For the Vietnamese business community, 2025 is a year of many reflections. Many businesses that were once considered "stars", once praised in the media and social networks, have fallen before the law. "Empires" that seemed inviolable suddenly collapsed, leaving behind not only the damage figures, but also big questions about business ethics and social responsibility.
Amidst those fluctuations, the two words "kindness" are mentioned more than ever. Not as a decorative slogan, but as a vital condition for businesses in a market that is being rearranged.
Should not be used properly as a camouflage.
For many years, the public has been familiar with the image of some business owners associated with large-scale charity activities, appearing densely on social networks with gift-giving trips worth billions of VND, emotional sharing. But also from those flashy images, society has witnessed the painful fall of many names, when acts of smuggling, tax evasion, and fraud against consumers were exposed.
Cases like Mailisa, Hoang Huong are typical examples of a sad reality: When "kindness" is turned into a tool to polish its name, into a coat covering wrongdoings, then the collapse is only a matter of time. No charity activity is large enough to compensate for the damage that fraudulent behavior causes to society.
In 2025, Vietnam witnessed many famous businesses and individuals getting into legal trouble. This shows a seemingly obvious rule that many people still deliberately forget: Businesses can grow faster thanks to tricks, but can only survive for a long time with kindness.
Kindness in business is not about lofty things. That is selling the right products as committed, not deceiving customers, fully fulfilling tax obligations, complying with the law. Things that seem very "old", but are the foundation of every healthy economy.
When the State drastically "clean up" the market
At the end of May 2025, the Government issued a peak plan to combat smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods nationwide. From large wholesale markets in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to e-commerce platforms, social networks, market management forces, customs, and economic police simultaneously launched campaigns.
This campaign is not only aimed at handling specific violations, but more importantly, sending a clear message: Vietnam does not accept a business environment where fake and fraudulent things overwhelm the real ones.
Counterfeit goods exist persistently for many reasons. Cheap prices, hitting the psychology of brand preference; increasingly sophisticated distribution systems; and also the leniency of a part of consumers, those who know it is counterfeit but still collude and "use it temporarily".
But the consequences of counterfeit goods are not temporary at all. Legitimate businesses are strangled, the State budget loses revenue, and consumers face health risks. More dangerously, fraud is gradually becoming normal in economic life.
In the context of the economy needing sustainable recovery after many fluctuations, the Government's strong crackdown on counterfeit goods is not only a timely action, but also opens up opportunities for businesses that do business seriously and invest methodically in quality and brand.
Returning the playground for businesses to do honest business
For many years, genuine manufacturing enterprises have been under pressure from unfair competition. One side is products produced according to standard processes, strict testing, high costs; the other side is counterfeit goods, floating goods, similar labels, sold rampantly at cheap prices.
When functional forces tighten management, when digital platforms are forced to bear legal responsibility for goods being advertised for sale, the market balance is gradually being adjusted. Many domestic fashion brands that were once "piggybacked" by counterfeit goods have the opportunity to expand market share. Agricultural products businesses that control good traceability and standardized packaging are trusted by consumers more.
However, opportunities only really come to businesses that are willing to change. Brand standardization, investing in counterfeit technology, information transparency, and persistence with quality are not easy paths, but the only way to go far.
It is impossible to demand a clean market if the business itself still accepts compromising with fake and fraudulent things.
Decent businesses, starting from very simple responsibilities
Based on the public reports of the Ministry of Finance and the tax authorities, last year recorded a high level of tax violation handling for businesses, reflecting the reality that compliance with tax laws still has many problems. Specifically, the tax sector has conducted about 65,000 inspections and examinations at businesses, thereby proposing to handle a total amount of nearly 64,9 billion VND, including tax arrears, administrative violation fines and adjustments to reduce deductions and tax refunds. This is a large number, showing that violations of declaration, tax payment, transfer pricing, invoices... are still common in the business sector, despite many warnings and management measures that have been applied.
Notably, the field of e-commerce and business on digital platforms continues to be a hot spot for tax violations. In 2024, tax authorities handled more than 33,000 cases of violations related to e-commerce business activities, including 736 businesses, with a total amount of tax arrears and fines of nearly 1,400 billion VND. Besides the cases that have been handled, tens of thousands of organizations and individuals doing business in the digital environment have also been included in the risk review area, showing that the room for tax revenue loss in this field is still large.
Reality shows that most businesses in Vietnam are still complying with the law. However, the paradox of "loss in books, profit outside of reality" still exists. More than 56% of businesses report losses for many consecutive years, while still expanding production and increasing presence in the market. Tax evasion practices are increasingly sophisticated, from transfer pricing to internal fees, if not strictly controlled, it will distort the competitive environment.
The Party and State always affirm the policy of accompanying and supporting business development. But support does not mean condoning. The stronger investment attraction, the more the requirements of transparency, integrity and social responsibility must be put first.
A decent business is not a business that has never made a mistake, but a business that dares to face mistakes, proactively correct mistakes and respect the general rules of the market. In the context of tightening legal discipline, the business environment is gradually being "cleaned", kindness is no longer limited to moral or image choices. That has become a vital condition, deciding the long-term survival and development of businesses in an economy towards transparency, fairness and sustainability.
