VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) and the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) have been working on a plan to develop the support industry in Vietnam.

On October 8, MOIT released Decision No 9028 on the new support industry development program, which includes three major fields – making parts and accessories, developing industries supporting the textile & garment sector, and supporting high-technology industries.

Vietnam hopes to have 1,000 businesses capable of supplying support products by 2020 accounting for 11 percent of the total industry’s production value. At present, only 200 Vietnamese enterprises are capable of making products which can satisfy foreign manufacturers.

When asked to comment about the feasibility of the government’s strategy on support industries, an expert did not give a direct answer, but noted that several ministries were doing similar work.

Earlier this year, MPI submitted to the government a plan on investment incentives to offer enterprises in support industries.

Experts noted that the main ideas of the plan, including ones on tax incentives, credit and land access preferences, are nearly the same as the content of the plan drafted by the Institute for Industry Strategies, an arm of MOIT, several years ago.

Meanwhile, the government has urged MOIT to complete the compilation of the decree, emphasizing that it should be issued in 2014.

However, no new proposals have been suggested. MOIT has only mentioned the investment incentives for support industry companies and suggests the establishment of a fund,worth VND30 trillion to help them.

Two weeks ago, the government office released a notice rejecting a plan submitted by MPI because of a number of points were found in other documents.

Most recently, FIA announced that it was running a specific cooperation program with Samsung Electronics to develop support industries. The program is scheduled to last from September 2014 to the end of 2015.

FIA head Do Nhat Hoang said under the program, about 800 Vietnamese enterprises would possibly join the program.

Meanwhile, the leaders of MOIT have said they have no information about the program. The cooperation program between FIA and Samsung Electronics reportedly does not have any relation with the cooperation program with South Korean enterprises on technology transfer, funded by the South Korean Ministry of Energy, Industry and Trade.

An executive of Samsung Group said the overlapping activities of Vietnamese ministries have have placed Samsung in an awkward situation, because it does not know which Vietnamese ministry or agency it should work with.

Vietnamese businesses are also confused about the situation.

The general director of Hanoi Plastics Company, Bui Thanh Nam, said he could not attend the working session with the South Korean industry experts held by MOIT some days ago, because he had promised to welcome Japanese experts introduced by MPI on the same day.

Pham Huyen