A newly released report by Hewlett Packard (HP) indicates that Vietnam's small and medium businesses (SMEs) are highly optimistic about opportunities to rebound from the COVID-19 crisis when compared to their Asia-Pacific counterparts.

The report, sponsored by HP and titled 'Survival to Revival,' focused on the state of Asian SMEs in 2020.

The Vietnamese version of the report was released on Monday.

The data was compiled through surveys of 1,600 Asia-Pacific SMEs taken between May 26 and June 7 of this year.

It also included data from 200 interviews conducted in India, Australia, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The sample was limited to owners, partners, managing directors, CEOs, COOs, CFOs, or directors of businesses with less than 200 employees.

According to the report, 72 percent of Vietnamese SMEs believe they will survive the COVID-19 crisis, while 65 percent expect to thrive once the crisis ends.

This figure is considerably higher than counterparts in the Asia-Pacific region, which averaged 60 percent and 53 percent, respectively.

Amid the pandemic, 41 percent of the Vietnamese firms still anticipate growth, a notable standout from the Asia-Pacific average of 16 percent.

To prepare for a post-pandemic scenario, Vietnamese SMEs are gradually transforming their business models, as well as adopting requisite tactics and tools to bounce back with more strength and adaptability.

Out of the sample size, 47 percent of the Vietnamese SMEs deem online tools as crucial to accelerating their recovery.

The surveyed firms in Vietnam named access to grants and loans, innovation of products and services, and seeking advice on bringing products and services to the market as the three most important aspects of their rebound.

These firms also mentioned struggles in recruitment, finding suitable marketing strategies, and innovation know-how as their top three barriers to a quick recovery.

“SMEs are the arteries of Vietnam’s economy, but the pandemic posed detrimental impacts on these firms," said Nguyen Minh Duc, managing director at HP Vietnam.

"Nevertheless, Vietnam achieved success in its resistance to COVID-19, which consolidated faith in a post-pandemic recovery.

“The research provided us with valuable insights on the optimism of SMEs in Vietnam, as well as a feasible approach that we can adopt to provide suitable solutions and innovation advices for Vietnamese firms to navigate in a post-COVID-19 world.”

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