Sir, the Ministry of Finance proposes to raise the threshold for determining small and medium-sized enterprises to 400 billion VND in revenue and 300 employees per year. How do you assess this proposal, especially the impact on businesses' access to support policies?
- I think this is a necessary adjustment, suitable to the development reality of the current economy.
Over the years, revenue, input costs, salaries, capital, technology and legal compliance of enterprises have all increased. Enterprises with revenue of 300-400 billion VND are not necessarily large enterprises, especially in trade, distribution, construction, logistics or supporting industries, where the capital turnover is large but the profit margin is low. If they maintain the old criteria, many enterprises still carry small and medium characteristics and will be excluded from the State's support system.
Raising the criterion threshold will expand the scope of businesses to access support in credit, tax, accounting, digital transformation, technology innovation, human resource training, legal advice, trade promotion and participation in value chains. This is necessary for small and medium-sized enterprises not only to survive, but also to be upgraded, professional, transparent and more competitive.
The draft proposes that small and medium-sized enterprises can borrow capital from digital assets, virtual assets, and intellectual property rights instead of mainly mortgaging real estate as at present. According to you, how can this regulation help improve the access to credit for small and medium-sized enterprises?
- This is one of the notable innovations of the draft revised Law on Supporting Small and Medium Enterprises.
For a long time, the biggest bottleneck for small and medium-sized enterprises when accessing credit has been the lack of collateral in the traditional sense, mainly real estate, factories, machinery or tangible assets. Meanwhile, many modern enterprises have value in brands, software, data, intellectual property rights, futures contracts, cash flow, orders, digital platforms, and assets formed in the future.
The draft proposes to encourage credit institutions to lend to small and medium-sized enterprises on the basis of diversifying forms of loan security, including movable property, assets formed in the future, property rights, intellectual property rights, intangible assets, digital assets, virtual assets and other legal assets as prescribed by law. This is an approach suitable for the digital economy, knowledge economy and innovation.
The greatest meaning of this regulation is to shift credit thinking from "holding tangible assets" to "assessing cash flow capacity and business value". Technology businesses with software, patents, customer data, long-term contracts; or manufacturing businesses with export orders, assets formed in the future, debt collection rights... can all be the basis for credit assessment. If only looking at land use right certificates, banks will miss many potential businesses.
Statistics from the Ministry of Finance show that outstanding loans for small and medium-sized enterprises account for only about 19-20% of the total outstanding loans of the entire economy, while this sector accounts for more than 98% of the total number of enterprises; the main reason is the lack of collateral, limited credit absorption capacity and non-transparent financial information.
Therefore, expanding collateral is the right direction to unlock capital for this sector.
So what conditions are needed for this policy to be implemented effectively in practice?
- I think that this policy is only effective if there are conditions for synchronous implementation.
First of all, there needs to be a clear legal framework on identification, valuation, registration of secured transactions, handling and transfer of intangible assets, digital assets, and intellectual property rights. If banks cannot value, cannot manage risks, and cannot handle assets when bad debts arise, then progressive regulations will also be difficult to put into practice.
Second, it is necessary to develop an independent valuation organization system, a database on intellectual property assets, corporate credit data, and credit ratings for small and medium-sized enterprises. Banks that want to lend according to cash flow, contracts, and intangible assets must have reliable data.
Third, it is necessary to improve financial transparency of enterprises. Small and medium-sized enterprises that want to borrow capital from intangible assets or cash flow must have standard accounting books, electronic invoices, truthful financial statements, clear contracts, cash flow through banks and a good credit history.
Fourth, it is necessary to promote the role of the Credit Guarantee Fund, the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Fund, business associations and consulting organizations. The State should not replace banks, but can share risks, provide information support, partial guarantees, train businesses and create a safe testing mechanism.
Thank you very much, sir!
