Vietnam Business Forum 2014: 10-year Milestone

 

Participants put forward many recommendations on how to better support enterprises and what should be done to improve the business environment. Vietnam Business Forum would like to excerpt some opinions on the matter.

Ten years ago, after Vietnam Entrepreneurs’ Day (October 13) was adopted, so many young students asked me that what tradition they inherited from Vietnamese entrepreneurs. That was patriotism, I replied.

Many entrepreneurs used to wish for institutional changes in order to develop more but I think that the biggest barrier is now the people, not machines. Why do we still spend so much time on administrative procedures, or do we keep upholding bureaucracy? It is important that we must find bottlenecks and fix them.

 

I set up my first company in 1996 when Vietnam did not have the Law on Enterprises. Hence, I had to spend a lot of time and effort obtaining licences. Everything has changed now. Procedures are done more quickly and more clearly.

 

However, Vietnamese enterprises are undergoing a difficult period. But, this tough time proves their strong will and their contributions to economic development process. In this hard time, my biggest desire is that the institution will create breakthroughs for our business generation.

 

One or two decades ago, Vietnamese enterprises developed spontaneously and relied on relationships. Things have changed now. Vietnamese enterprises are developing more strongly and more foreign corporations are making investment in Vietnam.

 

Compared with foreigners, Vietnamese businesses do not operate efficiently. Therefore, we must make breakthroughs in perceptions and thoughts to express the voice of the business community to the Party and the State. Besides, the biggest barrier is the absence of entrepreneurs in policymaking agencies who now do not fully understand actual issues in doing business. For that reason, State agencies need to install entrepreneurs into policymaking processes.

 

What Vietnam needs to do now is to simplify administrative procedures. In addition, the Government needs to issue policies to create a level playing field for private enterprises, thus enabling them to access land and credit for further development in a more equitable manner.

 

Vietnam is the highest potential emerging economy in the next 10 years, on the condition that the Government reduce its interventions in the private sector, speed up corporate equitisation policies and facilitate private development. In addition, Vietnam has a lot of export advantages and tourism potential. With its effective exploitation and management, Vietnam remains a very attractive destination for investors.

 

The Vietnamese business community is aware of its mission of "Contributing to building a self-reliant economy, improving national competitiveness and bringing Vietnam to the group of high-income countries in the world." Therefore, the business community is looking towards objectives needed to be achieved in the next 10 years: Having a million good-performing enterprises and having some enterprises, entrepreneurs and products of Southeast Asia levels.

 

Accordingly, VCCI and business associations will join forces to implement some important actions: Standing by the Government to make institutional breakthroughs, building a favourable, transparent business environment and restructuring the economy. Businesses will actively contribute opinions, supervise and promote the process of policymaking and administrative reform; actively propose best ideas and practices to the Government; actively support governments of all tiers to tap local competitive advantages.

 

In addition to building and implementing development programmes and improving competitiveness, VCCI, business associations and enterprises will join hands to carry out training programmes on business administration improvement, build effective competition strategies, develop small and medium businesses, and build up branding.

 

Besides, they will strengthen the connectivity and construction of powerful business association systems, improve the capacity of business associations, promote representative roles for members, develop internal business links, actively and effectively participate in policymaking, lawmaking consultations and international trade negotiations.

 

At the same time, they will foster entrepreneurship and build the business culture of Vietnamese entrepreneurs by organising and encouraging business start-ups, and upholding entrepreneurship among young people; develop international business standards for enterprises, build harmonious labour relations, protect the environment, and exercise corporate social responsibility.