Resolution No. 09-NQ/TW dated December 9, 2011, followed by Resolution No. 41-NQ/TW issued on October 10, 2023, has further supported and contributed to the growth of the Vietnamese entrepreneur team, making it increasingly stronger.

The Momentum from Resolution 09

Nearly 13 years ago, on December 17, 2011, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong visited and worked at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, now the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), meeting with representatives of the Vietnamese business community and entrepreneurs. Speaking with VCCI staff and representatives of the business community, the General Secretary emphasized: For the first time, there is a Resolution from the Politburo on building and promoting the role of the business and entrepreneurial team during the period of industrialization and modernization.

“Our team of entrepreneurs has its own unique identity, the Vietnamese identity. Vietnamese entrepreneurs are those who carry the spirit of soldiers in economics, with the determination and will of soldiers to effectively carry out the tasks assigned by society, contributing to the socio-economic development of the country,” General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong emphasized.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong thoroughly grasped Resolution No. 09-NQ/TW of the Politburo on “building and promoting the role of the Vietnamese entrepreneur team in the period of accelerating industrialization, modernization, and international integration” at the VCCI headquarters in 2011.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong thoroughly grasped Resolution No. 09-NQ/TW of the Politburo on “building and promoting the role of the Vietnamese entrepreneur team in the period of accelerating industrialization, modernization, and international integration” at the VCCI office in 2011.

Dr. Vu Tien Loc, who was the Chairman of VCCI at that time, said that the issuance of Resolution No. 09-NQ/TW of the Politburo on building and promoting the role of the Vietnamese entrepreneur team during the period of accelerating industrialization, modernization, and international integration, and the visit and working session of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, was a great encouragement, creating additional confidence and strength for the Vietnamese business community to continue standing firm, overcoming difficulties and obstacles, and contributing to the socio-economic development of the country.

7 Directions and Tasks of Resolution 09-NQ/TW:

1. Raise awareness about the role of entrepreneurs in the cause of industrialization, modernization, and international integration.

2. Create an equal and favorable environment for production and business for entrepreneurs.

3. Support the entrepreneurial team in expanding their scale, enhancing the efficiency of their enterprises, and encouraging the development of rural entrepreneurs.

4. Focus on and create changes in the training and development of entrepreneurs.

5. Emphasize business ethics, business culture, social responsibility, and the national spirit of the entrepreneurial team, and build harmonious labor relations.

6. Promote the role of organizations representing the business community and entrepreneurs.

7. Strengthen the Party's leadership in building and promoting the role of the entrepreneurial team.

"Resolution 09 has accurately reflected the aspirations of the entrepreneurial team and the demands of the economy. From now on, the team of Vietnamese entrepreneurs has a Party Resolution that clearly defines their role, position, and development direction. Alongside the working class, farmers, and intellectuals, they play an important role in the Great National Unitt," affirmed VCCI Chairman Vu Tien Loc.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong during his visit to VCCI, speaking with the Vietnamese business community and entrepreneurs in 2011.

The issuance of the Resolution at that time, along with the attention from the head of our Party, showed that the Party highly values and appreciates the role of the business community and entrepreneurs. This has also been a significant motivation for VCCI to coordinate with ministries, sectors, localities, and business associations to implement and bring the Resolution to life.

After 10 years of implementation, at a working session with representatives of the entrepreneurial team and the business community on the situation of implementing Resolution No. 09-NQ/TW of the 11th Politburo on the afternoon of September 15, 2022, VCCI Chairman Pham Tan Cong stated that the position, potential, and reputation of the country are vastly different from 10 years ago, the time of issuing Resolution No. 09-NQ/TW on December 9, 2011, by the Politburo on building and promoting the role of the Vietnamese entrepreneurial team in the period of accelerating industrialization, modernization, and international integration.

With consistent and thorough policies, the ecosystem for the business community has become increasingly favorable, leading to a strong growth in the number of businesses entering the market. Currently, over 1.152 million new businesses have been established, double the number before 2011, with an average of nearly 104,739 businesses being created each year. Additionally, the quality of the entrepreneurial team has markedly improved. VCCI Chairman Pham Tan Cong emphasized and affirmed that the team of Vietnamese entrepreneurs is continuously developing both in quantity and quality, making significant and important contributions to the cause of building and defending the nation in many aspects.

Vietnam now has nearly 900,000 active businesses, triple the number in 2010. Including 14,400 cooperatives and about 5.1 million household businesses, Vietnam has more than 7 million entrepreneurs. Many Vietnamese businesses and entrepreneurs have boldly made breakthroughs in business management, production, and operations with ambitious projects reaching international markets. Some large economic groups and private enterprises have significant financial resources and modern management and technology, leading in important sectors such as automobile manufacturing, aviation, information technology, telecommunications, services, real estate, and agriculture. The business sector contributes over 60% of GDP and employs about 30% of the total workforce. Additionally, entrepreneurs are increasingly effectively participating in the political life of the country, actively engaging in the process of policy development, supervision, and critique.

Thus, throughout the implementation of Resolution 09-NQ/TW of the Politburo, the Vietnamese business community has made significant breakthroughs, contributing to the liberation of productive forces, increasing export turnover, raising budget revenue, and mobilizing resources to maintain economic stability and development. They have also played an important role in addressing social issues. The current generation of entrepreneurs is always conscious of maintaining trust, upholding business ethics and culture, and focusing on building and developing business brands.

