The private sector in Viet Nam should receive support to become a pillar of the local economy, said Nguyen Thi Nga, chairwoman of BRG Group.

Nga spoke with more than 300 participants at a forum on how to develop private enterprises in Viet Nam in the capital city on Thursday. The forum was held by the Party's Central Economics Committee and the Viet Nam Association of Private Entrepreneurs.

Nga, who is also the standing vice president of the association, said: “Viet Nam should be developed as a regional financial and industrial centre. It is time to take advantage of capital flows from China due to trade tensions between the US and China.”

To do that, Nga said: “The Government should ensure fair competition among economic sectors in Viet Nam.”

Nga asked the Government to increase protection for private enterprises and allow them to participate in railroads, electricity transmission and aviation infrastructure, which remain State monopolies.

The BRG chairwoman said: “Private enterprises have enough experience and resources to develop large projects, which can help the Government reduce public debt.”

The digital economy was also a major topic discussed at the forum.

Nguyen Thanh Luu, head of Marketing Communications at the CMC Group, thought IT was key for Viet Nam to develop faster.

As a private firm in the technology sector, CMC’s leader proposed that the Government should encourage private businesses to develop Viet Nam as a digital country and a digital hub for the region.

Luu said: “The Government should create policies to develop the local IT industry. For example, there should be policies to encourage the local use of Vietnamese IT products.”

Luu wanted the Government to help the private sector expand into the international market and take part in big projects in Viet Nam.

Nguyen Mai, chairman of the Vietnam Association of Foreign Investment Enterprises (VAFIE), said to achieve the goal of becoming a high middle-income country by 2030 with a per capita income of $10,000, Viet Nam should support the private sector.

Mai gave the example of brands such as Apple, Google, Microsoft and Facebook in the US, as well as Samsung, Hyundai and LG in Korea, saying that the US and South Korea developed into big economies thanks to their supporting policies to develop private enterprises in IT.

He added that the digital economy was a driving force for development in the US, but only accounts for 9.2 per cent of the economy in Viet Nam.

Mai suggested the Government should invest more in IT and human resources for the private sector so they could do similar things.

So far, the private sector, with more than 700,000 firms, has generated 40 per cent of GDP and created 1.2 million jobs. In the first nine months of 2019, the sector’s investment hit VND624.6 trillion ($27.1 billion), up 16.9 per cent on-year, and also the highest investment level compared to the State-owned and the foreign-invested sectors. — VNS