Speaking at the ceremony, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), Vo Tan Thanh, stated that throughout its formation and development journey, VCCI has made significant contributions to the process of promoting a favorable business environment. Particularly, it has played an important role in fostering and expanding economic and trade relations between Vietnam and other countries, especially in attracting foreign investment into Vietnam.

Vice Chairman of VCCI, Vo Tan Thanh. Photo: Dinh Dai

According to Vice Chairman of VCCI, Vo Tan Thanh, in December 2021, VCCI conducted its 7th Congress, and by November 2022, VCCI officially changed its name to the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry. At the 7th Congress, VCCI identified six key tasks and three breakthrough objectives. Among the six key tasks, VCCI highlighted the important mission of contributing to the development of an increasingly favorable business environment for enterprises.

Vice Chairman of VCCI, Vo Tan Thanh, assessed that this is a very urgent task, and in recent years, VCCI has made significant contributions to building a favorable business environment and improving the business environment in Vietnam. At the same time, VCCI strives for Vietnam's business environment to be on par with the top four ASEAN countries, such as Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand.

"In recent years, VCCI has made important contributions to improving the business environment through strong recommendations to government agencies for administrative procedure reforms related to enterprises, resulting in a reduction of over 50% in business conditions. Currently, VCCI continues to advocate for the removal of more barriers that hinder business activities," shared Vice Chairman of VCCI, Vo Tan Thanh.

Vice Chairman of VCCI, Vo Tan Thanh, presented the official membership certificates to the businesses.

In addition, Mr. Thanh stated that every year VCCI conducts the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) assessment, which is an index evaluating the business environment in localities, the assessment of the business community regarding governance and the business environment in those localities. This index has also been incorporated into government resolutions and has become a striving target for localities.

The second task identified by VCCI is to enhance the effectiveness of international economic integration. This is also one of the important tasks that VCCI has been continuously implementing for many years, especially in the current circumstances where it needs to be further intensified. According to Mr. Thanh, Vietnam is increasingly deepening its integration into the global economy, having signed over 15 Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), including new-generation FTAs such as the EVFTA, CPTPP, GCEP.

Furthermore, Vietnam has a highly open economy. Vietnam's import-export turnover in a year reaches nearly $700 billion, while its GDP is around $400 billion. Therefore, VCCI identifies one of the key tasks as assisting enterprises in integrating and leveraging the advantages when participating deeply in the integration process by utilizing the benefits of FTAs, thereby promoting exports. In addition, VCCI supports businesses in seeking new markets to maintain exports in the context where traditional markets are facing difficulties.

The third task is to enhance connectivity and support businesses in expanding economic relationships with each other within the domestic market. According to Mr. Thanh, the domestic market is still very important. Therefore, it is necessary to effectively exploit the domestic market. VCCI will contribute to connecting business associations to create opportunities for business cooperation among enterprises.

The Board of Directors of VCCI HCM took a photo with the leaders of the businesses who were awarded the official membership certificates. Photo: Dinh Dai

The fourth task is to promote the process of building a business culture in Vietnam. According to Mr. Thanh, Vietnamese businesses are developing rapidly and strongly. However, the business culture has not kept pace with the scale and number of the business community's growth. Therefore, VCCI identifies one of the important tasks as contributing to promoting the business culture within enterprises.

The fifth task is to improve the efficiency of serving the business community.

The sixth task identified by VCCI is to enhance the capacity of the organization and VCCI's staff in order to effectively carry out the above tasks and fulfill the mission and vision set forth by VCCI's 7th Congress.

"VCCI will make efforts together with the business community to achieve the goal of 'Strong Enterprises - Prosperous Nation.' And VCCI's mission is to support and promote sustainable, civilized, and integrated business development. Thereby, contributing to the achievement of the tasks set by the 13th Party Congress, which aims for Vietnam to become a high average income country by 2030 and a developed country with high income by 2045," emphasized Mr. Vo Tan Thanh, Vice Chairman of VCCI.