Connecting SMEs to the global value chain recently held in Hanoi, US Ambassador in Vietnam, Mr. Daniel J. Kritenbrink affirmed: The economic and trade relations between Vietnam and the US are very important and there is still a lot of potentials for cooperation and one of the potential for cooperation is to bring SMEs fully connected to the global value chain.

Bringing Vietnamese SMEs fully integrated into the global value chain will boost Vietnam's economic development, productivity and innovation.

"With the topic of connecting SMEs to the global value chain, I believe today's event will help SMEs establish business relationships with leading US businesses. Once connected, Vietnamese SMEs will be able to sell more products to foreign partners, not only increasing the export value of Vietnam but also improving the economic relationship between Vietnam and the United States and this is a good thing for both countries", stressed the U.S. Ambassador.

According to the ambassador, an additional result of the event is an opportunity for US businesses to find more investment opportunities in Vietnam. Many US businesses seek opportunities to connect business and investment with Vietnamese enterprises. Accordingly, investment activities will create jobs and economic efficiency.