Accordingly, under the guidance of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), on June 26, the Business Forum 2024 was organized by the Business Forum Magazine in collaboration with relevant agencies: "Diversifying supply chains, developing markets, enhancing adaptability for enterprises."

At the forum, Vice Chairman Hoang Quang Phong stated that Vietnam's economy and business community are at a special intersection of many development trends. Among these, the prominent trend is the transformation of supply chains and global value chains. Many large corporations and enterprises have taken specific actions to restructure their supply chains, innovate their production and business activities to fit the new situation through the application of outstanding achievements in digital technology.

These changes contribute to sustainable development of supply chains, enhancing adaptability to major economic fluctuations globally and regionally.

Vice Chairman of VCCI - Hoang Quang Phong at the Forum

According to Vice Chairman of VCCI Hoang Quang Phong, amidst the strong ongoing transition, Vietnam has been chosen by many countries, global corporations, and large enterprises as a strategic investment destination with significant potential. This historic moment presents a great opportunity for Vietnam's economy and businesses to receive investment capital and technology, becoming a pivotal link in global supply chains experiencing shortages. At this juncture, Vietnam's economy and businesses have reached maturity in terms of position, scale, and capability to seize rare opportunities, propelling economic growth.

"In the positive economic results of our country in the first six months of 2024, we observe a strong recovery in export activities with an estimated turnover of nearly USD 189 billion, up 13.8% compared to the same period in 2023. It is noteworthy that in some key sectors, export turnover has surged not only due to market demand but also due to a certain shift of orders from other countries to Vietnam.

However, according to VCCI's report, among approximately 800,000 domestic private enterprises currently operating, large enterprises account for less than 2%, with the remainder being small and micro enterprises. The main issues facing small and medium-sized enterprises include management skills shortages, limited technology innovation, and significant financial access constraints. Meanwhile, business connections between domestic and foreign investors remain quite weak. The technology and labor productivity spillover effects from FDI enterprises to domestic enterprises are still very limited. There have been successful integrations in sectors such as automotive, motorcycles, and electronics domestically, but the numbers are still modest," shared Vice Chairman Hoang Quang Phong.

The forum attracted the attention of many delegates from agencies, units, and the business community.

They also emphasized that diversifying production chains, supply chains, and value chains not only requires objectivity but is also an important direction of the Party and the Government. Document XIII of the Party Congress emphasized continuing to promote the role of state-owned enterprises in forming and expanding production chains, supply chains, and value chains.

In Resolution No. 41-NQ/TW on building and promoting the role of Vietnamese entrepreneurs, the Politburo set a goal for 2030 for some enterprises to play important roles in global supply chains and value chains; to control certain industrial and agricultural value chains; to have international competitiveness in foundational industries, prioritized sectors, and spearhead industries.

According to Vice Chairman Hoang Quang Phong, the government has recently implemented many policy mechanisms to promote the development of Vietnam's strengths in supply chains; to accelerate the application of technology and promote innovative activities... Particularly, efforts by Vietnam to sign 19 free trade agreements with leading global partners, including 16 agreements already in effect, have created significant opportunities for supply chain development.

Based on this foundation, Vietnamese manufacturing and export enterprises have been restructuring their export goods positively, reducing the proportion of raw exports and increasing the export of processed products and industrial goods, penetrating markets that demand high quality and sustainable development standards. Vietnam is gradually developing to autonomously manage certain foundational industries to reduce dependence on foreign raw materials.

Experience from South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore shows that many domestic enterprises supplying products to multinational corporations are an important factor in enabling these countries and territories to rise in the value chain.

"With ambitions to rise in the value chain, Vietnam has a unique opportunity to exploit its position in global value chains. The government's goal is to develop networks of first-tier suppliers (directly) and second/third-tier suppliers (indirectly supplying manufacturers) domestically, connecting them to final assembly stages with the expectation that these enterprises will shift towards producing more complex products and diversifying their export product portfolios.

Therefore, in the future, support policies must originate from the needs of enterprises. Enterprises must be the ones to identify their needs first, after which the government designs support programs for strong large enterprises, enhancing their competitiveness and improving the capacity of domestic enterprises in key sectors with large potential for linkage," expressed Vice Chairman Hoang Quang Phong.

At the same time, it is expected that through open discussions at the forum, solutions and recommendations will be proposed to competent authorities to address related bottlenecks, creating favorable conditions for enterprises to actively participate in supply chain development, market development, and enhancing competitive capacity.