Access to capital is still a difficult problem for small and medium enterprises
The issue of mobilizing and allocating resources to the economy has become a central requirement in policy management and implementation of development programs.
Although the need to mobilize resources for economic development is increasing, in reality, the mobilization and allocation of capital in the economy is still facing many different bottlenecks. According to the assessment of Dr. Nguyen Minh Phong - Former Head of Economic Research Department, Hanoi Institute for Socio-Economic Development Research, these bottlenecks not only come from businesses but also relate to the structure of the financial market, access to capital as well as the operation of capital channels in the economy.
First of all, one of the major limitations today is that the financial internal strength of the business sector is still relatively weak. Most businesses in the economy are small in scale, have limited financial capacity and mainly operate in the form of small-capital enterprises.
In addition, Vietnam's capital market, especially the stock market and corporate bond market, has not yet developed commensurate with the needs of the economy. Although the market has made progress in recent times, the market's reliability as well as the diversity of investment products are still limited.
Another bottleneck lies in the ability of businesses to access bank credit capital, especially for the small and medium-sized enterprise sector. The rest faces difficulties due to lack of collateral or not fully meeting the requirements for transparency in financial management and cash flow. This makes it difficult for many businesses, despite having capital needs for production and business activities, to access formal capital sources.
Capital costs and collateral are two major bottlenecks
Expressing his opinion in a presentation at the Workshop "Effectively mobilizing capital sources, serving the goal of double-digit growth" organized by the Ministry of Finance and the State Bank of Vietnam in coordination with Lao Dong Newspaper on March 12, 2026, Mr. Tran Minh Xuan - Deputy General Director of Vietnam Steel Joint Stock Company Vinasteel said that the reality of implementing large-scale industrial projects shows that difficulties in capital mobilization of manufacturing enterprises often do not come from a single factor, but from the intersection of many factors with the same impact.
According to Mr. Tran Minh Xuan, the first issue is capital costs. For projects with a long life cycle, interest rates are not only a technical parameter in the financial plan but also a variable that directly affects the return on capital, profit margin and business's ability to continue expanding.
Next is the second factor, the collateral problem. According to Tran Minh Xuan, in the construction phase, most of the assets of an industrial project are assets formed in the future. These assets themselves have real economic value and are associated with a well-founded investment plan, but the valuation and acceptance as collateral still have many obstacles in the current mechanism.
It should be noted that many credit institutions in the past have made significant efforts to be more flexible with this type of asset, especially in projects with clear financial plans and reputable investors. However, to solve fundamental problems, a sufficiently flexible legal framework is still needed to accurately reflect the economic nature of assets formed in the future, creating a more solid legal basis for both sides" - Mr. Xuan emphasized.
Starting from the reality of project implementation and production and business activities, representatives of Vinasteel respectfully proposed a number of recommendations to contribute to completing the legal framework and operating mechanism of the capital market in a stable, transparent and long-term forecasting direction.
First of all, regarding capital market development policies, for industrial manufacturing enterprises, especially steel smelting and rolling projects with large capital scale with a construction and capital recovery cycle lasting from 7 to 10 years, the stability of the policy environment is of key significance in planning investment strategies and financial risk management.
Vinasteel proposed that state management agencies continue to maintain consistency in the development orientation of the capital market, limiting sudden changes in legal regulations related to the issuance of securities, corporate bonds and medium and long-term credit access conditions.
Regarding the corporate bond market, this is a capital mobilization channel with great potential for medium and large-scale manufacturing enterprises. However, after a period of strong adjustment in recent years, the market is still in the process of consolidating investor confidence.
In that context, Vinasteel proposes that management agencies continue to improve the legal mechanism in the direction of improving information transparency, standardizing the credit rating system and building clear and unified information disclosure standards, creating a reliable basis for investors to quantify and assess risks systematically. At the same time, it is necessary to gradually develop the secondary market for corporate bonds, thereby enhancing liquidity and expanding portfolio management tools for investors" - Vinasteel representative proposed.
Regarding the development of long-term investment institutions, Mr. Tran Minh Xuan proposed that the State continue to build mechanisms to encourage the formation and development of long-term investment funds, especially investment funds oriented towards the industrial and manufacturing sectors.
