Main Character is Businesses

VCCI took the lead in creating a dialogue mechanism for the government leader with the business community, evidenced by resounding activities with the Prime Minister in the past years. The first meetings were very emotional, from grievances of injustice from businesses to their constructive ideas for the formation of more open, conducive business environment, paving the way for friendly, open dialogues between the Government, ministries and State agencies with the business community. During these activities, VCCI proposed important programmes and solutions to the Government, especially the national business development programme where the centre is to enhance the competitiveness of Vietnamese enterprises; support the construction of powerful large-scaled enterprises regardless of ownership forms to build Vietnamese brand names; restructure State-owned enterprises; and build corporate culture.

 

Taking businesses as the centre of its activities, VCCI looks to create a propitious business environment for them. Dr Vu Tien Loc, President of VCCI, said VCCI will further strengthen and improve the quality of major activities like counselling and consulting for the Party and the State in developing and perfecting the economic legal system, environmental improvement, perfecting dialogue and consulting mechanisms for the business community in the process of making and enforcing laws, policies, strategies, industry development plans, regional and local development plans. Besides, VCCI will perform some new activities like establishing sector-specific working groups for lawmaking consultancy and enhancing the effect of cooperation programmes between VCCI and parliamentary committees, especially economic committees, to promote the role of National Assembly members who are businesspeople.

 

Obviously, improving competitiveness is a direct solution for businesses in the current difficult time and is what the business community longs for. Dr Vu Tien Loc said that VCCI will study practical experiences on corporate restructuring of our country and of the world to build and implement business restructuring supporting programmes, and pay particular attention to solutions to build and implement appropriate, modern business strategies. VCCI will also enhance business linking activities to foster the strength of the Vietnamese business community, with particular emphasis given to mobilising and supporting companies to connect and promote the efficiency of industrial zones, cottage industry zones, and agricultural material zones.

Another job Vietnam focuses on is to organise investigations and surveys to propose and implement programmes and projects for the development of key economic sectors and advantages that Vietnamese businesses concentrate on, to exploit to promote their advantages in global value chains. In particular, VCCI will build and recommend that the Party and the State implement national programmes on entrepreneur training, business start-up training and knowledge of business, law and social responsibility for new companies from 2011 to 2020.

 

Forty nine years after its establishment, VCCI has affirmed its position in economic and political life of the country. Defining businesses as the lead characters and primary objectives in its activities, VCCI is under the pressure of innovation, restructuring, and rising professionalism. As business support is always a key task, VCCI implements various activities, provides more advice for the Party and State to enhance the business environment, especially at local levels, supplies information and training for businesses towards the world standards, improves internal administration, develops human resources, innovates technologies, build and develop brand names of businesses.

 

In a globalising world, VCCI’s operations are highly appreciated by the business community as they help businesses enhance their competitiveness by providing global market information, tapping new export markets, transferring technologies, ensuring benefits of enterprises dealing with trade barriers and boosting up business transparency through common activities like providing information and knowledge of international trade law, intellectual property, anti-dumping experience, and international business practices.

 

VCCI’s external activities that centre on developing economy and supporting businesses to integrate into the global economic life have been clearly demonstrated in the past years. In the past four years, VCCI has organised and arranged meetings and working programmes with over 300 foreign delegations with nearly 12,000 businessmen visiting Vietnam. It has hosted nearly 100 delegations consisting of around 4,500 Vietnamese businesses to visit foreign countries to survey markets and seek investment opportunities, organised nearly 600 seminars and business matching events for more than 85,000 companies. VCCI has held business forums with target markets to provide opportunities for Vietnamese enterprises and business partners around the world. A series of business forums and councils were established with the United States, Russia, China, Japan, the European Union and Africa in recent years. It also supports companies with international integration in the framework of WTO, APEC and ASEAN.

 

While reaching out to the world, many Vietnamese companies make light of the home market and leaves it to foreign companies, VCCI’s orientations are to help Vietnamese businesses strengthen domestic trade promotion, especially in rural areas, to get hold of the local market.

 

In the overall difficult context, the biggest difficulty of VCCI is to expand operations in the context of reduced budget. Some business support programmes and projects are carried out slowly due to insufficient resources. The great motivation for VCCI and the business community is the introduction of the Politburo’s Resolutions 09 on building and promoting the roles of Vietnamese entrepreneurs. Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong’s visit and working session with VCCI and representatives of the business community in mid-December 2011 presented a great spiritual motivation, created confidence and strength for the Vietnamese business community to withstand and overcome difficulties to contribute to the cause of national socioeconomic development.

 

Lao Cai province now has more than 1,000 enterprises, of which about 300 are owned by foreign-led companies. Their operation scales expand year after year. Meanwhile, VCCI is carrying out the business development strategy to provinces and cities; thus, it necessarily asserts its roles and voice in border-sharing provinces, including Lao Cai. It should cooperate with provincial business associations and young business associations to interconnect businesses in border provinces.

 

The ASEAN Business Award (ABA) is the first regional award that Vietnam hosts with strict appraising processes and compliance with international regulations and frameworks. So, I think VCCI should expand the dissemination of four criteria in the coming time: Growth, employment, innovation, and social responsibility. Each criterion will be highlighted by a reward. The participation in ABA is an opportunity for Vietnamese businesses to promote branding, strengths and potential on the market, to demonstrate the seriousness and transparency of business operations through audited consolidated financial statements.