First of all, the city needs to add mechanisms and policies to call for investment into industrial parks including enterprises using high-tech materials, equipment, and solutions.

The Ho Chi Minh City Business Association said that due to the lack of land funds, many supporting enterprises have lost the opportunity to deeply participate in the global supply chain.

To help enterprises, the city authorities have run off their feet setting up an industrial park with an appropriate land fund to support supporting enterprises to invest or expand production development scale so that these enterprises can compete with other rivals on prices, product quality and technology set forth by foreign-invested enterprises (FDI).

According to a representative of the Ho Chi Minh City Business Association, 18 available export processing zones, industrial parks, and high-tech zones can currently be used as the land fund for supporting industry enterprises.

However, the land area, as well as the criteria and investors, are not suitable for enterprises in the supporting industry.

The Ho Chi Minh City Business Association pointed out that only large enterprises and FDI enterprises can fulfill the criterion that enterprises produce high-tech products with outstanding quality and features as well as meet the prescribed conditions on the ratio of research expenditures, the rate of labor whereas small and medium enterprises don’t have enough capital for high technology, but can only partially apply it by purchasing high-tech equipment to produce normal products such as buying jeans washing machines, fabric cutting machine, shoe sole cutting by modeling software program with high accuracy and outstanding productivity.

Moreover, many enterprises have been registered in the city's existing high-tech zones and industrial parks. Additionally, city authorities also don’t approve the registration of enterprises causing pollution while the new areas have not been implemented yet. As for the land fund in the residential area, new production facilities - especially manufacturing plants in key industries of the city - can’t be set up.

Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City Electromechanical Association Do Phuoc Tong said that supporting enterprises are facing difficulties in land and capital.

Last but not least, the pre-tax technology development fund is allowed to be established, but the control procedures are quite tight, so it is not attractive to enterprises.

As for technology selection, enterprises are quite confused due to the lack of reliable sources. Plus, enterprises find it difficult to recruit and retain skilled workers.

Also according to the Ho Chi Minh City Business Association, it is very urgent to remove difficulties for enterprises in the supporting industry in particular, and small and medium-sized enterprises in general. First of all, the city needs to add mechanisms and policies to call for enterprises using high-tech materials, equipment and solutions in industrial parks and economic zones.

On the other hand, businesses are allowed to enjoy preferential policies and contribute to a rapidly increasing proportion of enterprises employing high technology for the city's economic growth.

Regarding settlement issues, the city is currently planning to establish a new industrial park with the name "High-tech applied supporting industry zone".

However, according to many businesses, the city needs to subsidize part of the land rent for supporting enterprises that pour investment in this new industrial park.

Next, city authorities will create conditions for businesses to associate production by setting up the main goal of the zone. Thus, both buyers and sellers of supporting industry products are required to produce on-site products.

Only production links can create value chains and high economic efficiency. Investors who want to open their facilities in industrial parks and export processing zones need to satisfy the requirements for high technology applications. If an enterprise can’t select a partner, they are still given land in industrial parks for them to choose an investor.

Many people believe that at present, enterprises in the supporting industry dare not to invest in the production of auxiliary products if they can’t seek buyers. Small and medium enterprises can only produce products to orders and need more support from the government for the successful production of supporting industries.

In addition, the city needs to assign an agency to research accurate, reliable, and responsible information on high technology for businesses to choose and apply. Because at present, businesses are quite confused at choosing technology, reliable supplier addresses to buy, warranty, training, technology transfer; therefore, without reliable sources of IT information, businesses do not dare to pour money.

Lecturer Huynh Thanh Dien from Nguyen Tat Thanh University said that in order to reduce the rental cost of premises for supporting enterprises, there should be mechanisms and policies to support costs for infrastructure investors in return for low rental rates. Supporting mechanisms can be implemented such as support for site clearance and infrastructure investment from the funding of the city's stimulus program. When infrastructure investors receive support, they must be bound by rental prices by the city's appraisal board.

Source: Sai Gon Giai Phong

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