Manufacturing cars and spare parts is one of the prioritised sectors. The others are electronics, agricultural machinery, agricultural and seafood processing, ship building, and the environment and energy conservation (Photo: VNA)The Central Institute of Economic Management (CIEM) held a workshop on August 21 to enhance linkages between domestic and foreign businesses and boost the development of the support industry in service of six industrial sectors prioritised in Vietnam’s modernisation strategy within the framework of Vietnam-Japan cooperation.
Speaking at the Hanoi event, CIEM Deputy Head Nguyen Tue Anh said the strategy through 2020 identifies environmental and energy-saving sectors among the six priorities to meet the increasing demands for environmental protection and energy conservation.
According to her, the support industry plays an important role as it supplies components and materials serving the two sectors.
Do Thi Thuy Huong from the Vietnam Electronics Business Association (VEBA) said the electronics support industry is mainly driven by foreign direct investment (FDI) businesses included in the available supply chain of final equipment producers.
Very few Vietnamese enterprises have the capacity to supply spare parts and services to FDI firms operating in the country, she said.
The domestic support industry has fallen short of expectations as it has failed to meet the demands of original producers, resulting in low added value of the country’s electronics sector in comparison with that of other nations worldwide, Huong said.
Sharing her views, Dr. Nguyen Dinh Anh said incentives for the support industry remain monotonous and funding is limited in terms of both scale and accessibility.
He underlined the need to revamp preferential policies, explaining that it is impossible to boost the support industry with such policies, especially in the six prioritised sectors, and create a linkage between Vietnamese and Japanese businesses as set in the strategy.
Many suggested the State build a full legal framework favourable for the industry as well as businesses participating in this field, and finalise and issue the Government’s decrees on the sector.
The State should enhance management of environmental protection and energy conservation in order to create output markets for the environment, energy-saving and support industries, they said.
The VEBA proposed tax exemptions for materials and import equipment to serve the production of key mechanics items and the exemption of corporate income tax and land lease fees for projects that supply support products to high-tech sectors.-VNA
