Report and Statistical Abstract of UNIDO/DSI Industrial Competitiveness Field Survey

This report presents the results of an competitiveness enterprise survey, highlighting the main findings relevant to the issue of competitiveness in Vetnam. the final sample for analysis included 146 enterprises from four industry sectors (electricity, mechanical engineering, foodstuff and textiles) focusing almost exclusively on the three 'growth areas" of Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Haiphong. State enterprises made up 77 percent of the final sample. There is an overall feeling that the product quality of the enterprises surveyed was good. There is a great deal of optimism about services provided for and by the enterprises surveyed. This is in spite of the many reasons given as to why the competitiveness of the firms would be limited. One of the most significant problems faced by enterprises wishing to improve their standards, or new enterprises wishing to enter the market is the availability of finances for them to access. Red tape and paperwork were surprisingly not seen to be a significant obstacle. The scarcity of financial resources leads to a deficit in technology development. Information about technology advances is mainly obtained from general corporations, and there was limited government assistance in this area, or any area. Contrary to evident limitations of technology, the majority of enterprises claimed that they had the capacity to research and develop new products. Many of the enterprises did introduce new products in the last two years though. Labour productivity of JVs was higher than that for other forms of enterprises. This is linked to their ability to attract better labour skills as they can offer better incentives and higher wages. Capital productivity is generally low, but in a labour intensive country such as Vietnam could still be seen as an advantage. Employment levels were high for the enterprises surveyed, although it was difficult to acquire skilled labour. Value added was high for those industries that were purchasing produce and packaging it to sell again. It was also high for textiles, as was value added per capita. These indicators show textiles to be the most efficient of the groups of enterprises surveyed.