Financial and banking policies and production problems were debated at a meeting held by Ha Noi's Industry and Commerce Department yesterday.
HA NOI – Financial and banking policies and production problems were debated at a meeting held by Ha Noi's Industry and Commerce Department yesterday.
General director of Ha Noi Plastic Company Bui Thanh Nam said his company would have to cut jobs and weekend work from this month due to reduced orders.
The company supports the automobile and motorbike industries, supplying products to domestic and foreign firms such as Honda, SYM and Toyota.
In the first quarter, it worked to capacity and needed about 100-120 more workers. This quarter, however, its major customers began reducing orders, with Honda cutting back 20 per cent and others giving notice they would buy less from June.
Nam said the company had curbed production costs and reviewed its investment policy but it was not enough to offset the reductions.
Executive council chairman of Animal Production Processing and Import Export Joint Stock Company Doan Trong Ly said banks needed to further lower their interest rates while suppliers of electricity, water and petrol and oil should cut prices for production to help struggling industries.
Ly said the State needed to focus investment in the enterprises which had taken advantage of new technology or developed new products.
Representatives of enterprises also discussed the city's "solution package" which included tax, fees, bank interest, land rental and taxes and incentives for eco-friendly producers.
It was reported that many enterprises lacked working capital because their inventory backlogs had increased 50-60 per cent over the same period last year, especially in the areas of construction materials and electric goods.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Industry and Commerce Department director Le Hoang Thang said enterprises faced difficulties in both input and output. Production costs such as electricity, petrol and oil, transportation and salaries had increased while consumers had cut spending so enterprises failed to sell their products.
Thang said the banks needed to lower interest rate as soon as possible but that would not meet the demand of every enterprise. Preference should be given to enterprises which had the capacity to develop or those who made goods for export.
Thang said the business community had welcomed Government Resolution 13/NQ-CP on tax, land rental and land use fees which was designed to counter difficulties in production. It was expected to help many enterprises regain their growth rate in the third and fourth quarters and reach their targets for the year, he said.
It was reported that more than 5,300 enterprises had stopped operating or were dissolved this year due to the economic recession. – VNS