This event has profound historical significance because it was the day President Ho Chi Minh sent a letter to the Vietnamese business community (October 13, 1945). Vietnamese business people have been and continue to demonstrate the four words: Heart - Talent - Intelligence - Courage in contributing a particularly important role in building the country, realizing the renovation process and will be the pioneering force in the goal of bringing the Vietnamese nation into a new era.
The Heart of Business - Entrepreneur
The heart of the businessmen was evident in the early days of the Revolution. In the fall of 1945, the newly established Provisional Revolutionary Government had an exhausted economy; the Central Treasury had only 1.25 million Indochinese piastres left, of which 580 thousand piastres were torn and waiting to be destroyed; debts amounted to 564 million piastres. At that time, President Ho Chi Minh established the "Independence Fund" and "Golden Week" to collect artifacts donated by the people for the Government. Responding to the call and trust in Uncle Ho, businessmen and national capitalists contributed over 20 million Indochinese piastres and about 370kg of gold to the "Independence Fund" and "Golden Week", ensuring the operations of the Revolutionary Government in its early days. Notably, businessmen Hoang Thi Minh Ho and Trinh Van Bo contributed 5,000 taels of gold.
The almost unconditional contributions of the capitalists helped build the young Government. Not only did President Ho Chi Minh respect the capitalists, he also affirmed his ideology by having a patriotic capitalist, a progressive book and newspaper trader, and a food and agricultural product trader before the August Revolution, Mr. Le Van Hien, become the first Minister of Finance.
On October 13, 1945, in a letter of encouragement, placing his trust in and affirming the role and mission of businessmen, Uncle Ho wrote: “While other sectors of the nation are striving to gain complete independence, the industrial and commercial sectors must also strive to build a stable and prosperous economy and finance. National affairs and family affairs always go together. A prosperous national economy means the business of industrial and commercial enterprises is prosperous. The government, the people and I will wholeheartedly help the industrial and commercial sectors in this construction...”.
That is the heart of Vietnamese businessmen towards the fate of the country, towards the lives of people who still face many difficulties.
That Heart continues to be applied and shine at many times. When the COVID-19 pandemic became complicated, the group of people's entrepreneurs promoted the spirit of sharing, accompanying the country, overcoming difficulties, self-reliance, mutual support, and making efforts to adapt flexibly to maintain production and business, creating jobs for workers.
At the same time, promoting the tradition of "sharing the sweet, sharing the bitter", "mutual love", the business community and enterprises have many activities to support people and the community, making great contributions to the COVID-19 Vaccine Fund and supporting medical supplies and equipment for localities. Some private enterprises have contributed more than 500 billion VND to the Vaccine Fund. Helping the Fund reach nearly 9,000 billion VND, helping to quickly handle the situation, bringing the country's economic and social activities back to normal.
Or most recently, when people in some northern provinces suffered damage from storm No. 3 (typhoon Yagi). As soon as the storm passed, thousands of businesses organized donations to support their compatriots. For example, Vingroup Corporation and companies in the ecosystem announced a sponsorship of 250 billion VND for people suffering damage from super typhoon Yagi and prolonged floods. The money will be allocated directly to emergency relief activities such as rebuilding about 2,000 collapsed houses, supporting 150 - 300 million VND for families with deceased people, contributing to the reconstruction of infrastructure as well as civil works... helping people quickly stabilize their lives after natural disasters.
Or the story in Binh Duong, a small-scale enterprise such as the Italian-Asian Door Technology Company Limited (Khanh Binh Ward, Tan Uyen City, Binh Duong Province) decided to send 500 million VND to the account of the Binh Duong Provincial Federation of Labor to support people affected by storms and floods. Ms. Le Thi Huong - Chairwoman of the Trade Union of the Italian-Asian Door Technology Company Limited supported 100 million VND by purchasing essential items and planned to go with her relatives to deliver them to the victims.
Those are examples to talk about the heart of entrepreneurs and businesses towards the country and people that never fades.
Affirmation of Talent and Intelligence
In 2013, when Forbes magazine announced for the first time that Vietnam had a USD billionaire. That was Mr. Pham Nhat Vuong with assets of up to 1.7 billion USD. By 2024, the number of USD billionaires in Vietnam had increased to 6, including: Chairman of Vingroup - Pham Nhat Vuong, Chairman of VietJet Air - Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, Chairman of Hoa Phat - Tran Dinh Long, Chairman of Techcombank - Ho Hung Anh, Chairman of Masan - Nguyen Dang Quang, Chairman of Thaco - Tran Ba Duong and his family. In which, billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong continues to be the richest person in Vietnam with assets worth 4.4 billion USD.
This is the strong rise of large private corporations in Vietnam, becoming "leading cranes" with the leadership of talented businessmen.
Last year, when VinFast debuted on Nasdaq, economist Vu Dinh Anh proudly wrote on his personal Facebook page: “August 15, 2023 - A historic milestone in Vietnam's economy and finance”. Mr. Vu Dinh Anh believes that this is the most accurate answer to doubts about the capacity of Vietnamese enterprises in the international arena. If more enterprises look to VinFast to learn, Vietnam's economy will soon reach a higher level on the world stage.
