The Working Paper "Fiscal incentives and enterprise performance: Evidence from the UNIDO Viet Nam Industry Investor Survey 2011" attempts to shed light on wether fiscal incentives support private direct investment in Viet Nam.  

 Bamboo, rattan, seagrass and other raw materials used in handicrafts production are an important part of Viet Nam’s natural capital. These are valuable resources that need to be protected, harvested and utilized in a sustainable manner to ensure a vibrant crafts sector now and for future generations. The environmental impacts of crafts production by households and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are often considered negligible given the scale of their operations, yet taking into account their sheer number, use of natural materials and limited capabilities, their production practices should also be appropriately addressed. Piecemeal interventions just at the production cultivation or stages, will only produce equally limited results. A comprehensive and integrated approach is needed to make green and clean-up the entire value chain, starting from raw materials collection, processing, crafts production and transportation, right up to final markets. Coordinated interventions to make green five value chains were supported in Viet Nam, respectively in the: bamboo and  rattan, seagrass, sericulture and silk, lacquerware and handmade paper sectors.

Since the last two decades, the Government of Viet Nam undertook remarkable efforts to reform its business environment. The country is among the world’s fastest-growing economies and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are considered key actors in Viet Nam’s socio-economic development.

As one of Viet Nam’s development partners, UNIDO has been working actively for already many years to support SME development initiatives undertaken by the country. UNIDO assistance covered various complementary and consecutive large-scale projects operating both at the central and provincial levels with funding from different donors.

This publication constitutes a situation analysis of the business registration reforms in Viet Nam and UNIDO’s assistance in this field within the context of the country’s initiatives for wider administrative and business environment reforms.

With funding from Norway, Switzerland, UNIDO’s own resources and the One UN Fund and building on prior policy advice, UNIDO assistance covers a comprehensive support package to assist Viet Nam in making the registration of businesses less cumbersome, less costly and thus more efficient. The initiative addresses obstacles faced by entrepreneurs in completing business, tax, statistics and seal registration requirements. It includes assistance to policy makers in the implementation of the Enterprise Law (2005) and in the preparation of subsequent policy decisions and legislation to simplify and standardize registration procedures and steps. Such reforms are not a simple stroke of the pen of the decision makers, and involve both legal and administrative changes that take time.

This report summarizes the results of a study on energy and resource efficiency in the Electric Arc
Furnace (EAF) section of the Vietnamese steel industry, which was initiated by UNIDO with the support of the Vietnamese Steel Association. The mission was conducted in two Stages with one international and one national consultant. The first Stage included visits to six steel plants in early December 2010. The six plants, all based on EAF steelmaking, were chosen to provide a good cross-section of the industry with respect to geography, state and private ownership, age of facilities, scale of production and the level of technology. Preliminary findings were presented to a UNIDO-VSA Workshop in Ho Chi Minh City (10 December). In the second Stage, the analysis was extended to include the remaining EAF plants based on visits to twelve plants during April and May 2011.

Data on the main inputs and outputs of steelmaking, casting and rolling were collected in a systematic way to calculate the energy used in production and to analyse factors such as technology, productivity, process stability, resource efficiency and scrap quality. The analysis included a broader Life Cycle view of energy efficiency as well as calculations of greenhouse gas emissions. Insights were able to be drawn by comparing performance between the Vietnamese plants and also by reference to global good practice standards.

Viet Nam’s efforts to shift from a centrally planned to a market-led economy are paying off. Not only has Viet Nam been one of the fastest growing economies over the last 20 years, but growth has sharply reduced the incidence of poverty. Viet Nam is increasingly integrated into the global economy and is becoming a hub for potential investors nationally and internationally.

But how much has industrialization contributed to Viet Nam’s economic growth and export success? And what is the role of manufacturing and structural change in the country’s economic future? This report makes the case that industrialization is at the core of Viet Nam’s economic growth. It argues that Viet Nam needs an industrial policy aimed at structural change towards high value added manufacturing sectors to sustain current growth levels in the long run.

The report uses UNIDO’s methodology to assess national industrial performance through a series of industry-related dimensions, indicators and indices. This methodology is the fruit of years of research and advisory work carried out under the guidance of the late Professor Sanjaya Lall of Oxford University.