25/OCT/2003 VIETNAM NEWS PAGE 15
A private sector development group has launched a project to improve the quality and quantity of consulting services provided to small businesses. The non-profit Mekong Private Sector Development Facility (MPDF) decided to target the services after a recent survey found few small and medium sized businesses use consulting services.
"The facility believes that management and technical consulting services are a critical element of the development of small and medium enterprises in Vietnam. We look forward to working with our local consulting partners to determine the best ways to support this emerging sector", the facility's regional manager, Robert Webster, said. The project will initially conduct a series of ongoing networking events for consultants to gain knowledge, learn skills and talk to each other. The series began in HCM City and Hanoi this week.
The facility is also developing a consultant-training course with a British partner, to begin in the first half of next year. Webster said course participants would learn about consulting project management, strategic analysis, management change and delivering value to clients.
The facility and a German Technical Assistance group recently conducted a survey of 48 private managementconsulting companies, six non-profit state consulting organisations and 28 independent consultants. The survey found that few of Vietnam’s small businesses use consulting services of any type.
Most respondents said domestic businesses lacked awareness and understanding of the benefits of consulting services, and most are very reluctant to pay for services, which might not yield benefits for years. But the survey also found that 69% of consultants felt small businesses had no confidence in their services; with one in five business saying they had no need for them. The survey found most consultant firms had been running for less than five years and were still small operations, typically employing four or five consultants. According to the survey, few of Vietnam’s consultants are professionally trained and most lack consulting skills and general business knowledge.
Most of the consultants said they concentrate on foreign owned companies, foreign joint ventures, and projects with foreign sponsorship or state-owned enterprises.
