The enterprises in the HCM City Hi-tech Park (SHTP) have complained they are facing too many difficulties in expanding business, while their products remain unreachable to customers due to the complicated procedures.

Complicated procedures make hi-tech products unmarketable 

Consumers have to wait to use hi-tech products

A lot of products utilizing biotechnology and new technologies used in pharmacy and healthcare sectors, or the electronics manufactured by the enterprises in SHTP, still cannot been sold on the domestic market, because they still need to wait for the competent agencies to grant licenses for circulation.

GeneWorld has successfully generated healthcare products using cell and stem cell technologies. However, its products still cannot hit the market because of the lack of the license.

GeneWorld’s President Nguyen Van Le said he has contacted all relevant ministries and followed all necessary procedures he was told to do, but he still cannot sell the products on the market.

The Ministry of Health told him that it needs more time to examine the products, which remain unfamiliar to them.

“If we cannot obtain the license soon, we would miss the golden opportunities, which means that we would die,” Le complained.

Also according to Le, the stem cell technology has been utilized in a large scale in other countries in the world for the last many years. Meanwhile, Vietnamese ministries still have not updated the information.

SHTP encourages enterprises to utilize new technologies in production and generate hi-tech products. Meanwhile, the enterprises have been told to keep waiting to bring their hi-tech products to the world.

Tran Nhat Phuong, Managing Director of Bioland Nam Khoa, said his company has successfully generated diagnostic biologicals. However, since Phuong still cannot launch the products into the market. As a result, the company has to halt production and he is not sure about the moment when his company resumes operation.

Le Bich Loan, Deputy Head of SHTP has confirmed that enterprises meet a lot of difficulties when marketing their products using new technologies and materials, because it always takes time to have their products examined by competent agencies.

Hi-tech firms not encouraged to expand business?

Loan also said that the current policies do not encourage hi-tech enterprises to expand their investments. Under the Decree No. 124, the existing investors would not be able to enjoy the investment incentives for the expanded project components.

Provina is in a state of anxious suspense about its expanded investment project which has the investment capital triple the initial investment capital. In principle, the company would not be able to enjoy the corporate income tax incentives like the ones granted to the operational project.

Loan said SHTP has many times asked relevant ministries to consider amending the current regulations to pave the way for investors to expand their business in Vietnam. A lot of enterprises try to enjoy tax incentives by setting up new legal entities to “dodge the laws.”

Experts have agreed that it’s unreasonable to refuse to give tax incentives to expanded projects. In fact, expanded projects have higher feasibility than newly invested projects, while the technologies used in the expanded projects are also more advanced.

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the 2005 Investment Law stipulates that investment incentives would be offered in accordance with business fields and investment localities. Meanwhile, the Corporate Income Tax and Decree 124 only stipulate the incentives to newly set up businesses.