Specifically,  77% of 6000 enterprises attending the survey globally are optimistic about the next twelve months. Meanwhile, in Vietnam, the rate stands at 90%, much above the global average. The optimism is due to the fact that Vietnamese enterprises believe in three main drivers for the trade growth:  favourable economic environment, increasing demand and reduced shipping/logistic costs.

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In terms of the upcoming plan for operation, almost nine in ten (88%) of Vietnamese businesses project an increased need for trade finance and a similar number (86%) expects their ability to access trade finance to increase.
While some firms feel that high transaction costs (52% of Vietnamese firms agree) and exchange rate volatility (44% of Vietnamese firms agree) could be major obstacles, 86% still believe that their needs will be matched with improved access to finance.
About 61% of enterprises said that the governments are becoming more protective of their domestic business, which receives the agreement of almost three quarters (67%) of Vietnamese businesses. Which results in increased cost of doing international business, and the requirement to seek or have more joint ventures/collaborations. Protectionism has also created challenges in accessing trade finance.
To cope with the challenges, almost enterprise are seeking for other trade partners in the region. Vietnamese firms will focus on main partner at Asia and the US. Demand from the US and China will likely remain crucial for Vietnam in the future, spoke the report.
About new trade policy initiatives, Vietnam-based firms saw ASEAN 2025 (74%) and CPTPP (63%) as the two leading trade policies positively effect on their business.  For the CPTPP signed recently, 50% of Vietnamese enterprises expect to have relevance to their business.
Pham Hong Hai, CEO of HSBC Vietnam believes Vietnam is in favorable position to grab the chance on trade and investment development. “Besides the support and interpretation for trade policies like RCEP or ASEAN 2025 and free trade agreements like CPTPP respectively, enterprises should build their own strategy to enhance the value of supply chain, apply digital technology, shake hands with domestic and foreign firms and reduce dependence on low labor cost to seize advantages from the trend in a sustainable way”.