Heart and Genius of Vietnamese Businesswomen

The Vietnam Women Entrepreneurs Council is affiliated to the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI). It gathers women entrepreneurs, women-led or women-owned businesses and organisations (associations, societies, clubs, etc.) of all economic sectors nationwide.

 

The Vietnam Women Entrepreneurs Council supports and protects legitimate rights and interests of women entrepreneurs and women-led or women-owned businesses and organisations. It supports the promotion of trade, investment and technology transfer, domestically and internationally, for businesswomen, and supports harmonious labour relationship and exercises gender equality in the business world.

 

The council represents women-led businesses and women entrepreneurs in Vietnam, and supports women-led businesses in business operations, capability and competitiveness enhancement. The council has excellently performed its functions through various business supports.

 

Specifically, the Vietnam Women Entrepreneurs Council has advised the VCCI Executive Committee to collect opinions of women-led enterprises and women entrepreneurs concerning policymaking related to women entrepreneurs and women workers; designed and organised business start-up training courses for them to upgrade business knowledge and skills; organised forums, conferences, seminars; and set up women business support network.

 

Besides, assigned by VCCI, the Vietnam Women Entrepreneurs Council also accompanies Party and State female leaders when they pay visits to other nations. The council and VCCI have cooperated with Vietnamese embassies and international partners to organise business forums for Vietnamese enterprises and their partners in South Korea, Turkey, South Africa, China, Germany, Chile, Uruguay, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Greece, Cuba, Canada and other nations. Businesswomen have the opportunity to meet, interact and exchange experiences with partners, explore markets, and approach potential partners.

 

The Vietnam Women Entrepreneurs Council also focuses on popularity and branding activities and honours successful female entrepreneurs. At the guidance of the VCCI leadership, the council presents the annual “Golden Rose Award” for outstanding Vietnamese businesswomen since 2005, coordinates with international organisations to bring competitions to women-led and businesses and businesswomen like “Mekong Women Entrepreneurs" Award in 2012 presented by Consultative Organisation for Emerging Markets, “Vietnamese Women Innovation Day 2013” hosted by the World Bank (WB) in Vietnam and the Vietnam Women Union. The honouring of businesses and entrepreneurs plays an extremely important role in motivating women to show up social assessment and recognition to their efforts and contributions to the development of the country and creating new momentums to achieve more successes in production and business.

 

In recent years, the Vietnam Women Entrepreneurs Council has joined hands with other VCCI units, domestic and international institutions to design and implement activities in support of women-led enterprises and women entrepreneurs in an effective and practical manner, thus helping businesswomen to improve competitiveness and strengthen combat power of women-led enterprises and step up women empowerment in economic development and gender equality in business activities.

 

In recent years, Vietnamese and world economies have faced a broad recession. Vietnamese businesses are unable to stay away from impacts of this global economic downturn. In 2012, although total export turnover reached US$114.6 billion, up 18.3 percent against 2011 and total imports valued at US$114.3 billion, up 7.1 percent, GDP growth was just 5.03 percent- the lowest level since 1999 (according to the Annual Report 2012 issued by VCCI). This showed that the domestic economy is still confronting numerous difficulties in the future. Domestic businesses are still faced with many problems in capital, investment management, and product output in this context.

 

The typical nature of Vietnamese women like diligence, prudence and resilience has helped many women-owned and women-run businesses to survive and sustain growth. The clearest evidence is the Forbes 50 Asian businesswomen in 2012. Vietnam has two businesswomen on the list, namely Mai Thi Kieu Lien, Chairwoman and General Director of Vinamilk, and Pham Thi Viet Nga, Chairwoman of Hau Giang Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company. Nguyen Thi Hanh, General Director of Saigon Co-op, led her company to beat growth target in 2012. With the revenue growth of over 20 percent, Saigon Co-op secured a higher standing in the list of Top 500 Asia - Pacific retailers. Ba Huan Company Limited famously succeeds in fowl egg processing technology and exports eggs to some East Asian markets like Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong (China) and Singapore. The company’s eggs account for more than 40 percent of Vietnam’s egg market share. Nguyen Thi Dien, General Director of An Phuoc Garment and Shoe Embroidery Company is another successful example. Starting with just 50 workers in the 1990s, An Phuoc now has more than 100 retail shops and over 3,500 employees and becomes a prestigious brand name on the market. And, there are many other women entrepreneurs who have managed to withstand crisis to achieve successes, setting bight examples on the economic front.

 

Under the leadership of Vice State President and the assignment of VCCI, the Vietnam Women Entrepreneurs Council will accompany the Vice State President to the 2013 Global Summit of Women in Malaysia and will pay a market survey trip to Indonesia from June 2 to 9, 2013. This is an opportunity for enterprises and businesswomen to exchange with and learn from international experiences and study the two most dynamic markets in Southeast Asia.