Many enterprises, especially those large in scale, did not benefit much from the policies.—Photo vietq

HA NOI (Biz Hub)— High stocks of goods and non-performing bad debts remained the main concerns of enterprises, a conference was told here on Tuesday.

The gathering was also told Government support policies were not as effective as expected.

Experts said policies such as the bad-debt resolution project or the property market support package, were inconsistent, complicated and slow to reach the targeted subjects.

Nguyen Minh Phung, deputy director of the Ministry of Finance's Tax Policy Department, said tax incentives, such as tax exemption and deferrals, did not satisfy all enterprises.

Many enterprises, especially those large in scale, did not benefit much from the policies.

According to Hoang Van Quyet, director of the Viet Nam Financial Investment and Construction Joint Stock Company, administrative procedures should be simplified to facilitate enterprises' operation.

Experts at the conference urged Viet Nam to enhance restructuring by focusing on the agricultural sector, pointing out that agriculture was the core of the economy, ensuring food security for the country and contributing to exports.

Despite this, farmers encountered with many difficulties.

Quyet said that Viet Nam had huge potential as an agricultural economy but failed to bring it into play, adding that the Government's policies should target restructuring the agricultural sector with the application of high technology for sustainable development.

The experts also said that restructuring of State-owned enterprises (SOEs) needed to be sped up, adding that the efficient use of society's resources must be enhanced to create breakthroughs.

According to economist Nguyen Minh Phong, increasing public investment was necessary to stimulate growth. However, this might only be a good choice in the short term.

He said public investment should be used efficiently to create opportunities for development of the private sector.

Another adviser, Le Dang Doanh, said that purchasing power was at its lowest level in 13 years. He said that interest rate cuts recently reflected efforts by the State Bank of Viet Nam to overcome this.

The conference was organised by Dien Dan Doanh Nghiep (Enterprise Forum) newspaper. — VNS