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Gov’t establishes fund to support SME development

VGP – PM Nguyen Tan Dung has decided to set up a fund for small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) development with total charter capital of VND 2 trillion.

April 21, 2013 3:35 PM GMT+7

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The move aims to enhance competitive capacity of these enterprises and to create more jobs.

Functioning as a State financial organization under the management of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the non-profit fund is responsible for managing and using financial sources in accordance with legal regulations to support SME development.

To get the financial assistance, SMEs must meet a number of conditions, including having feasible production or business plans in line with the fund’s list for priority areas.

The maximum volume of loans for each project will not exceed VND 30 billion and be paid up within seven years.

The establishment of the fund is part of a bigger program on SME development in the 2011-2015, which had been approved by the PM.

Under this program, the number of newly-established SMEs is expected to reach 350,000 between 2011 and 2015.

The Government hopes to raise the ratio of export turnover of SMEs to 25% and their GDP share to 40% by 2015.

SMEs are also expected to create an addition of 3.5-4 million jobs, according to the program./.

                                                                                                                    By Hai Minh