On the morning of November 29, at the Headquarters of Investment Newspaper, the 7th Annual Forum on Corporate Governance (AF7) “Investing in Corporate Governance: A Strategy to Attract Responsible Investors in the Trend of Market Internationalization” was held with the support of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and the accompaniment of the State Securities Commission.
The year 2024 marks an important turning point in improving the quality of Corporate Governance (CG) in Vietnam. As CG requirements increase, investing in effective governance associated with ESG is not only an option but has become an important need for businesses, especially listed enterprises and public companies.
Speaking at the AF7 Forum, Mr. Le Trong Minh, Editor-in-Chief of Investment Newspaper, affirmed: "In the trend of internationalized markets, international investment funds and foreign individual investors are focusing and shifting sustainable investments into enterprises that are committed to implementing good and transparent corporate governance. Corporate governance is considered a very important channel to bring capital into the market and into enterprises.
The goal of upgrading the market to attract investment capital from responsible businesses is not only topical, it has now become a mandatory trend because upgrading the market must attract foreign investment capital," the Editor-in-Chief of Dau Tu Newspaper added.
Corporate governance (G factor) associated with ESG has now become a measure of a company's competitiveness in creating trust with the market and suppliers, and a tool to measure the actions and commitments of a company to create impacts on the environment (E factor) and society (S factor). It is also the foundation for enhancing transparency and accountability of the company when implementing the Sustainable Development strategy.
The theme of the 6th annual forum in 2023 "Unblocking green finance flows through green governance" clearly stated that green governance is not only the green of nature and plants, but also the green of the future. The positive impacts of businesses have been measured, oriented and developed, while negative impacts need to be minimized.
Sharing about the importance of the forum content over the years, Ms. Ha Thu Thanh - Chairwoman of the Board of Directors, Vietnam Institute of Directors (VIOD) said: "With the first 5 annual forums, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) together with the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) focused on discussing the role, value and implementation of corporate governance. The previous forums are a stepping stone to raise awareness for businesses and the social community so that by 2023-2024, the actions of companies and businesses will change".
This year's forum delved deeper into the theme of "Investing in corporate governance", which is seen as a form of strategic investment to build trust for the present and the future, helping businesses keep pace with internationalization, and gain deeper and broader participation from international investors.
In addition to expert opinions, the VIOD forum announced the VNCG50 initiative for the first time. VNCG50 is evaluated by a Council chaired by VNX, including members who are experts from the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HOSE), Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX), fund representatives, securities companies and independent experts.
However, Vietnam's current level of corporate governance is at the lowest level among the six ASEAN countries, and lower than the average level in the Southeast Asia Corporate Governance Scorecard (ACGS).
The requirement to improve the quality and level of corporate governance in Vietnam must be truly considered an important strategic goal and must be given top priority. This has also been clearly stated in the stock market development strategy until 2030 approved by the Prime Minister in Decision 1726/QD-TTg dated December 29, 2023.
In order to improve the ranking of Vietnam's corporate governance level, Mr. Phan Le Thanh Long - General Director, Vietnam Institute of Directors (VIOD) commented: "In the 2026 assessment, Vietnam aims to improve its below average score to average in the Southeast Asia Corporate Governance Scorecard (ACGS) assessment. In 2024, Vietnam only has 69 enterprises selected for assessment, lower than the previous assessment.
Vietnamese businesses and companies often focus on and perform well on compliance criteria, but the practice criteria score requires much more effort to pull up their 6/6 ranking.
The 7th Forum continues to affirm the persistence and steadfastness of international financial institutions pioneering in building a corporate governance framework for sustainable investment in the private economic sector such as IFC; the participation of organizations such as IFC, Securities Commission, SECO, and a specialized, pioneering, and independent institution such as VIOD specializing in corporate governance.
The VNCG50 scorecard is built based on ACGS's assessment indicators according to good practices, and is also based on the reality of corporate governance in Vietnam.
