Steadfast through the waves
“Although the company was officially established in 2004, taking into account the establishment and operations of our major shareholders, subsidiaries and predecessor companies, Masan Group has been operating since 1996,” is the introduction on Masan ’s website about the history of the company.
1996 - 6 years after the National Assembly passed the Law on Companies and the Law on Private Enterprises 1990. That event marked the first time the Vietnamese private economic sector was recognized by law and was the cradle for businesses like Masan to be born.
Over the past 27 years, from a small company, Masan has become a leading company in the fields of fast-moving consumer goods, branded meat, retail, F&B chains, financial services... with revenue of tens of thousands of billions of VND and profits of thousands of billions each year. As introduced by Mr. Nguyen Thieu Nam, Deputy General Director of Masan Group Corporation, almost every Vietnamese kitchen now has products of this brand.
Many Vietnamese enterprises have established themselves in the domestic market and expanded to the world. “Made in Vietnam” products are present in most major markets and the dream of “the world’s factory” is gradually taking shape.
Mr. Dinh Hong Ky, Vice President of Ho Chi Minh City Business Association, Chairman of Secoin Company, proudly boasted: The company was established 35 years ago, is a manufacturer of unburnt bricks and tiles with a system of 9 factories in all 3 regions of the country. Secoin products are supplied to key projects nationwide and exported to 60 countries. Secoin has been recognized by the Government as a national brand of Vietnam for the past 8 years.
Over the past few years, businesses have endured many internal and external shocks. The Covid-19 pandemic has slowed the global economy, and the consequences are still lingering.
“In the past 3 years, our production and business situation has faced many disadvantages due to the general economic difficulties of the world. Export output has decreased, the consumption of construction materials in domestic projects due to frozen real estate and tight credit has led to the construction and construction materials industry being seriously affected,” said Mr. Dinh Hong Ky.
In that context, the National Assembly and the Government have issued many support policies worth hundreds of thousands of billions of VND each year through measures such as tax and fee exemptions, reductions, and deferrals... Each enterprise must also restructure its production and business activities on the basis of optimizing costs, steering the ship through the storm.
With a spirit of perseverance to overcome difficulties, each enterprise contributes to gradually regaining speed for the Vietnamese economy after unprecedented shocks.
Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung shared that our country's economy continues to be a bright spot in the general picture of the world economy.
After two gloomy first quarters of the year, "light at the end of the tunnel" has appeared since the third quarter.
In the third quarter of 2023 alone, nearly 60,000 enterprises entered and re-entered the market nationwide, an increase of 18% over the same period in 2022. In the first 9 months of the year, Vietnam had 165,000 enterprises, 1.2 times higher than the average for the 2018-2022 period.
New boost from Politburo Resolution
The business community has just received Resolution 41-NQ/TW of the Politburo on building and promoting the role of Vietnamese entrepreneurs in the new era.
As a businessman with more than 40 years of experience in the fierce business world, Mr. Tran Ba Duong, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Truong Hai Group Corporation (Thaco), expressed his "great satisfaction" with the contents of Resolution 41.
“The business community is very excited that the new Resolution continues to affirm the role and position of the business community and further promotes it as one of the core forces contributing to promoting the country's industrialization and modernization,” Mr. Tran Ba Duong shared.
“At the same time, the business community not only plays a role in building and developing an independent and self-reliant economy, but is also assigned to contribute to ensuring national defense and security. In addition, it also plays a role in economic diplomacy and international integration.”
Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, Chairwoman of Sovico Group, shared that Resolution 41 has “encouraged business people”.
“From this good news, we promise to be more determined to contribute to a strong Vietnam,” Ms. Thao shared.
The road ahead always needs policies for businesses.
Despite the large number of enterprises, Vietnamese enterprises are still mainly small and medium-sized. The target of 1 million enterprises by 2020 was not achieved when in reality there were only more than 800,000. The small number of large enterprises has not clearly demonstrated the leading role of the domestic private sector, many fields are still dominated by FDI enterprises. The phrase "working for hire at home" accurately summarizes what is happening in the market.
A few leaders of large enterprises do not respect the law. The collapse of these enterprises has left many concerns for those who are always concerned about the development of Vietnamese enterprises.
That is why Resolution 41 expects entrepreneurs in the new era to take ethics and business culture as the core, uphold the spirit of respect for the law, have patriotism, national self-reliance and the desire to contribute.
Resolution No. 58/NQ-CP dated April 21, 2023 of the Government has set a target of 1.5 million enterprises by 2025. According to Ms. Nguyen Minh Thao, Head of the Business Environment and Competitiveness Department (Central Institute for Economic Management - CIEM), this target is full of challenges.
“Although the target of 1.5 million enterprises demonstrates the Government's desire and determination to improve the business environment as well as the entrepreneurial spirit, it is not easy to achieve without efforts to reform, support and accompany businesses,” Ms. Thao shared.
CIEM experts hope that Vietnam will have more large enterprises that play a leading role. Because, up to now, Vietnam is a country whose growth relies heavily on exports, but 70% of export turnover comes from FDI enterprises. Therefore, it is necessary to nurture large enterprises to create spillover effects and lead the domestic enterprise sector.
“They must be manufacturing and service businesses instead of focusing only on real estate. Because they will create an ecosystem, linking domestic businesses that can participate in the value chain better, participate in the market better,” Ms. Thao emphasized.
That is also what business leaders like Mr. Truong Gia Binh, Chairman of FPT Group, hope for. Mr. Binh hopes that the Government “if it loves businesses, it will love them more, if it cares, it will care more, if it removes difficulties, it will remove difficulties even more, if it reduces taxes and fees, it will reduce them deeper and longer”.
"With that sentiment, Vietnamese enterprises will be like Vietnamese birds spreading their wings and flying in the sky, bringing Vietnam to the position of a strong and happy nation," said the Chairman of FPT Group.
To have such "flocks of Vietnamese birds", Lawyer Nguyen Duc Manh, Bizlink Law Firm, LLC, said: The State must create space and environment for "young eagles" to develop into true "eagles". In addition, management agencies and social organizations should support through training on professional working methods, scientific and in-depth management mechanisms, respect and protection of reputation, compliance with the law...
“Another issue that Vietnamese businesses can also take a shortcut in is the issue of innovation, using and applying technology, and digital transformation to be able to compete with international 'eagles',” Mr. Manh shared.
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