Which activities of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam are eligible for assistance from state budget?

Which activities of SMEs in Vietnam are eligible for assistance from state budget?

Pursuant to Article 4 of the Circular 06/2022/TT-BKHĐT stipulating activities of SMEs in Vietnam that are eligible for assistance from state budget as follows:

Agencies, organizations providing assistance for SME shall identify activities eligible for assistance from state budget under Clause 3 Article 32 of Decree No. 80/2021/ND-CP as follows:
1. Regarding counseling assistance: fee for counseling SMEs; field survey, meeting participation, and work trips of counselors; interpretation for foreign counselors; management activities of counseling organizations (if organizations act as counselors).

2. Regarding types of assistance under Clause 5 Article 2; Points c and dd Clause 6 of Article 22; Clause 1 Article 25; Point d Clause 3 Article 25 of Decree No. 80/2021/ND-CP: conform to Article 15 and Article 18 hereof.

3. Regarding types of assistance under Clause 2 Article 11; Clause 1 Article 22; Points b and c Clause 3 Article 22; Points b and c Clause 4 Article 25; Clause 5 Article 25 of Decree No. 80/2021/ND-CP: conform to field-specific legislative documents guiding technical, economic standards and norms. If the aforementioned regulations are not available, rely on work items specified under quotation of suppliers on the market to ensure legitimacy, adequacy, effectiveness, and fulfillment of SMEs’ demands.

What are regulations on guiding procedures for providing assistance for SMEs in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Article 5 of the Circular 06/2022/TT-BKHĐT stipulating guiding procedures for providing assistance for SMEs in Vietnam as follows:

Agencies and organizations providing assistance for SMEs shall assistance SMEs in accordance with Article 32 of Decree No. 80/2021/ND-CP, to be specific:

1. Compositions of written application include:

a) Declaration using form under Appendix 1 attached to Decree No. 80/2021/ND-CP, which specifies budget amount requested and quotation of the suppliers (if any).

b) Documents relating to the requested assistance: Documents verifying startup SMEs under Clauses 1 and 2 Article 14 hereof; verifying SMEs’ participation in industrial cluster, value chains in manufacturing, processing sectors of Article 16 and Article 17 hereof; other relevant documents (if any).

2. Regarding assistance for human resource development for SMEs in accordance with Clauses 1, 2, and 3 Article 14 of Decree No. 80/2021/ND-CP: agencies and organizations providing assistance for SMEs shall conform to Section 2 Chapter II hereof.

3. Regarding technology, counseling assistance, assistance for SME startup, assistance for SMEs' participation in industrial cluster, value chain under Clauses 1, 2, 3, and 4 Article 11, Clause 2 Article 13, Article 22, Article 25 of Decree No. 80/2021/ND-CP: agencies and organizations providing assistance for SMEs shall conform to Clause 3 Article 32 Decree No. 80/2021/ND-CP (contract sample under Appendix 1 hereof).

4. Agencies and organizations providing assistance for SMEs shall review application, consolidate SMEs’ request for assistance, approve SME support plan on an annual or quarterly basis. The selection of suppliers for executing SME assistance plan shall conform to bidding laws.

What are regulations on management of assistance for SMEs in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Article 6 of the Circular 06/2022/TT-BKHĐT stipulating management of assistance for SMEs in Vietnam as follows:

1. General management

a) General management activities include: conducting communication activities regarding assistance and types of assistance provided for SMEs; organizing seminars, conferences guiding, concluding SME assistance operation; organizing groups for assessing implementation of SME assistance; surveying SME assistance demand to produce assistance plans and estimates for the planning year.

b) Ministry of Planning and Investment shall receive no more than 1% of total annual expenditure of central government budget on SME assistance to finance general management of SME assistance on a nationwide scale.

c) Contact point authorities of ministries, ministerial agencies, Governmental agencies (entities assigned to take charge and cooperate with relevant entities in developing policies, organizing implementation, assessing, consolidating reports on implementation results of SME assistance) and Departments of Planning and Investment of provinces and cities shall receive no more than 2% of total annual expenditure of state budget on SME assistance to finance general management of SME assistance within their management.

2. Direct management

Agencies and organizations providing assistance for SMEs shall receive no more than 5% of annual state budget on SME assistance to finance direct management of SME assistance, including:

a) Activities that assistance SME: going on business trip; working overtime; communicating; organizing meetings, conferences; hiring experts; conducting surveys at enterprises; other activities directly serving SME assistance.

b) Activities of Council for selecting startup SMEs under Clause 3 Article 21 of Decree No. 80/2021/ND-CP: reviewing documents of startup SMEs; hiring experts; working overtime; communicating; organizing review meetings; appraising selection result of startup SMEs; conducting other activities related to activities of the Council.

c) The selection of suppliers shall be made in accordance with bidding laws.

Best regards!