Full speech by VINASME President Nguyễn Văn Thân at the Standing Government’s conference with the business community

At the Conference, Mr. Nguyen Van Than – Deputy of the 16th National Assembly and President of the Vietnam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (VINASME) – delivered a speech. The full text of his speech is as follows:

Your Excellency Prime Minister Le Minh Hung,

Distinguished leaders of the Government,

Distinguished delegates,

The community of Vietnamese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and household businesses is very pleased and sincerely grateful to the Prime Minister and the Government for, right from the beginning of the new Government’s term, submitting to the National Assembly a resolution raising the threshold for exemption from tax obligations for household businesses from 500 million VND in annual revenue to 1 billion VND per year. We very much hope that the government and the prime minister will continue to consider further raising the tax exemption threshold for SMEs and household businesses in order to help create momentum for the development of the private economy.

Your Excellency the Prime Minister,

With the national GDP growth target of 11.9% for the last six months of 2026, the business community believes that the Party’s and State’s guidelines and policies are already quite comprehensive and sufficient. Our mindset at this time is solely to act decisively, determined to contribute to the common goal. On that basis, the first recommendation that the association respectfully proposes to the prime minister and the government is to assign specific targets and tasks to VINASME and the SME community: what key tasks we are expected to perform and what growth indicators we are expected to achieve. If we exceed the assigned KPIs, the government may even consider commendations.

With that strong determination, the association respectfully submits to the government and the prime minister six additional proposals, including four proposals on behalf of the business community and two proposals specifically for the association, as follows:

First, in order to comprehensively and effectively implement the forthcoming amended Law on Support for SMEs, the Association proposes that the Government stipulate directly in the Law a type of “individual enterprise” (owned by a single individual), under which household businesses and individual business households that meet the criterion of annual revenue above 3 billion VND may register as individual enterprises. These individual enterprises would continue to fulfill their tax obligations as prescribed but would be entitled to the same favorable support policies as SMEs. Such a provision would enable many household businesses to register as individual enterprises so that they are not left behind but instead can benefit from state support.

Second, the Association proposes that the Government continue to study policies to exempt SMEs from corporate income tax for three years from the time they generate profit (instead of three years from the date of establishment) and to raise the non-taxable revenue threshold for household businesses from below 1 billion VND per year to below 3 billion VND per year. This is a very necessary form of state investment in development because, according to tax sector statistics, in recent years, when the state has implemented various tax exemption and reduction policies, state budget revenues have actually increased significantly thanks to lower compliance and administrative costs, while production and business have expanded, thereby creating a solid economic base for revenue growth.

Third, Resolution 68 encourages credit institutions to lend based on independent credit ratings and to promote the interoperability and sharing of data. The Association proposes that the Government allow VINASME to pilot independent credit rating services for SMEs (for which we have already obtained a license from the Ministry of Finance) to foster the development of a dedicated digital credit-rating platform for SMEs (which can be considered a “passport” or unique ID for each enterprise). On that basis, this would serve as a springboard for implementing Resolution 10 on the development of an economy with foreign-invested capital. If the government were to submit to the National Assembly a resolution piloting a sandbox mechanism between FDI enterprises and Vietnamese enterprises, combined with VINASME’s SME digital platform as mentioned above, it would help shift the Vietnamese market from “passively attracting FDI capital through invitations and calls” to “proactively building an ecosystem of domestic value chains and product chains into which FDI capital flows." This, in turn, would increase the localization rate and enhance the position of Vietnamese enterprises within global value chains.

Through this sandbox mechanism, the Association proposes that the Government authorize VINASME to act as the principal focal point, in coordination with ministries and sectors, to pilot projects, programs, and schemes under the sandbox framework.

Fourth, the Association proposes that the government and the prime minister allow VINASME to coordinate with the State Bank of Vietnam and relevant agencies to study and, in full compliance with procedures under the Law on Credit Institutions, pilot a model of a specialized digital bank for SMEs and household businesses in the 2027–2028 period (with state capital participation, if possible, being even more preferable).

Fifth, the Association proposes that the Government direct the Ministry of Home Affairs to coordinate with VINASME to study regulations and mechanisms allowing the establishment of SME-dedicated member associations at provincial and commune/ward levels. This is an urgent need for SMEs, because in most provinces and cities there is currently a trend of merging various business-related socio-professional organizations, which has left SMEs disadvantaged and isolated compared to large enterprises within the same organizations.

Sixth, our country is strongly promoting decentralization and delegation of powers. Therefore, the Association proposes that the Government assign reputable business representative organizations to perform a number of public services relating to enterprises and household businesses and, at the same time, instruct local authorities to study mechanisms for allocating premises to SME associations or allowing them to lease surplus State office space at preferential rates so that these organizations have the conditions to bring members together and fully play their role as an extended arm of the Government in effectively implementing State policies.

Your Excellency Prime Minister Le Minh Hung,

Distinguished delegates,

VINASME very much hopes to receive the trust, support, and task assignments of the government and the prime minister.

The association and the Vietnamese SME community pledge to continue to accompany the government in striving to achieve double-digit growth in 2026 and in the years to come.

Once again, I would like to express my sincere thanks to the government and the organizing committee for giving me the opportunity to speak directly at this conference on behalf of the Vietnamese SME community. I wish the prime minister and all distinguished delegates good health, happiness, and success.

Thank you very much.