Vietnam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises Marks 20th Anniversary, Receives First-Class Labour Order

Attending the ceremony from central agencies were Comrade Nguyen Khac Dinh, Member of the Party Central Committee and Vice Chairman of the 16th National Assembly; Comrade Dang Xuan Phong, Member of the Party Central Committee and Minister and Chairman of the Government Office; Comrade Nguyen Duc Phong, Vice President of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front; Comrade Nguyen Thi Phu Ha, Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly’s Committee on Economic and Budgetary Affairs; Comrade Nguyen Duc Chi, Deputy Minister of Finance; Comrade Nguyen Ngoc Canh, Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam; Comrade Le Ba Quan, Deputy Commander of the Vietnam People’s Navy, together with representatives of leaders of ministries, commissions and central agencies.

From the Vietnam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, participants included Comrade Nguyen Van Than, Deputy of the 16th National Assembly and President of VINASME; Comrade To Hoai Nam, Standing Vice President and Secretary-General; vice presidents, members of the Standing Committee, and leaders of affiliated boards and units.

The ceremony also welcomed representatives of several international organizations (ACCA, VISA), representatives of foreign embassies in Vietnam, central-level associations and unions, local business associations, financial institutions, and central press agencies, along with more than 200 entrepreneurs representing the SME community nationwide.

Affirming the role of SMEs in the economy

In his remarks, Prime Minister Le Minh Hung acknowledged and highly appreciated the achievements and contributions of VINASME and the SME community over the past 20 years.

The Prime Minister emphasized that, looking back over the 20-year journey, the growth of the SME community and the development of VINASME have been closely associated with Vietnam’s process of renewing development thinking, improving institutions and deepening international integration. In this process, the party sets the orientation; the national assembly institutionalizes it; the government organizes implementation; enterprises are the key actors; and associations act as a bridge directly participating in the formulation and implementation of policies for SME development, thereby ensuring that mechanisms and policies are grounded in reality and effective in practice.

According to the Prime Minister, the Party’s and State’s guidelines, orientations, mechanisms and policies have become increasingly comprehensive and consistent, creating new development space for SMEs. In particular, Resolution No. 68-NQ/TW dated May 4, 2025 of the Politburo on the development of the private economy has established a coherent system of strategic orientations, placing enterprises at the center of the development process and considering the private economy as one of the most important drivers of the national economy.

The National Assembly has gradually institutionalized the Party’s guidelines through an increasingly legal system on enterprises and areas directly related to enterprises such as investment, land, taxation, credit, science and technology, intellectual property, and competition, among others.

Many practical support policies for SMEs

Prime Minister Le Minh Hung noted that the Government and the Prime Minister have issued many decrees, programs, and plans and regularly held dialogues with businesses to translate guidelines and laws into real life. Recently, a number of important policies have been and are being implemented:

(i) From January 1, 2026, the revenue threshold exempt from value-added tax and personal income tax for business households and individual businesses has been raised from 500 million VND to 1 billion VND per year.

(ii) The Government has submitted to the National Assembly and obtained approval for a resolution on a 30% reduction in personal income tax and a 30% reduction in corporate income tax in 2026 and 2027 for business households and enterprises with annual total revenue not exceeding 10 billion VND. These policies were prepared and promulgated within a very short timeframe, demonstrating strong determination to institutionalize the Party’s and State’s orientations to support enterprises;

The Government is also directing competent agencies to continue, within this year, to simplify the principles and methods for calculating corporate income tax as well as VAT, thereby creating favourable conditions and support for enterprises operating in a context of numerous difficulties and challenges as experienced recently.

(iii) The Government has directed the development of sufficiently strong mechanisms and policies to encourage the establishment of single-member enterprises and the transformation of business households into enterprises; has directed the amendment and supplementation of the Law on Support for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises into the draft Law on the Development of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, which is expected to specify genuinely feasible support policies for SME development and simplify corporate income tax policies applicable to SMEs as well as individuals and business households; and has been directing the amendment and supplementation of a series of laws directly related to business activities, including those of SMEs, such as laws on land, housing, real estate business, bidding and investment;

(iv) The Government has directed the issuance of 11 resolutions on cutting and simplifying administrative procedures and business conditions, thereby reducing compliance time by 53% and compliance costs by 55%, saving approximately over 23 trillion VND for citizens and enterprises. This exceeds the requirements set out in Conclusion No. 18 of the 2nd Plenum of the Party Central Committee and represents the largest reduction and simplification of administrative procedures and business conditions to date.

The Prime Minister stated that SMEs currently account for nearly 98% of the total number of active enterprises, present in almost all sectors, fields, and localities; they make important contributions to expanding production capacity, mobilizing social resources, and creating jobs and income for nearly 6.5 million workers, thereby contributing to growth and ensuring social security.

With their compact size, flexible organizational structure, and ability to adapt quickly to market fluctuations, SMEs create strong spillover effects in production and business activities across the economy. Many enterprises have proactively renewed their business models, applied digital technologies, and promoted e-commerce. The SME community has been recognized as a “nursery” for medium-sized enterprises, large enterprises, and major economic groups in the future.

Frankly acknowledging limitations, strengthening linkages

Alongside these achievements, the Prime Minister stressed the need to frankly recognize certain limitations: SMEs are large in number but not yet strong; they still face constraints in corporate governance, finance, human resource quality, and resilience; the number of enterprises mastering technology, deeply participating in global value chains, and expanding to international markets remains modest.

Linkages between SMEs and large enterprises, FDI enterprises, research institutes, and universities, as well as linkages within the SME sector itself, remain loose; the proportion of participation in high value-added stages is still low. In some localities, the investment and business environment, administrative procedures, and policy implementation remain bottlenecks; access to capital, land, and development resources for SMEs remains difficult.

VINASME – A vital bridge for the SME community

According to the Prime Minister, VINASME is one of the earliest-established socio-professional organizations representing the largest community of enterprises in the country. From its modest starting point with around 300 member enterprises and two provincial cooperatives’ alliances, the association has grown into a large-scale organization with more than 65,000 members in 34 provinces and cities and an extensive network of affiliated organizations.

Over the past 20 years, the Association has consistently adhered to its principles and purposes; effectively fulfilled its role as the voice of the SME community; proactively participated in building institutions, policies, and laws; actively provided feedback and social criticism; effectively implemented patriotic emulation movements and social security activities; and proactively organized numerous support programs for member enterprises.

In particular, VINASME has developed the VinaSME application platform, creating a centralized digital ecosystem that connects members with policies, capital sources, technology, and business opportunities.

In recognition of these outstanding achievements, the Party and the State have awarded VINASME the Third-Class Labour Order (in 2016), the First-Class Labour Order (in 2026), and many other prestigious distinctions.

Honoured to receive the First-Class Labour Order

On behalf of VINASME’s leadership, President Nguyen Van Than expressed sincere thanks for the attention, leadership, direction, and support of the Party, the State, the National Assembly, the Government, the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, and relevant ministries, sectors, and localities for the Association and the SME community over the years. He affirmed that the association will continue to innovate the content and modalities of its operations, enhance the quality of services provided to members, and make more active contributions to the development of the private economic sector and the national economy.

At the ceremony, on behalf of the party and state leaders, Prime Minister Le Minh Hung presented the First-Class Labour Order to the Vietnam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises and to its president, Nguyen Van Than, in recognition of their outstanding contributions over 20 years of building and development.

Tran Hien