Forum: Compliance and integrity- the foundation for a succesful start-up, held by VCCI’s Business Forum Magazine and UNDP.

Despite challenges by the pandemic, Mr. Darko Pavlovic has been impressed with the dynamism and growth in Vietnam. He knows many of you joining today are start-ups and young entrepreneurs. It’s hugely encouraging to see how much you care about business integrity, which he believes will prove to be a key issue in driving the future growth of Vietnam’s economy. 

Mr. Darko Pavlovic said the UK Government has been a long-term partner with Vietnam, UNDP and VCCI, working together to improve the business environment in Vietnam and other 5 ASEAN countries through our Economic Reform Programme. The forum today is an expansion of the work that UNDP and VCCI have done over the last couple of years. “We are delighted to sponsor it to promote the business compliance and integrity initiative in Vietnam”, Mr. Darko Pavlovic said. 

"And as most of you here are start ups, I’d like to reflect on what I see as a key priority for many British investors and investment fund managers, which is that - increasingly – they are prioritising investments that clearly meet Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance standards (ESG). Taking ESG and sustainable development issues into account can have a significant impact on the financial performance of a business, strengthen competitiveness, and ultimately determine the value of investments", Mr. Darko Pavlovic said.

The changing world in which we all now live and operate has a new set of norms. If you want to engage in global supply chains or access international finance, you’ll need to ensure that your strategies meet ESG standards. And in making sure your company has the right governance structures in place, adopting international business integrity standards should be a priority.

Mr. Darko Pavlovic,  FairBiz Regional Project Manager Bangkok Regional Hub, UNDP

Vietnam’s thriving entrepreneurial scene continues to grow strongly. Mr. Darko Pavlovic knows that in the past two years, despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is still more than 100,000 newly established businesses in both 2020 and 2021. "Vietnam has been recognized as having one of the largest start-up ecosystems in Southeast Asia. New companies, including start-ups, have to deal with a significant amount of red tape when they want to run their business. I hope that the Business Integrity Toolkit introduced by my colleague Darko today will support you effectively to assess, understand, and take action on business integrity", Mr. Darko Pavlovic stressed.

2021 has marked another vital year in the development of UK-Vietnam relations. Our bilateral relationship continues to go from strength to strength, following both the refresh of our strategic partnership in 2020, and the entry into force of the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA) in May 2021. "I am thrilled that in November last year, at the COP26 Summit in Glasgow, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh made the commitment for Vietnam to achieve net zero by 2050. In that context, I strongly believe that enhancing transparency, governance skills and code of conducts will help us all to foster our trade and investment ties", Mr. Darko Pavlovic stated.

Mr. Darko Pavlovic looks forward to continuing collaboration between the UK and Vietnam, both from the government and business communities and he trusts that the UK and Vietnam’s economic and trade relationship will continue to grow and prosper.