Delegate Nguyen Thanh Hien: 'It is necessary to add conditions to ensure the environment when supporting small and medium enterprises'

(Baonghean.vn) -“That was the opinion of delegate Nguyen Thanh Hien - Deputy Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Nghe An with a group of reporters and collaborators of Nghe An Newspaper on the sidelines of the discussion session in the hall within the framework of the working program of the 3rd session, 14th National Assembly regarding the draft Law on supporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) taking place this afternoon (May 23).

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hien - Deputy Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Nghe An province. Photo: Anh Tuan

-What is your assessment of the Report on explanation, acceptance and revision of the draft Law on support for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) presented by Chairman of the National Assembly's Economic Committee Vu Hong Thanh this afternoon?

Delegate Nguyen Thanh Hien:Basically, I completely agree with the report on explanation, acceptance and law revision of the National Assembly Standing Committee and the content of the draft Law on Support for Small and Medium Enterprises. In general, compared to previous drafts, this draft has been more complete after receiving many opinions from National Assembly deputies.

-So what contents of the draft Law on Support for Small and Medium Enterprises are you interested in and would like to contribute your comments?

Delegate Nguyen Thanh Hien:In the process of researching the draft Law project, I was interested in the following issues:

Firstly, the regulations on support for access to credit, which are basically more specific in this draft than the previous draft. However, Clause 3, Article 8 of the Draft stipulates: "Small and medium-sized enterprises are supported by agencies, organizations and individuals to develop feasible production and business plans, enhance management capacity, and transparency of business operations to improve access to credit", which is too general and does not clearly show how SMEs will be supported (free or reduced fees?), when will they be supported and which agencies, organizations and individuals are responsible for consulting and supporting SMEs?

Second, regarding tax support regulations, Clause 1, Article 10 of the draft law stipulates: "SMEs under the provisions of this Law are subject to a corporate income tax rate lower than the normal tax rate applied to Enterprises under the provisions of the law on corporate income tax".

I think that the provisions in the draft law are unclear and difficult to apply in practice. Because, the legal documents on tax do not have regulations on the normal tax rate applicable to enterprises, and how much lower that rate is, and what conditions the beneficiaries must meet to avoid spreading support. Therefore, it is necessary to clearly stipulate and be principled in the law.

Nghe An National Assembly delegation attends the discussion session in the hall on the afternoon of May 23. Photo: Thanh Loan

Third, regarding the support for production premises stipulated in Article 10 of the Draft Law on Support for Small Enterprises, in my opinion, the problem lies in the fact that the current Land Law does not have specific provisions on incentives for SMEs. The provisions in the draft are general. If we provide support for SMEs as they are now, what is the basis for implementation when there are no provisions in the specialized Law?

I think that the draft Law on Support for SMEs needs to clearly stipulate the issue of support for production premises in each case. For example: how much percentage will be supported for micro enterprises? How much percentage will be supported for small enterprises? And how much percentage will be supported for medium enterprises? In addition, it is necessary to base on the form of land lease of enterprises to give specific support levels, for example: in case of enterprises leasing land paying in one time, how much percentage will be supported? In case of enterprises leasing land paying annually, how much percentage will be supported?

Only then can fairness be ensured because different forms of leasing bring different benefits to businesses, so the support levels should also be different.

Fourth, regarding the issue of supporting SMEs to convert from business households, start-up businesses, participate in industry clusters and value chains as stipulated in Section 2, Chapter 2 of the draft, I propose to remove the regulation at Point d, Clause 2 (Enterprises converted from business households inherit all rights, obligations and legitimate interests of business households).

Because this is not a support content but a principle when merging, dividing, separating, or converting, the newly formed entity will inherit the rights and obligations of the merged, divided, separated, or converted entity according to the provisions of the Law on conversion, division, separation, and consolidation of Enterprises.

In addition, I think that the draft Law stipulates the subjects of support for small and medium-sized enterprises to start up innovative businesses and enterprises participating in industry clusters and value chains but does not mention the issue of ensuring environmental standards, which is inappropriate. Reality shows that environmental issues, especially the craft village environment, have been a matter of great concern in recent years. Therefore, it is necessary to add conditions on ensuring environmental friendliness when supporting the subjects specified in Clause 1, Article 17 and Clause 1, Article 19 of this draft Law.

Panorama of the National Assembly session on the afternoon of May 23. Photo: Thanh Loan

- To ensure the feasibility of the Law on SMEs when put into practice, how do you think it should be implemented?

Delegate Nguyen Thanh Hien:What I and many other National Assembly members are concerned about is that if the draft Law on SMEs is passed by the National Assembly this time, it will officially apply from January 1, 2018, but in the implementation process, it will still cite many other laws that need to be adjusted, amended and have instructions from the Government and relevant ministries and branches. Therefore, it requires adjustments in the law-making program in the coming time and sub-law documents also need to be issued. Only then will the Law on Enterprise Support be feasible and practical.

Thank you!

PV-CTV Group