In nearly 40 years of innovation, the Vietnamese business community has continuously grown and matured, making many important contributions to the country's development; affirming the position, prestige, and image of Vietnam in the international arena.

Mr Nguyen Quang Vinh, Standing Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Vice Chairman of VCCI.

From a few thousand enterprises in 1990, the number of Vietnamese enterprises has now increased to nearly 1 million enterprises, more than 33 thousand cooperatives and over 5 million business households. The business sector currently contributes about 60% of GDP, 98% of export turnover, and creates jobs for 85% of the country's workforce, becoming a vanguard force in industrialization, modernization and international integration. The number of entrepreneurs has reached tens of millions. The majority of Vietnamese entrepreneurs have patriotism, a desire to contribute, a sense of respect for the law, and social responsibility, increasingly contributing positively to the cause of social security and development of the country. Over 62 years of formation and development, with the leadership and direction of the Party, the State, the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, and the coordination, support and assistance of the central and local ministries, branches, and agencies, VCCI has affirmed its role as a national organization, a mass organization assigned by the Party and the State, a member of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, gathering and representing the business community, entrepreneurs, employers and business associations in Vietnam with the aim of developing, protecting and supporting the business community, building progressive, harmonious and stable labor relations, contributing to the socio-economic development of the country, promoting economic, trade and scientific and technological cooperation between Vietnam and foreign countries on the basis of equality and mutual benefit, in accordance with the provisions of law. 

VCCI has effectively promoted its role as a representative and bridge between the Party, the State and the business community and entrepreneurs through synthesizing recommendations, listening to the feedback of entrepreneurs, businesses, and business associations to forward to the authorities. The work of building and reviewing policies and laws has become a bright spot, demonstrating the important role of VCCI, the voice representing the business community in the process of national institutional reform. VCCI has also pioneered in launching and implementing many important activities to promote strong improvement of the investment and business environment in Vietnam (through the Provincial Competitiveness Index - PCI), encouraging sustainable development of enterprises (through the Corporate Sustainability Index - CSI); advising the Politburo to issue Resolution 41-NQ/TW on promoting the role of Vietnamese entrepreneurs in the new period; proactively and actively implementing a series of trade and investment promotion activities, supporting enterprises to effectively integrate into the international economy.

VCCI has played a good role as a representative and bridge between the Party, the State and the business community and entrepreneurs by synthesizing recommendations, listening to the feedback of entrepreneurs, businesses and business associations to forward to the competent authorities.

From 93 initial members (in 1963), to date, VCCI has a large membership network nationwide with about 12,000 direct members, more than 200 business associations and more than 200,000 affiliated member businesses in all fields and industries. The organizational and operational model of VCCI has selectively adopted the organizational and operational models of national and local Chambers of Commerce around the world, in accordance with the specific conditions of Vietnam.

The role and position of businesses and entrepreneurs have been stated in the resolutions of the Party Congress, in the Constitution and continue to be affirmed, proposing development solutions in recent resolutions of the Party.

Resolution 09-NQ/TW in 2011 for the first time proposed a strategy to promote the role of the business community in the period of accelerating industrialization, modernization and international integration. The 13th National Party Congress continued to emphasize: "Developing a strong business community in both quantity and quality, with progressive culture, ethics, dedication, and modern management skills." Resolution 41-NQ/TW on building and promoting the role of the Vietnamese business community in the new period, affirmed that business people are the core force in industrialization, modernization and international integration. Resolution 43-NQ/TW on continuing to promote the tradition and strength of national solidarity, building an increasingly prosperous and happy country also ranked the business community in 4th place, just after the working class, the peasantry and the intellectuals in the social strata in Vietnam. In particular, Resolution No. 68-NQ/TW on private economic development, one of the four pillar resolutions, has identified the private economy as the most important driving force of the national economy. These policies demonstrate the Party's recognition, concern and great expectations for the Vietnamese business community and entrepreneurs.

