Mr. Pham Tan Cong - Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The "soft power" of the nation and enterprises

According to VCCI Chairman Pham Tan Cong, culture is the foundation for development, the soft power of each nation, each ethnic group, each enterprise as well as each individual. Business culture is a part of national culture, a manifestation of national culture in production and business activities. The consistent policy of the Party and State is that economic development always goes hand in hand with cultural development. Culture must be placed on par with economics, politics and society.

In Resolution 41-NQ/TW dated October 10, 2023 of the Politburo on building and promoting the Vietnamese business community in the new period, the task of building a business culture associated with national identity and accessing the quintessence of world business culture has been set.

VCCI Chairman Pham Tan Cong said that in the journey of building and developing the country, the Vietnamese business community has been constantly growing in both quantity and quality. However, the building of business culture and the business cultural identity of Vietnamese enterprises has not received adequate attention.

In the context of international integration, entering a new era, building business ethics and culture has become an urgent, long-term, and strategic task in developing the Vietnamese business community. By 2045, for Vietnam to become a developed country, it is imperative that the Vietnamese business community must have business ethics and culture on par with the world. Vietnamese business people must share a common set of ideological values and business philosophy, have identity and business cultural values that bring soft power and enhance competitiveness in integration.

Building business ethics and culture is a common, long-term task that requires the participation of the whole society; In which, associations and organizations representing the business community and enterprises play an important role. According to Chairman Pham Tan Cong, in recent times, VCCI has proactively organized many activities to build and spread Vietnamese business ethics and culture.

On May 19, 2022, on the occasion of President Ho Chi Minh's birthday, VCCI announced and launched the implementation of 6 Business ethics codes including: creating economic value for society; complying with the law; transparency, fairness, integrity; creativity, cooperation, mutual development; respecting nature, protecting the environment; patriotism, responsibility to society and family. To date, these 6 rules have been included by the Ministry of Education and Training in the 11th grade Economics and Law Education textbook to teach students. In addition, VCCI is also actively implementing the project "Promoting the development of business ethics and business culture in the Vietnamese business community and enterprises in the period of 2024-2030". The Business Culture Forum 2025 with the theme Responsible Business is one of the activities to implement the project.

Improving competitiveness

VCCI Chairman Pham Tan Cong shared, “Responsible business is an important content of business culture. Responsible business has been and is being considered by Vietnamese enterprises as the key to contributing to improving competitiveness, building the reputation of enterprises and the country; minimizing risks, especially legal risks for enterprises as well as the country in the context of deep international integration”.

The 2025 Entrepreneurial Culture Forum is one of the activities to implement the project "Promoting the development of entrepreneurial ethics and business culture in the Vietnamese business community and enterprises in the period of 2024-2030" of VCCI

Responsible business practices do not stop at integrity and business compliance with the law, but also require measures to assess risks and address potential risks to human, social and environmental factors. According to the United Nations, responsible business means that businesses must comply with legal regulations to ensure human rights, protect the environment, fulfill labor relations responsibilities as well as economic and financial accountability to the state such as taxes, financial reports, etc. In addition, in cases where national laws do not fully ensure these conditions, businesses need to proactively adjust their operations in accordance with international standards.

VCCI Chairman Pham Tan Cong affirmed that responsible business has been and is an important business trend, an effective measure to achieve sustainable development goals. Enterprises are increasingly aware that they cannot develop sustainably if society does not develop.

In addition, participating in solving social issues such as the environment or demonstrating responsibility to stakeholders in their operations can be an opportunity to build a new, more effective and sustainable business model for enterprises. Enterprises around the world in general and Vietnamese enterprises in particular are widely applying the ESG criteria (environment, society and corporate governance) to assess the level of sustainable development and non-financial impacts of an enterprise. ESG practices are considered a specific way for enterprises to demonstrate their responsible business philosophy.

According to VCCI Chairman Pham Tan Cong, many Vietnamese enterprises have realized that, in the long term, business profits and returns on investment must be considered in a broader context, including economic, social and corporate responsibility issues. Enterprises have paid more attention to social benefits and environmental protection than to legal requirements such as solving labor and employment issues, environmental issues (including climate change, efficient exploitation and use of resources, pollution prevention), fighting against bribery and corruption, and community participation and development. Thus, responsible businesses not only contribute to economic results but also play an important role in building a sustainable living environment and good governance through the supply chain. Emphasizing that promoting responsible business practices is one of the core tasks of VCCI, Chairman Pham Tan Cong added that in recent years, VCCI has closely coordinated with ministries, departments and branches to organize many activities to promote and improve the effectiveness of responsible business practices in enterprises, contributing to meeting the sustainable development needs of enterprises as well as the entire economy.

“VCCI has identified the development of business ethics and business culture as one of the three breakthrough tasks in this term. We are committed to continuing to accompany the business community in building business ethics standards, promoting responsible business, improving governance capacity and preserving and promoting the good cultural values of the nation in the new era” – Chairman Pham Tan Cong affirmed.