During its 60 years of growth, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) has made great contributions to the country’s economic development and is recognized by the Party and the State as an important bridge connecting the government and the business community.
VCCI President Pham Tan Cong delivers a speech at the 60th VCCI anniversary |
Looking back on the development journey
Addressing the 60th anniversary celebration, Mr. Pham Tan Cong, Secretary of the Party Union, President of VCCI, said that, during the past 60 years, in every development period of the nation, VCCI has excellently accomplished its tasks assigned by the Party, the State and the business community and made important contributions to the development of the national economy, the growth of the business community and the expansion of the entrepreneur force of Vietnam.
Specifically, VCCI has actively proposed and participated in making a draft of Resolution 09/NQ-TW on “Building and promoting the role of Vietnamese entrepreneurs in the period of industrialization, modernization and international integration” to the Politburo for promulgation - the first Party and State official document on entrepreneurs.
In addition, VCCI has launched the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) and released it annually since 2005, thus helping improve the quality of economic governance and administrative reform in provinces and cities; initiated the startup promotion movement in response to the National Startup Program in 2002.
At the same time, VCCI has also taken the lead in directing and promoting sustainable business development, evidenced by the establishment of the Vietnam Business Council for Sustainable Development (VBCSD) in 2010 and the annual program on benchmarking and ranking sustainable businesses.
In addition, in 2022, VCCI announced the “Vietnamese Code of Ethics for Entrepreneurs” and announced the application of these ethical codes in the Vietnamese business community and enterprises to lay the groundwork for fostering the construction of business ethics and culture in Vietnam.
VCCI is also an effective bridge connecting the business community and the government. On a monthly and quarterly basis, VCCI reports difficulties and problems of enterprises to the Government and the Prime Minister and puts forth proposals and recommendations for them.
President Vo Van Thuong and Chairman of the Party Central Committee’s Economic Commission Tran Tuan Anh present flowers to the founders of the Council of Vietnam Leading Companies
Every year, VCCI with its nationwide network launches thousands of trade and investment promotion events, business consulting and training events, and international exchanges to support enterprises to enhance their capacity and expand their business operations.
VCCI also supports and connects business associations in the country. From 93 original members, VCCI now has a nationwide membership network of more than 200,000 businesses and more than 200 business associations.
In recognition of its 60-year achievements, VCCI is honored by the Party and the State with the Ho Chi Minh Order, the First-class Independence Order and many other noble orders and awards.
Going forwards
Remarking on the upcoming journey, VCCI President Pham Tan Cong said that the mission of entrepreneurs and businesses is very heavy, associated with the nation’s development goals and aspirations: Vietnam will become a high-income developed nation by 2045. Hence, the 7th VCCI Congress adopted the vision: Strong business development - Thriving nation. The prosperity of a nation is always associated with the robust development of the business community.
The overview of the 60th VCCI anniversary
To do this, VCCI needs to further promote policy advocacy, and take part in perfecting the institutional environment to nurture and develop the entrepreneur force and the business community, he added. In addition to scaling the quantity, it is necessary to cultivate the formation of giant and visionary firms that lead the development of small and medium-sized enterprises and contribute to building an independent, self-reliant and successfully integrated economy.
Another central aim that VCCI and the business community will make every effort to achieve in the coming time is building business ethics and business culture to self-position the identity and status of Vietnamese enterprises in the international community.
Appreciating VCCI's 60-year achievements and expressing her desire to support VCCI in the journey ahead, Madam Virginia B. Foote, Vice Chair of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham), wished that VCCI will continue to accompany Vietnamese enterprises as well as foreign companies operating in Vietnam to promote a prosperous, developed economy and successfully advance the global integration.
VCCI launched the Council of Vietnam Leading Companies with 21 first members. The council has three co-chairs, namely VCCI President Pham Tan Cong, President of the Board of Directors of Truong Hai Auto Corporation (THACO) Tran Ba Duong, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of FPT Corporation Truong Gia Binh.
The council was established from the Leading Companies Working Group launched by the Executive Committee of VCCI on May 26, 2022, chaired by Mr. Tran Ba Duong. It is responsible for gathering, linking and fostering the development of large and leading companies in Vietnam, expanding domestic and international cooperation relations, promoting the role of leading firms in sectoral and local development, leading small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and industry peers to grow, thereby joining the development of the business community and contributing to building an independent, self-reliant, internationally integrated and sustainable Vietnamese economy.
Appreciating this initiative, Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong said that this is consistent with the Party policy on encouraging the formation and development of strong and competitive private business groups as stated in the Document of the 13th Party Congress and Resolution 10-NQ/TW dated June 3, 2017 of the Party Central Committee. Industry leading companies, regardless of economic sectors, are all places where financial resources, technology, people, knowledge and specialized experience are converged, which need to be promoted and developed. |
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Ms. VIRGINIA B. FOOTE
Vice Chair of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham)
Vietnam-United States bilateral trade has brought in outstanding achievements in trade ties over the past time, with the two-way trade value totaling more than US$123 billion in 2022, up 11% over 2021. The US is currently Vietnam's largest export partner. US consumers are Vietnam's biggest export buyers and they are driving investment flows into Vietnam for “made in Vietnam” products that we all see today.