The 13th National Party Congress has set goals for 2045, the 100th anniversary of the country's founding: Becoming a developed, high-income country. Accordingly, there are only 20 years left for the entire political system, including the business community and entrepreneurs, to strive to achieve this goal. As General Secretary To Lam said: "Vietnam is standing at a new historical starting point, a new era - the era of the Vietnamese people's rise. The great and historically significant achievements of the Doi Moi process are the premise for the Vietnamese people to believe in the future ahead", so this is the time to build and further promote the role and mission of the business community and entrepreneurs to contribute to bringing the country to "a new era - the era of the Vietnamese people's rise".

Delegates from the Party Committee of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) attended the Congress

Never before have the business community and the business community enjoyed such a position, role, attention, recognition and great expectations from the Party and the State as they do today. Resolution No. 68-NQ/TW and Resolution No. 41-NQ/TW have clearly affirmed the central and core role of businesses and businesspeople in building and developing an independent, self-reliant economy, ensuring national defense and security. In addition, the target of high economic growth at a double-digit rate set by the Party and the State also opens up great opportunities for economic development, promoting innovation, improving competitiveness and expanding the scale of operations of the business community. The process of streamlining the apparatus to be lean, strong, efficient, effective, and efficient, improving the operational efficiency of agencies, units, and organizations in the political system in creating a favorable business environment for business enterprises to develop.

In order for VCCI to perform its role well, enhance the role of the Party organization in VCCI's activities, promote the development of the business community and business community, and contribute to building the great national unity bloc in the new era, the VCCI Party Committee would like to make a number of proposals and recommendations to the Party, the State, and the Fatherland Front as follows:

Regarding the organizational model: It is recommended that the Party continue to identify VCCI as a political-social-professional organization; a mass organization assigned by the Party and the State to be consistent with the Party's viewpoint on the role and position of the business community and Vietnamese businessmen in the new context and situation.

Regarding the operating mechanism: to create an operating mechanism for associations with specific characteristics such as VCCI, it is proposed to develop and promulgate the Law on Associations to ensure the legal basis for the activities of associations, and at the same time have separate regulations for associations with political-social and professional characteristics, associations with specific characteristics assigned by the Party and the State such as VCCI.

Regarding the assignment of tasks: It is proposed to allow VCCI to participate deeply in the process of developing the Private Economic Development Project, the Double-digit Economic Growth Project initiated by the Politburo headed by the General Secretary; continue to assign VCCI to participate in implementing the Party and State's guidelines and policies, especially the quartet of "pillar resolutions".

Regarding the transfer of public services: To support and promote the role of mass organizations, it is recommended to study the transfer of some appropriate public services to mass organizations assigned by the Party and the State at the Central level (including the service of issuing certificates of origin - C/O) to reduce the workload for ministries and branches to focus on state management.

Regarding the Party organization model: It is recommended that the Party Committee of the Fatherland Front and Central organizations consider and identify the VCCI Party Committee as a grassroots party organization or delegate authority at the grassroots level to the VCCI Party Committee to better perform its functions and tasks of building a clean and strong VCCI Party Committee and leading VCCI to successfully complete the tasks assigned by the Party and the State, especially in gathering, uniting and developing the team of entrepreneurs and the business community.

A strong economy needs a strong business community, a strong business community needs a strong chamber of commerce to achieve the great goals set by the Party and the State. The Party and the State have identified the business community as one of the core forces contributing to promoting the cause of industrialization, modernization of the country and international integration; building and developing an independent, self-reliant economy, ensuring national defense and security. VCCI will always adhere to the Party's viewpoints and guidelines in performing its functions and tasks, worthy of being a national organization representing the business community and entrepreneurs, a solid bridge between the Party and the State with entrepreneurs and businesses. 

(Speech by Mr Nguyen Quang Vinh, Standing Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Vice Chairman of VCCI at the 1st Congress of Delegates of the Party Committee of the Fatherland Front and Central Mass Organizations, term 2025-2030, morning of September 22, 2025)/ Business Forum Magazine