Nearly 100 businesses and banks attended a conference held by authorities in southern Binh Duong province on March 22 to seek measures to help enterprises restore production and trade.

A representative from the Binh Duong Association of Leather and Footwear said local businesses find it hard to access loans, which require they have collateral.

Meanwhile, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) often lease workshops for production instead of buying, so also lack collateral, he said.

Some businesses said the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has tried to help them tackle the difficulties, but initiatives to cut interest rates have not yielded a positive impact.

A representative from the SBV branch in Binh Duong said the central bank will guide credit institutions and banks on advising customers about preferential interest rate programs from the government, hold conferences to connect businesses with banks, and speed up the implementation of interest rate support.

There are 79 credit institutions and banks in Binh Duong province.