The event co-organized by the HCMC Department of Industry and Trade and the HCMC State Financial Investment Company (HFIC) attracted nearly 300 businesses.
Urgent demand for production expansion
At the event, HFIC informed policies and entities that enjoy priority to get interest rate support for loans. Accordingly, six key industries including textiles and garments, mechanical engineering, plastics and rubber, food processing, supporting industries, and electronics will receive a 100 percent interest rate support on loans.
Deputy Director of the HCMC Department of Industry and Trade Nguyen Thi Kim Ngoc said that the city’s index of industrial production (IPP) rose by 8.9 percent in October compared with the increase reported in the same period last year, and 6.9 percent in the first ten months of 2024.
Of these, the index of industrial production (IPP) of the four key industries increased by 4.7 percent compared to the same period last year. Notably, the pharmaceutical industry saw the highest growth rate at 16.9 percent, followed the food processing with an increase of 3.1 percent, electronics, textiles and garment, and footwear with a slight growth thanks to the positive recovery of export orders and businesses’ market expansion.
At the conference, businesses raised many issues related to interest rate support policies, the duration and stability of the city’s investment stimulus program.
According to Tan Nhat Huong Company, the entities benefiting from the investment stimulus program have not been widely spread causing many businesses to miss the opportunity to access support policies. Enterprises have also proposed relevant agencies shorten the approval process for applications and accelerate loan disbursement for eligible loan applications, helping businesses not to miss out on business opportunities.
Chairman of the HCMC Electrical and Mechanical Enterprises Association, Do Phuoc Tong said that the biggest challenge for businesses when accessing loans is collateral. Besides existing assets, enterprises must display assets created after investment. This could create difficulties for businesses if they want to borrow more money, even if the value of the collateral must meet or exceed the amount being loaned.
There are still some limitations that create difficulties for businesses. The HCMC State Financial Investment Company (HFIC) has proposed the city issue measures to adjust the administrative boundaries and implement specific projects as a basis for expanding to other projects and solving the above-mentioned problems, Chairman of the Board of Members of the HCMC State Financial Investment Company (HFIC) Nguyen Ngoc Hoa said.
Capital available for businesses
The representative of the HCMC Department of Industry and Trade said that the city has already prepared infrastructure at export processing zones and industrial parks for businesses to survey and invest in factories.
Deputy General Director of HCMC State Financial Investment Company (HFIC) Nguyen Quang Thanh said that businesses that need to relocate their factories outside city centers will not be eligible for interest rate support policies. The investment stimulus program has widely expanded to a wide range of businesses across various investment and production sectors.
HFIC and two interdisciplinary teams of the Department of Industry and Trade and the Department of Planning and Investment of the city have transformed administrative procedures into registration forms. Businesses only need to fill out the required information on the forms to complete their application.
Chairman of the Board of Members of HCMC State Financial Investment Company (HFIC) Nguyen Ngoc Hoa said that from now until the end of 2024, the city has allocated VND1,500 billion (US$59.3 million) to support businesses. In addition, HFIC has partnered with the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development and the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam to meet businesses’ demand for loans.
The HCMC Department of Industry and Trade is implementing many activities to attract investment in the semiconductor industry in particular, and high-tech industries in general, as a foundation for establishing a high-tech ecosystem in the city, Deputy Director of the HCMC Department of Industry and Trade Nguyen Thi Kim Ngoc noted.