The Party Continues to Support Entrepreneurs

The Party has ignited a flame of support for entrepreneurs with the encouraging results of the 10-year journey. Two years after summarizing Resolution 09, Resolution 41-NQ/TW, signed by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong on behalf of the Politburo on October 10, 2023, on building and developing the entrepreneurial team for the new era, replacing Resolution 09, once again demonstrates the Party and State’s concern for building a strong team of Vietnamese entrepreneurs. This team is capable of fulfilling its mission and tasks, contributing to making Vietnam a developed, high-income country by 2045. It also serves as an important political foundation for the creation of new mechanisms and policies that motivate the development and promotion of the entrepreneurial team’s role, contributing significantly to the rapid and sustainable socio-economic development.

The Central Propaganda Department, in coordination with the Central Economic Commission and the Party Committee of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), organized a conference on May 10, 2024, to thoroughly grasp and implement Resolution 41-NQ/TW, dated October 10, 2023, of the Politburo on building and promoting the role of the Vietnamese entrepreneurial team in the new era.

Regarding specific goals by 2030, Resolution 41 clearly states the aim to develop a Vietnamese entrepreneurial team with the scale, capability, and level to meet the objectives of the country's industrialization and modernization; striving for more businesses to reach regional levels, and some to reach global levels; and for several large enterprises to lead in key industries and sectors.

Regarding the vision to 2045, the resolution clearly outlines the development of a Vietnamese entrepreneurial team with the scale, capability, and level to meet the objectives of becoming a developed, high-income nation with regional and international stature and reputation. A portion of Vietnamese enterprises will have global brands, leading several global supply chains and value chains.

7 Main Tasks and Solutions of Resolution 41-NQ/TW

1. Raise awareness of the position and role of the entrepreneurial team in achieving the country’s development goals.

2. Improve policies and laws to create a favorable, safe, and equitable investment and business environment for entrepreneurs and businesses to develop and contribute.

3. Develop a strong entrepreneurial team that meets the goals and tasks of national development in the new era.

4. Build business ethics and culture, promote national spirit, and inspire the aspiration for a prosperous and happy country.

5. Strengthen solidarity, cooperation, and linkage between entrepreneurs, workers, farmers, and intellectuals under the Party’s leadership.

6. Enhance the role of VCCI and organizations representing entrepreneurs and businesses.

7. Strengthen the Party’s leadership and the State’s management in building and promoting the role of the entrepreneurial team.

"Resolution 41 of the Politburo on building and promoting the role of the Vietnamese entrepreneurial team in the new era, issued by the 13th Politburo and implemented in the context of the entire country striving to successfully implement the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress under the Party's wise leadership, with high determination and national unity, will soon come into effect. It will contribute to building a strong Vietnamese entrepreneurial team that makes significant contributions to the country's development goals," stated by Mr. Nguyen Dức Hien, Deputy Head of the Central Economic Commission.

Mr. Pham Tan Cong, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).

In his role, VCCI Chairman Pham Tan Cong also affirmed: Resolution 41 is a synchronization and concretization of the guidelines set out by the 13th Congress. In fact, in the documents of the 13th Congress, our Party has also affirmed: "Develop a strong entrepreneurial team in both quantity and quality, with a spirit of dedication to the nation, advanced cultural and ethical standards, and excellent management and business skills."

According to VCCI Chairman Pham Tan Cong, a notable new point that businesses strongly support is the "addition of appropriate economic sanctions to handle violations, avoiding the criminalization of economic relations... ensuring a stable, cohesive, unified, transparent, and equitable legal framework." Thus, in the future, businesses will no longer have to worry about the "criminalization of economic relations." Chairman Pham Tan Cong explained: This is also a fairly common trend in many developed countries where economic sanctions are applied for violations, sometimes quite severe, amounting to billions of USD, but criminal prosecution is rare, avoiding major shocks that could potentially "collapse" a major brand or business, causing social repercussions.

A notable point is that Resolution 41 specifies the requirement to "have breakthrough policies to form and develop national enterprises, large-scale businesses with leading roles in some key and essential industries and sectors." Analyzing this new point, VCCI Chairman stated that, although technology transfer activities are still limited, the economic success of Vietnam in recent times has significantly benefited from foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprises. However, the long-term vision of the Party and State leadership is that Vietnam cannot rely heavily on FDI enterprises, especially not expect them to ensure national defense and security. Therefore, the Resolution requires the development of domestic enterprises to achieve the goal of "building and developing an independent and self-reliant economy, ensuring national defense and security."

Resolution 41 also specifies: "Improving and motivating the entrepreneurial team to strive for ethical standards and business culture, aligned with national identity and incorporating global business cultural excellence, is a key and long-term task in building the Vietnamese entrepreneurial team and businesses”. This is the driving force for VCCI to announce and launch the implementation of the 6 rules of Vietnamese business ethics. This is also part of a series of activities organized by VCCI to fulfill the key task of building Vietnamese business culture in the new era...

Resolution 41-NQ/TW establishes the perspective that leveraging the strength of the Vietnamese entrepreneurial team and creating a favorable, safe, and equitable investment and business environment for businesses to develop and contribute is the responsibility of the Party, the State, the political system, and the entrepreneurial team.

It can be affirmed that, with decisive leadership and innovative policies, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has made significant contributions to the country's development, strengthened the people's trust in the Party, and enhanced Vietnam's position on the international stage. In particular, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has made many timely decisions to support businesses and entrepreneurs during difficult times, aiding the economy's recovery and development amidst global economic fluctuations and challenges.

With the special attention of the Party, the State, and especially General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, our entrepreneurial team and businesses have experienced remarkable growth, aligning with the goals and tasks of national development in the new era. As General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong affirmed: "Our country has never had the potential, position, and international reputation that it has today," it is believed that the country's prosperity will become even more solid and brighter with the noble goal: a wealthy people, a strong nation, democracy, justice, civilization, and a steadfast march towards socialism.