Expectations for businesses to play a greater, more significant role in the nation’s prosperity

DNHN - In the future, by 2045, whether our country can become a developed industrial nation with high income depends on the dedication of today's and future entrepreneurs.

This was the affirmation and expectation of General Secretary and President Tô Lâm during a meeting with a delegation of prominent entrepreneurs from the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Vietnam Private Business Association, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Vietnam Entrepreneurs Day.

During his lifetime, President Hồ Chí Minh sent a letter to the Vietnamese Industrial and Commercial sector on October 13, 1945, encouraging development and emphasizing the sector’s role with the message: “Currently, the Industrial and Commercial National Salvation Group is working to accomplish many things beneficial to the nation and the people. I highly welcome and look forward to many good results. While other sectors within the nation are striving to achieve complete independence for the country, the Industrial and Commercial sector must work to build a solid, prosperous economy and financial system…”

Thanks to the leadership and facilitation of the Party and the State, the team of entrepreneurs and the business community have increasingly developed. To date, Vietnam has more than 930,000 operating enterprises, of which 98% are small and medium enterprises, about 14,400 cooperatives, and over 5 million business households.

In 2023, the private economy contributed about 60% of GDP, generated 30% of the state budget revenue, and attracted 85% of the labor force. Besides being an important driver of the national economy, the private economic sector also actively contributes to effectively implementing the Party and State's policies on social welfare, preserving traditional cultural identity, overcoming the consequences of natural disasters, epidemics, and caring for the material and spiritual life of the people.

At the same time, it contributes to ensuring energy security, food security, consolidating national defense security, and maintaining the independence and autonomy of the economy in the context of deeper global integration. The private economic sector has seen the emergence of some large corporations with strong potential, advanced technology, and management capacity, bearing national brands and international reputations, bravely competing in the region and the world.

Acknowledging and commending the significant achievements of the entrepreneurial team in the country's development, the General Secretary, President affirmed: The specific, practical, and timely contributions of the entrepreneurs and the business community have made a great contribution to the country’s economic renewal and development. Entrepreneurs, with their capabilities, creativity, and risk-taking, have created enterprises that act as growth drivers, generating numerous jobs, paying taxes to the State, improving workers' living standards, and promoting social progress. Many talented entrepreneurs have led their businesses through difficulties, becoming pillars in some key sectors and backbone fields of the economy, with international competitiveness.

More and more entrepreneurs are shifting toward technology, innovation, engaging in new economic sectors, and business models, seizing and mastering the achievements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution to apply them in production, bringing efficiency and competitiveness to the economy, and improving people's quality of life. Many Vietnamese-branded products and services have expanded to the global market, establishing the Vietnamese brand on a regional and international scale. This plays an important role in promoting economic reform, shaping development policies, improving the business environment, and innovating the State’s economic management; encouraging competition, serving as a driving force for mutual advancement, fostering innovation, increasing productivity, reducing costs, and benefiting consumers. Along with this, exemplary entrepreneurs also consistently pursue ethical standards, practice fair competition principles, and set a benchmark for society.

In addition, the team of Vietnamese entrepreneurs has actively participated in poverty alleviation, eliminating temporary housing, helping the vulnerable, making significant contributions, sharing difficulties and losses of the people during the COVID-19 pandemic, the recent super typhoon Yagi, and many other natural disasters.

However, in general, the team of entrepreneurs and the business community still face many difficulties and limitations, including that the entrepreneurial team is still small, with weak financial potential, limited management capacity, and not many entrepreneurs have reached the level of regional and global competition. The ratio of enterprises and entrepreneurs to the population is still low compared to other countries in the region. In addition to the difficulties caused by global market instability and decline, the business activities of both large and small entrepreneurs face many challenges due to various barriers in mechanisms, policies, laws, and the capacity of management agencies and civil servants that have yet to meet the development needs and demands of the business community.

Recently, perceptions of the position and role of entrepreneurs have seen positive changes. The legal system, mechanisms, and policies are gradually being completed; the property rights, freedom to conduct business of individuals, and the economic activities of organizations have been institutionalized and protected by law. The State’s management methods are more suited to the market mechanism; the investment and business environment is gradually improving; and the stance of not criminalizing economic relations reassures investors, businesses, and entrepreneurs.

However, entrepreneurs still have few opportunities to directly participate in policy-making; their voices are still not sufficiently heard at many levels, many sectors, or heard but not significantly, substantively taken into account. Institutional, legal, and business environment issues are slow to be amended, including overlaps, lack of clarity, and impracticality in some legal documents. The country's resources are “stuck” significantly in suspended planning, projects entangled with procedures, public land assets, unused public office buildings, assets in disputes, litigation, and assets involved in prolonged legal cases... which are very slow to be handled and resolved.

At the entrepreneur meeting, General Secretary, President Tô Lâm also remarked: The future of the Vietnamese entrepreneurial team is very promising but also full of challenges. Technological advances, globalization, the rise of the digital revolution, especially in areas such as e-commerce, fintech, artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing... have opened up potential for tapping into global markets without facing significant geographical barriers, along with fast, dynamic development and institutional reforms and improvements in the business environment, creating new opportunities for development.

This is the opportunity for Vietnamese entrepreneurs with a vision for technological innovation, establishing “digital production methods,” to leapfrog and get ahead of global trends, creating a strong position and influence in some key industries, generating high added value, propelling the national economy to higher levels of the value chain; it is the time to redefine the role of business leaders and the mission of the entrepreneurial team.

To achieve the goal of becoming a high-income developed country within the next 20 years and building a green, inclusive, and sustainable growth economy, it is essential to carry out strong economic and legal reforms, prioritize investment in developing high-quality human resources in key and spearhead sectors, and focus resources on building strategic infrastructure such as electricity, transportation, irrigation, information technology, digital technology,... Determination to create a favorable, safe, and equitable investment and business environment towards international standards; promote the role of the entrepreneurial team in the new era according to the spirit of Resolution 41 of the Politburo.

The General Secretary, President affirmed: Whether our country can become a developed industrial nation with high income by 2045 depends on the dedication of today’s and future entrepreneurs. To fulfill this mission, the Vietnamese entrepreneurial team must strongly promote national spirit, patriotism, uphold business ethics, have great ambitions and development aspirations, be models of entrepreneurial spirit, and engage in honest, humane, and responsible business practices; always maintain faith in their own business, as well as the country’s enterprise and future; promote self-reliance, self-improvement, solidarity, cooperation for mutual development; the spirit of innovation, creativity, and the art of product marketing; emphasize corporate governance and technology application, implement fair labor policies, and focus on brand building.

Ngoc Lam