With a target of helping Vietnam develop economy and fight against poverty, the Danish International Development Agency (Danida) set up the Private Sector Development (PSD) programme in Vietnam in late 1996.
After eight years, the programme has implemented effectively many projects.
Mogen Poulsen, project co-coordinator of PSD programme said that about 40 projects in Vietnam had received donation from Denmark via enterprise co-operation programmes. Most projects concentrate in major industries, such as textile and garment, food processing and the metallic industry.
Also the PSD programme has helped Vietnam develop other industries, such as ceramics, information technology, service and graphic industry.
Some projects, which are not related to the export market and enterprises of Denmark but have great importance to Vietnam’s environment and society, have been approved for receiving donations. Vietnam’s enterprises which are interested in technology of Denmark have received support from the PSD programme as it has always tried to introduce technology or relevant enterprises to them.
Also PSD has provided financial support for Vietnam enterprises to join fairs in Denmark, or study markets and seek partners.
Projects benefiting from PSD support have duration of between three and five years. They have received maximum support of between US$300,000 and 400,000. Each year, PSD uses US$6 million for this programme.
The donation from PSD aims to help projects start but not to provide money or machines for them. Long-term commercial viable co-operation between a Vietnamese and a Danish company is the only condition for projects to benefit from PSD support.
However, Poulsen said that PSD offered assistance with the definition of potential partners, so if within one year, co-operation was not effective, PSD would suspend its support.
Via PSD support, private enterprises in Vietnam have a great opportunity for rapid development as they can access to new, modern technology and production methods. Most effective co-operation projects earn between US$1 million and 10 million in their yearly revenues.
Apart from economic effectiveness, the programme targets social effectiveness helping improve the living standard of the community and generate jobs. Each project can generate jobs for between 100 and 2,000 people. This means that within eight years, the programme has helped create jobs for more than one million people in Vietnam. This is really a meaningful figure for Vietnam during its economic development and renovation.
It is hoped that Vietnam’s enterprises will continue to benefit from PSD support.
