Training, guiding the implementation of programs to support businesses to create social impact and female-owned businesses
On May 9 and 10, 2023, in Tien Giang, the Enterprise Development Department, the Ministry of Planning and Investment collaborated with the project Promoting reform and improving connectivity for SMEs (USAID LinkSME), the project “Supporting the ecosystem of impact-producing businesses in Vietnam to respond to COVID-19” (ISEE-COVID project) and Tien Giang Department of Planning and Investment organized a training course on how to implement policies to support SMEs to create social impact and women-owned businesses. Participating in the training were more than 60 staff of business support organizations in 13 southern provinces.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy - Deputy Head of Department in charge, Department of Deployment of SME Support Activities, Department of Enterprise Development, Ministry of Planning and Investment giving the opening speech
Ms. Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy - Deputy Head of Department in charge, Deployment of SME support activities, Enterprise Development Department, Ministry of Planning and Investment gave the opening speech of the training program, according to Ms. Women-owned enterprises play an increasingly important role in generating income for workers, reducing poverty, and promoting economic growth. According to statistics, in the period 2012-2020, the number of women-owned businesses continuously increased at a rate of at least 2% per year, especially, the growth rate in 2017 was 34%. In addition, recent trends show that social impact enterprises (SIBs) are also gradually playing an important role, SIBs often work towards social goals, participating in supporting groups vulnerable groups, providing services, jobs for disadvantaged groups or protecting the ecological environment.
Through the training course, local SME support staff will be provided with full information about business support policies, especially policies to support female-owned SMEs, SMEs that use a lot of resources. female workers and social enterprises, providing an overall picture of enterprises creating social impacts, guiding regulations in the implementation of policies to support the use of the state budget (especially related to bidding process), guiding the application of a toolkit to evaluate potential enterprises participating in the value chain; guide the process of planning and estimating support for SMEs; guiding the application of digital technology in supporting SMEs.
Mr. Nguyen Hoang Khuyen - Deputy Director of the Department of Planning and Investment of Tien Giang province gave a welcome speech
Mr. Nguyen Hoang Khuyen - Deputy Director of the Department of Planning and Investment of Tien Giang province gave a welcome speech to the delegates, Mr. Khuyen said that in 2018 as soon as the Law on Supporting SMEs takes effect, the Department of Planning and Investment Tien Giang province has advised the People's Committee of Tien Giang province to issue Plan No. 381/KH-UBND to implement the Law on Support for SMEs in Tien Giang province, in which the relevant agencies are assigned to perform support tasks. support SMEs.
On January 31, 2023, the Department of Planning and Investment advised the People's Committee of Tien Giang province to issue Plan No. 25/KH-UBND on supporting SMEs in Tien Giang province in 2023 according to Decree 80/2021/ND - The Government's CP details and guides the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on SME Support and Circular 06/2022/TT-BKHDT of the Ministry of Planning and Investment guiding the implementation of Decree 80/2021/ND - CP. In Plan No. 25/KH-UBND, funding to support SMEs is arranged from additional sources with the central budget target of 2.5 billion VND; assigned the Department of Planning and Investment to be the focal point, agencies that directly support SMEs such as: Department of Information and Communications (implementation of content to support digital transformation); Department of Industry and Trade, Agriculture and Rural Development (support to join industry clusters, value chains)...The plan No. 25/KH-UBND of the People's Committee of Tien Giang province has been implemented, but so far the implementation is still confusing because this is the first year of using the state budget to support SMEs. inexperienced SME support agency; at the same time, the Circular of the Ministry of Finance on the financial mechanism to support SMEs under Decree 80/2021/ND-CP has not been issued yet... Up to now, the support packages under the Plan have not been disbursed, because of this Therefore, the training course was organized in a timely manner to support and answer many problems of local officials not only of Tien Giang in the implementation of activities to support SMEs.
Discussion and answers of the Department of Business Development and consultation with delegates
In the general trend of SME development in general, women-owned enterprises and enterprises creating social impacts in particular, the Department of Vocational Development (MPI) has always been the agency that actively advises the competent authorities to issue many supporting documents. supporting SMEs, female-owned enterprises and enterprises with social impact. The Law on Support for SMEs, approved by the National Assembly in 2017 and effective from January 1, 2018 is the highest legal document in the system of policies to support SMEs. Following that, the Government issued many Decrees guiding the implementation of the Law such as Decree No. 39/2018/ND-CP, Decree No. 38/2018/ND-CP, Decree No. 34/2018/ND-CP, ND No. 55/2019/ND-CP. In particular, in order to effectively support SMEs and keep abreast of practical needs, in 2021, the Government issues Decree No. 80/2021/ND-CP detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Support. SMEs (replacing Decree No. 39/2018/ND-CP).
Accordingly, in Decree No. 80, one of the priority subjects for consideration of support is women-owned SMEs, and SMEs are social enterprises. In 2022, the Ministry submitted to the Prime Minister to issue Decision No. 167 approving the Program to support private sector enterprises to do sustainable business in the period of 2022-2025 with the goal of sustainable development of private sector enterprises, ensuring sustainable development. ensure a close, reasonable and harmonious combination between economic efficiency and social responsibility, protection of natural resources and the environment, contributing to the accomplishment of Vietnam's 17 sustainable development goals by 2030.
At the training course, the presentation of the Enterprise Development Department - Ministry of Planning and Investment and experts and experts of the USAID LinkSME project attracted high concentration of delegates and actively discussed, thereby partly help to solve problems in the implementation of the SME Support Plan at agencies, units and localities in the coming time in business support; The Department of Business Development hopes that through this training program, the coordination and support of local SMEs will be more and more effective in the coming time.