With many “playing grounds” now, the Vietnamese business community and entrepreneur force have a lot of opportunities to take part in political, social and professional organisations to expand exchange and cooperation to increase benefits for businesses and social community. VCCI as the representative of the Vietnamese business community is one of the "playing grounds", and has always strived to promote the role of connecting businesses with businesses and businesses with authorities. Vietnam Business Forum has an interview with Mr Truong Van Hien, Member of VCCI Executive Committee, and President and General Director of Nghe An Agricultural Materials Joint Stock Company, on this issue. Ngo Khuyen reports.
As a Member of the VCCI Executive Committee (fifth term) and a member of many political, social and professional organisations, how do you assess the role and operational organisation of VCCI in the past years?
Recently, some members of the VCCI Executive Committee said VCCI’s operations remained formalistic, not very useful for enterprises and of little help for member companies. Compared with chambers of commerce in other countries like Japan and South Korea, VCCI’s activities are less professional and smaller in scale. The quality of trade promotion and market expansion activities is also lower. Therefore, the voice of VCCI is not strong enough. I heard such remarks in many events but I did not write them down or remember them all. After each time I heard or read such comments, I usually wondered “Given the Vietnamese economy's low starting point with imperfect economic institutions, are we too rigorous in our assessment? Should businesses expect too much on breakthroughs in thinking and operations of VCCI while they are still small in scale and weak in management?”
Looking back on the history of VCCI, set up in 1963, VCCI’s activities had greatly promoted the economy and business community. VCCI did not have a big operating scale and did not have a big workforce but it had to earn money as a real company to feed its operations and support enterprises. Although VCCI also received the backing and support of the political system and the active participation of enterprises, it is still very small in the role of an agency representing enterprises, business associations and employers, and a leading trade promotion agency. Therefore, comparing VCCI with chambers of commerce in more developed countries like Japan and South Korea is perhaps excessive and unfair. It is like our low-level football team cannot be compared to world-top squads.
Personally, I am a member of many political and social organisations like the Vietnam Fatherland Front and Nghe An Business Association (Vice Chairman). I must admit that VCCI’s operations are serious and professional. I am just a leader of a company out of hundreds of thousands of companies in the country and a Member of the VCCI Executive Committee as other members, let alone I am from the far-lying central region, but I clearly understand the situations of enterprises, difficulties and challenges against enterprises, and policies related on enterprises. Such information is updated from various sources, including periodical reports and bulletins VCCI sends to its executive members. Every year, we receive invitations to training courses, seminars and conferences on new policies on business administration and trade promotion. I personally appreciate those activities as they are good for enterprises and entrepreneurs.
Did you mean that you totally agree with and support the directions and methods of VCCI? Do you have any suggestions for VCCI to work better?
From the perspective of an individual and an enterprise, we fully support solid and sustainable directions and systematic and scientific methods. This may be due to our company’s specific business operations. We are an agricultural company and our customers are farmers.
I think VCCI should focus on in-depth development. Vietnam now has more than 500,000 businesses but VCCI has only over 10,000 official members, or accounting 2-3 percent of total enterprises, and over 100,000 media members. We are always proud that VCCI is the national body representative of the business community, but only 2-3 percent of the business community are the official members and 20 percent are media members. Amongst 10,000 official members, does VCCI know how many are performing well, how many are struggling to survive and how many are decommissioned? What are their difficulties? Does VCCI have any solutions to their difficulties? If it can provide support, what are the differences for member companies and non-member companies? VCCI now lacks discrimination between members and non-members. As members pay annual fees, they must have more specific support.
Thus, membership development must be changed. VCCI must have short-term, medium-term and long-term plans and measures for membership development. It needs to host more meetings with members to learn more about their operating situations to have better support if necessary.
While performing broad surveys to collect data for research and evaluation, VCCI should pick up some outstanding companies in some industries and localities to learn about their operations and see common difficulties in those enterprises. For example, real estate companies are struggling to survive in recent years. VCCI should pick up some to make deep surveys to know how difficult they are and have more appropriate recommendations to competent authorities to help them overcome current problems and operate effectively. Other companies in this industry will know what and how to do to do away with their hardships.
Nguyen Van De
Member of VCCI Executive Committee, Fifth Term
Chairman of Thanh Hoa Business Association
As the protracted economic downturn is wrecking businesses, especially SMEs, VCCI has performed its role as an agency representing the business community to propose to the Government and the Prime Minister solutions and policies to difficulties and restrictions against enterprises.
In the coming time, VCCI should reform its operating contents and forms to better support businesses. It needs to timely capture information, through its system and local business associations, to review and put forth proposals and recommendations to the Government to support enterprises to deal with their difficulties and problems. Members of the sixth term of the Executive Committee must be more active in operation to better support the business community.
Nguyen Van Thoi
Member of VCCI Executive Committee, Fifth Term
Chairman of Thai Nguyen Business Association
After more than half a century of development, VCCI, founded in 1963, has performed its important role in supporting the Vietnamese business community to develop more sustainably and gradually penetrate the world economy.
To create the political and regulatory corridor for the new era, VCCI proposed its initiatives and directly drafted a scheme to submit to the Politburo to issue Resolution 09/NQ-TW (in 2011) on building and promoting the role of Vietnamese entrepreneurs in the period of accelerated industrialisation, modernisation and international economic integration. Not only correctly reflecting entrepreneurs’ aspirations and economic requirements, Resolution 09/NQ-TW clearly defines the role, position and orientation of entrepreneurs. Together with workers, farmers, and intellectuals, entrepreneurs play an important role in the great national solidarity.
VCCI also actively builds, improves and drafts laws and policies on business. VCCI always makes present in hot issues of economic development that relates to enterprises and business like amending and supplementing the Law on Enterprises 2005 or increasing base salary in 2015.
In a bid to improve the investment and business environment of Vietnam, VCCI releases the annual provincial competitiveness index (PCI), which evaluates and rates the provincial/municipal government in economic governance and business facilitation. To date, more than 40 provinces and cities have used PCI results to issue resolutions, directives, decisions and action programmes to better the business environment. VCCI also sends recommendations to provincial/municipal authorities on complaints from businesses. At the meeting between the Prime Minister and entrepreneur in April 2014, VCCI gathered 350 opinions representing 500,000 businesses and make recommendations on business environment improvement to the Government, ministries, branches and localities.
In sustainable development and international economic integration, VCCI has performed its major role in training, promoting trade and investment, participating in resolving commercial disputes, building business culture and corporate social responsibility for enterprises.
In the coming years, VCCI needs to advise the Party and the State on building policies, laws and business environment, especially enterprise-related issues; and mobilise and encourage enterprises and entrepreneurs to observe State and Party policies on socioeconomic development, apply science and technology, improve human resource quality, and ensure sustainable development. VCCI also regularly works with governmental agencies to step up administrative reform, improve business environment, enhance competitiveness, and promote trade, investment and international integration.
To accomplish its tasks, VCCI must pay special attention to reforming and standardising its professional operations, studying and expanding services for businesses. In the short term, it needs to enhance the efficiency of operations and the quality of remarks contributed by the business community in the next term of the VCCI Executive Committee (2013-2018). It also needs to amend the Charter and other regulations to suit the new situations and raise the accountability of Standing Board, the Executive Committee and members.
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