Vietnam Must Back SMEs Alongside Conglomerates, Letter Warns of FDI Value Outflows
Updated
Updated · Financial Times · Aug 20
Vietnam Must Back SMEs Alongside Conglomerates, Letter Warns of FDI Value Outflows
1 articles · Updated · Financial Times · Aug 20
Summary
Jonathan London argued Vietnam should support small and medium-sized enterprises as aggressively as its emerging private champions, saying SMEs remain the economy’s weakest link.
South Korea and Taiwan offer the model he says Vietnam is missing: support tied to export and quality targets, with capable supplier networks built alongside large firms.
London warned that concentrating support on conglomerates while SMEs stay starved of capital risks state capture, especially as money keeps flowing into real estate and vanity projects instead of production.
Value outflows from Vietnam’s foreign-invested sector already exceed inflows, he said, underscoring the need to build a stronger domestic supplier base if the country wants durable industrial deepening.