Vietnamese enterprises need "leaders" to lead development and production. Photo: H.Diu

Forming the leading enterprises

In countries in Asia such as Korea and Japan, it is clear that large economic groups such as Hyundai, Samsung, LG, Toyota, Mitsubishi, and Panasonic... are leading enterprises to lead the whole economy with their competitiveness and product brands reaching out to the world. The good thing is that Vietnam has many "billion-dollar" businesses and billionaires, such as Vingroup, FPT, Vinamilk, THACO, Vietcombank, and Vietjet. According to the evaluation results of the 500 largest private enterprises in Vietnam (VPE500) announced that in 2022, the group of 500 largest private enterprises in Vietnam (accounting for 0.089% of the total number of enterprises) created jobs for 10.4% of employees, accounting for 13% of total assets and created 15.8% net revenue.

For example, in the manufacturing sector, THACO has 25 mechanical and 10 other factories under construction in many provinces and cities across the country, anticipating the trend of supply chain shifting and international cooperation. In addition, THACO has also invested heavily in the agricultural sector, promoting the application of high technology, innovative technology, organic production, modernization and mechanization of agriculture... Particularly at its subsidiary THACO Industries, this company sets a target of more than VND 20,000 billion of total revenue in 2023. billion (up 80% compared to 2022), and export revenue reached more than VND 9,600 billion, equivalent to VND 400 million. In addition, the company is currently investing in research and development projects, mechanical centres and supporting industries.

Or in the banking sector, the Government aims to strive that by the end of 2025, there are at least 2-3 commercial banks in the Top 100 largest banks (in terms of assets) in Asia, of which Vietcombank is considered one of the few key banks to achieve this goal. In 2022, Vietcombank's pre-tax profit was VND 37,358 billion, up nearly 36% compared to the previous year, and it continues to hold the top position in banking profit. Recently, this bank approved a plan to increase capital to more than VND 75,000 billion. Vietcombank believes this will help the bank ensure its vital role in scale, market share and ability to regulate the domestic market.

According to experts, Vietnam needs enterprises in both the state and private sectors that are large enough in scale, have international standard management capabilities, apply modern technology and have the ability to meet international competition standards, dominate the domestic market and reach out to the world. Therefore, management agencies must focus on developing leading enterprises in industries and fields to have a leading and pervasive impact. Nguyen Van Nam, Director of the Institute for Brand Strategy and Competition, said that we need solutions to build a strong business team; otherwise the economy will be difficult to develop.

Solving bottlenecks that hinder business growth

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment business situation report, most enterprises in our country are micro, small and medium-sized, accounting for nearly 98% of the total number of enterprises. Besides, enterprises' scientific and technological capacity is still limit ed; in some places, it is still backward; enterprises have not yet boldly invested in the application and development of science and technology, especially core technology and pioneering technology. Only 21% of small and medium-sized enterprises have joined a part of the global value chain, 14% have succeeded in linking with foreign partners, and the number of FDI enterprises investing in Vietnam has increased enormously recently.

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, many businesses still have a seasonal and short-term business mindset, lack a long-term strategic vision, and a sense of responsibility and obligation to the state, community and society is full of limit ations, especially in terms of tax obligations, environmental protection, and anti-commercial fraud... As a result, the cohesion and culture of cooperation among Vietnamese businesses are still not high, have not formed a linkage block together, developed, and have not yet seen the value of the common benefits of cooperation and association, creating greater synergy.

Moreover, according to economic expert Dr Le Dang Doanh, after 2 years of the pandemic, domestic enterprises faced many difficulties, including many disadvantages compared to FDI enterprises, especially in terms of mechanism. Therefore, in addition to the self-effort of enterprises, experts and businesses expect a policy change to bring equality between enterprises of all fields, sizes and types.

Therefore, in a recent exchange, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung pointed out many solutions that need to be implemented, such as: focusing on solving bottlenecks and inadequacies that hinder business development, focus on supporting businesses with high growth rates, helping to create rapid resilience, bringing greater benefits to the economy; continue to develop and diversify new capital mobilization channels for private enterprises; promoting the public-private partnership model as well as perfecting mechanisms and policies for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activities...