In 2023, there are approximately 21,000 operating businesses in Thanh Hoa province, of which small and medium-sized enterprises account for about 97.4%. Image credit: Tuan Anh/TTXVN
The major difference of investment funds is that instead of investing in financial instruments, these funds will target unlisted companies or listed companies with plans to delist, with the aim of participating in management, business growth, and maintaining a minimum investment period of 5 – 10 years. Therefore, this is an opportunity for businesses to attract investment from this channel.
According to experts, besides some large funds such as VinaCapital or Mekong Capital, the mid-term capital market for SMEs in Vietnam still has relatively high potential. Positive signals for SMEs are the increasing number of foreign investment funds seeking opportunities to invest in Vietnamese companies.
At the end of February, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) received delegations from 14 leading multinational investment funds to explore investment opportunities.
To tap into capital sources from investment funds, Mr. Tran Thanh Hai, Director of Business Center II – Bac A Commercial Joint Stock Bank, recommends that SMEs in Vietnam should pay more attention to these funds and improve their management and foreign language skills.
“Even the communication in searching for opportunities is still a major weakness of most SMEs in Vietnam. Limited foreign language skills or lack of interest and understanding of the financial market potential are still not truly high. This hinders direct contact and exchange between foreign investment funds and Vietnamese SMEs, causing them to miss out on development cooperation opportunities. Therefore, the higher risk appetite of investment funds requires businesses to demonstrate their capabilities, technologies, products, or business visions. In return, this strictness can drive Vietnamese SMEs to become more professional.”
In order to access capital from investment funds, SMEs need to enhance their management capacity and business strategies. With long-term capital from investment funds, businesses will have the motivation to invest in long-term values, such as digitalization in management, business operations, or automation in production,” emphasized Mr. Hai.
