Difficulties surrounding
Currently, enterprises in the food and beverage industry - an essential industry - are facing many difficulties in accessing loans to maintain and expand operations.
Mr. Nguyen Dang Hien - Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Food and Food Association - said that most of the businesses in this industry are small, medium and micro enterprises, so access to loans is limited. I hope the State Bank and commercial banks will pay attention and share with businesses, because this is an essential industry. It is expected that about 4 million billion VND will be invested this year, so there needs to be a reasonable solution to control inflation" - Mr. Hien emphasized.
Since the beginning of 2025, manufacturing and retail businesses have sought many solutions, changed production methods or found new directions to reduce costs.
According to Mr. Phan Van Dung - Deputy General Director of Vietnam Textile and Apparel Joint Stock Company, the unit must share with shareholders to reduce profits at the same time, continue to tighten and control all unnecessary expenses.
Mr. Nguyen Duc Lenh - Deputy Director of the State Bank of Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City Branch - said that in the past, the food industry has received many incentives, and interest rates are also very preferential because these are effective industries, a growth driver of the economy. The problems of enterprises and units are recorded and will be resolved in the coming time.
Support for businesses
According to information from the Ho Chi Minh City Business Association (HUBA), the situation of dissolutions, bankruptcies and temporary suspension of business is still common, especially in traditional industries.
In January 2025 alone, the whole country had more than 52,800 enterprises registered to temporarily suspend business, accounting for about 1/4 of the total number of enterprises that stopped operations in 2024. This caused great damage to the economy.
HUBA's survey results show that although 69.5% of enterprises have increased sales revenue, up to 30.4% of enterprises still record a decrease in revenue. Notably, 39% of enterprises reported reduced profits due to increased input costs ( raw materials, labor, etc.). This situation directly affects the business confidence of many businesses.
Faced with this situation, businesses have proposed extending the policy of reducing interest rates, restructuring debt repayment terms, and keeping the debt group unchanged according to Circular No. 02/2023/TT-NHNN. The State needs to have mechanisms and policies to develop, attract and ensure the effective operation of capital sources from other financial products or other channels.
In addition, it is recommended that banks have open loan policies, incentives for family business owners or simple loan conditions, loan procedures, loan purposes...; lower the interest rate (NIM) to 2.5% to minimize loan interest rates.
The reasonable profit level of banks should be below 3%. If the bank reduces profits and cuts interest rates, businesses will have more development opportunities, thereby contributing to promoting economic growth of Ho Chi Minh City and the whole country" - HUBA representative proposed.
According to Mr. Bui Ta Hoang Vu - Director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Ho Chi Minh City, units that need to borrow capital for production and business will enjoy incentives in the loan package of nearly 200,000 billion VND. Even enterprises established in other provinces and cities but headquartered in Ho Chi Minh City will also be considered.
In the long term, support policies such as interest rate incentives, tax reductions, simplified administrative procedures, facilitated access to capital, etc. will gradually contribute to promoting purchasing power, helping Vietnamese goods consolidate their domestic market share and expand to international markets, improving their adaptability to trade fluctuations.
