Nguyen Trong Dieu, chairman of the Vietnam Private Business Association (VPBA) made a speech at the launching ceremony of its e-business consulting facility. The system will support SMEs with technology solutions and management methods for market expansion at home and abroad. — Photo cohoigiaothuong.com

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — The Vietnam Private Business Association (VPBA) and the European Trade Policy and Investment Support Project jointly launched an electronic business consulting service on May 14 in Ha Noi.

Called B-Connect, the facility has been established within VPBA to connect and support SMEs' technology solutions and management methods for market expansion at home and abroad. It also helps them to connect with markets, and apply technology and management solutions to improve their products to meet the different demands of each market.

VPBA consultant Ho Quang Minh said that for improving the links between enterprises and the government, the system will connect the demands of firms to the state's supporting mechanisms and policies, international partners and social organisations to resolve the general issues of companies.

Speaking at the launching ceremony, VPBA Chairman Nguyen Trong Dieu said that Vietnamese private enterprises were facing difficulties during this period. The fast development and successes due to the ups and downs of the market made firms lose the basic foundation of sustainability such as technology, creativity, management and the capacity to make connections, he said.

"At the moment, the big challenge for Vietnamese SMEs is the risk of lagging behind and losing the local market to international firms. Due to its small scale, these companies lack capital. Besides, due to lack of information, technology and human resources, there has been little investment on market information and skills for market orientation," he said.

"Therefore, VPBA is looking for solutions to assist the enterprises effectively and the online business consulting system has been initiated by a group of experts, lawyers and businessmen from Viet Nam, the US, the Netherlands and the UK," Dieu added.

According to the latest statistics of the Management Department of Business Registration under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, there are now more than 500,000 enterprises operating all over the country. Based on the scale of the companies, 95 to 96 per cent of them are small or very small, of which 66 to 67 per cent are very small firms (employing less than 10 workers). — VNS