Eight Vietnam Companies Qualify for US Fortune 500

 

Also according to data from Vietnam Report, State-owned enterprises (SOEs) dominated the VNR500 List in 2014, showing that the equitisation was not as good as expected last year. By industry, mineral and petroleum remained the richest in the VNR500. This will be a challenge for economic operators because the economy is obviously still dependent on the extractive industry. To sustain growth, Vietnam must egg on the development of potential industries like processing, manufacturing and information technology. Notably, 41 VNR500 companies secured a place in the ‘Billion-dollar Club” (including businesses with over US$1 billion in total revenue), accounting for over 8 percent of the VNR500. Four were private businesses. By quantity, private businesses, particularly SMEs - the majority in the Vietnamese economy, were on the rise but their performances failed to meet expectations and potential. A recent survey by Vietnam Report showed that the capital demand of private businesses is extremely high. Capital shortage inhibited them from bringing their full potential and capacity into full play and took away their confidence of the most creative and dynamic actors of the economy. This is a new challenge for private sector growth in 2015.

 

When the VNR500 was launched in early 2015, Vietnam Report also published a list of 50 most outstanding enterprises in 2014, also known as Top 50 Vietnam The Best 2014. Companies in this list had to affirm their position through such criteria as scale, profitability, tax payment and best growth in 2010-2013. At the same time, Vietnam Report also formally introduced the bilingual White Paper Annual Report: Vietnam's economy in 2014 and Investment opportunities in 2015. This document was compiled by Vietnam Report and its consultant, Corr Analytics Consulting Company based in the United States.

 

The White Paper introduced and analysed remarkable corporate equitisation and foreign investment attraction cases, with individual value from US$7 million to US$4.3 billion in 2014. In addition, the White Paper forecast Vietnam’s inflation growth at 4.5 percent in 2015 and exports reaching US$150 billion. Public debt was projected to fall as a result of accelerated equitisation and bad debts were expected to decline to 3 percent in 2015.

 

To increase investment opportunities in 2015, the White Paper suggested the Government uphold its efforts to promote macroeconomic indicators by keeping low inflation as in 2014 and, to do this, the Government assign clear tasks to the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) in a bid to price stability.

 

The White Paper forecast that enhanced transparency, especially at the local level, will help improve the business environment in Vietnam. Unnecessary regulations for foreign investors should be eliminated, including ownership restrictions.