That achievement was obtained thanks to the initiatives and strategic visions of the governments of the two countries and the active coordination and effective enactment of Vietnamese and US business communities to support the two-way trade relations. Moreover, VCCI and AmCham have many joint activities to support and build an enabling business environment in Vietnam. Many years ago, when we negotiated and put the Vietnam-US Bilateral Trade Agreement into practice, we organized many seminars, events and study tours to the US and sent experts to visit Vietnam.
At the same time, the US-Vietnam Trade Council sent an international trade attorney here to help with legal matters and speak to the Vietnamese business community through VCCI whose leaders visited the US and attended trade negotiations.
Most recently, AmCham had the opportunity to join VCCI to organize a workshop on "Fostering technology transfer in the pharmaceutical industry in Vietnam". This is the first workshop on this topic and also a premise to boost technology transfer in the pharmaceutical industry and open a door for US companies to enter the Vietnamese market.
VCCI’s breakthrough role in promoting Vietnam-US trade relations is undeniable. Therefore, AmCham and its member businesses are very optimistic about the future of Vietnam. We strongly believe in public-private partnership (PPP), a form of how we can collectively tackle many of the upcoming challenges we face today. AmCham continues to work with VCCI at VBF on the shared goals of achieving business-friendly administrative and management procedures and obtaining global standards. Hopefully, VCCI will continue to accompany Vietnamese businesses as well as foreign businesses operating in Vietnam to promote a prosperous, developed economy that is successful in global integration.
Mr. CAO TUONG HUY
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Chairman of Quang Ninh Provincial People's Committee
After 60 years, VCCI has always won the trust of the business community and international organizations and importantly helped build a strong business community and entrepreneur force in Vietnam. At the same time, VCCI actively bridges and supports local governments and businesspeople.
VCCI has always worked hard for a better business investment environment and stronger competitiveness, listened, understood and translated the opinions of the business community into policymaking. In addition, VCCI has helped create an enabling and transparent business investment environment and enhance local competitiveness nationwide.
The Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI), initiated and released by VCCI for 18 years, has been used by the business community, investors, international organizations and local governments as a reliable channel to measure business feedback on economic governance quality and business environment. Quang Ninh province is extremely honored to receive the active support from VCCI to ameliorate its business investment environment and move to raise service quality to people and businesses.
Up to now, Quang Ninh province is the only one in the country to top PCI rankings for six consecutive years from 2017 to 2022 and stand in the Top 5 rankings for 10 straight years from 2013 to 2022 thanks to its excellent economic governance.
In 2022, Quang Ninh province inaugurated Van Don - Mong Cai Expressway, the last section of the Hanoi - Hai Phong - Ha Long - Mong Cai Highway. In particular, VCCI initiated the cooperation along the Vietnam Eastern Highway Economic Corridor and actively cooperated with Hai Phong, Hai Duong, Hung Yen and Quang Ninh to deploy it, hence effectively tapping the potential of Vietnamese provinces and cities along this eastern highway, fostering local cooperation, linking the business community and boosting Red River Delta development.
Together with administrative reform and PCI, Quang Ninh province is always determined to strongly reform the business investment environment, enhance its competitiveness and build a capable, competitive business community to create and affirm corporate brands with local products in global value chains and towards sustainable development.
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Mr. TO DUONG THAI
Chairman of Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT)
The world has stepped into the digital age. Administrative, economic and social activities are brought onto digital platforms. National digital transformation is a challenging journey that needs a joint effort of the government, businesses and individuals in the whole society.
To be successful in national digital transformation, in addition to guiding policies of the Party, the State and the Government, it is necessary to engage the business community, particularly digital companies, and VCCI as a partner. VNPT hopes to cooperate with all businesses to promote digital platforms, quickly develop and provide information technology products to agencies, organizations, businesses and people to achieve the common goal of digital government, digital economy and digital society, and make Vietnam a developed country by 2045.
VNPT would like to thank VCCI for its 60-year journey for the business community including VNPT. We hope that VCCI will continue to make great contributions to the development of the economy, the business community and the entrepreneur force of Vietnam to deserve its role as a national representative of the business community, entrepreneurs, employers and business associations in Vietnam.
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Mr. VO QUOC THANG
Chairman of Long An Business Association, Chairman of Dong Tam Group
Over the years, VCCI has become an effective bridge and a solid foundation for businesses and authorities, and facilitated meetings and dialogues between them. Through its member associations, VCCI promptly grasps the difficulties and problems of enterprises in each field, thereby researching and finding solutions, and proposing competent authorities to consider, support, and facilitate them to overcome difficulties and operate stably. VCCI-led and ordinated effective activities of affiliated organizations and associations have produced many positive changes.
In the coming time, the world economy is forecast to be volatile and the business community wishes that leaders of the Party, the Government, the State, central and local authorities will continue to support VCCI and the business community and provide enabling conditions for stable business and development. The business community expressed their firm confidence in the Party and State guidelines and policies, the close attention of ministries, sectors and localities so that the business community confidently and firmly contributed their own efforts for the development of the economy and the country.
The business community expects VCCI to improve the quality and quantity of operations, promote its role as a representative of the Vietnamese business community and business associations; and foster its leading, supporting and guiding role in activities for enterprises, thus helping build and complete the legal framework, improve the business investment environment, boost trade, protect legitimate rights and interests of enterprises, and achieve sustainable business development.
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By Giang Tu, Vietnam Business Forum
Vietnamese
October 2024
Hanoi