Indeed, the story of VinGroup making electric cars is not simply a matter of economics, profit or following trends, but also a long-term strategy. It is a vision of a sustainable future for people and the planet through green, clean and safe mobility. The Vietnamese brand car company also aspires to reach even higher achievements - to become one of the leading electric car companies in the world.
In a later interview, Associate Professor Dr. Tran Dinh Thien commented: “VinFast has gone very well in terms of strategy. It is necessary to understand that being a pioneer means hardships and harsh challenges. Enterprises have had to prepare many conditions for this competition, not just an illusion of entering the battle with only a belief in victory. With the achievements up to today, we must believe in the capacity of Vietnamese enterprises. VinFast's initial victories on the US stock market have affirmed that Vietnam is a "player" in the highest-level market that only a few global automakers have penetrated. That not only creates a position for enterprises but also builds an image for Vietnam".
“The international recognition of VinFast marks the maturity of a Vietnamese enterprise, and is also an example to affirm that Vietnamese enterprises are fully capable of accessing the world market quickly and effectively,” said Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Dinh Thien.
Resolution No. 41-NQ/TW dated October 10, 2023 of the Politburo on building and promoting the role of Vietnamese entrepreneurs in the new period affirmed: The role of entrepreneurs and organizations representing entrepreneurs and the business community has been strengthened and promoted. The Vietnamese business community has developed strongly in both quantity and quality, inheriting the tradition of patriotism, upholding the will of self-reliance, self-reliance, and the spirit of dedication to the nation; increasingly affirming its important role and contribution to the cause of building and defending the Fatherland; a number of businesses have developed to reach regional and world levels, contributing to enhancing Vietnam's position and prestige in the international arena.
At the meeting between the Government Standing Committee and business representatives on the occasion of Vietnamese Entrepreneurs' Day on October 4, 2024, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh proposed that businesses and entrepreneurs implement 5 pioneering actions. These include pioneering in science and technology development, applying achievements of the 4th Industrial Revolution, innovation, renewing traditional growth drivers (investment, export, consumption) and promoting new growth drivers (digital economy, green economy, circular economy, sharing economy, knowledge economy, night economy, etc.); pioneering in contributing to stabilizing the macro economy, controlling inflation, prioritizing growth promotion, ensuring major balances of the economy (enough revenue for expenditure, enough export for import, enough food, ensuring enough energy, labor supply and demand to meet development requirements); Pioneer in building modern corporate governance to contribute to improving the country's governance capacity in a smart direction, with a clean, honest government serving the people; pioneer in consolidating and strengthening the strength of national solidarity, doing well in social security work, not sacrificing progress, fairness, and social security to pursue pure economic growth, leaving no one behind, contributing to rapid, sustainable, inclusive, and comprehensive development.
Courage and mettle to overcome difficulties
The "Courage" of Vietnamese businesses and entrepreneurs is also demonstrated in daring to face new challenges.
The latest report from the General Statistics Office shows that in the first 9 months of 2024, the whole country had more than 183,000 newly registered and resuming operations, an increase of 9.7% over the same period in 2023. On average, more than 20,300 newly established and resuming operations per month. However, the number of enterprises withdrawing from the market was 163,800, an increase of 21.5% over the same period last year; on average, 18,200 enterprises withdrew from the market per month.
This shows that the game of Vietnamese enterprises is still very fierce, full of barriers and challenges at home and abroad.
However, these difficulties have not discouraged Vietnamese businesses, who even dare to think big and do big. The most obvious story is the story of high-speed railways that is attracting public attention.
Immediately after the Politburo announced its approval of the policy to build a high-speed railway on the North-South axis, many Vietnamese enterprises expressed their readiness to participate in this super project.
According to the Ministry of Transport, the total preliminary investment of the project is about 67.34 billion USD. The route will start from Ngoc Hoi station (Hanoi), go through 20 provinces and cities and end at Thu Thiem station (Ho Chi Minh City), the goal of completing the entire route is 2035. The expected speed is 350km/h, combining economy with security - defense, mainly passenger transport and fast freight transport when needed.
At the Conference between the Government Standing Committee and large enterprises held on September 21, 2024, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hoa Phat Group - Mr. Tran Dinh Long declared: "Hoa Phat has enough capacity to produce steel for high-speed railways in Vietnam".
In addition, Vietnam Railways Corporation (VNR) also sent a document requesting the Prime Minister to approve the establishment of a joint venture to develop the railway industry. Accordingly, VNR - the only unit currently operating the national railway infrastructure system, wants the head of the Government to agree on the policy of allowing this enterprise, together with foreign partners, to establish a joint venture operating in the railway industry with a controlling capital contribution ratio. In addition to foreign partners, VNR also opens the door for domestic mechanical engineering units to participate in this special joint venture.
The Government’s guiding viewpoint has opened the door to welcome and motivate domestic private enterprises with potential to participate in the high-speed railway project. This move also encourages enterprises that have cherished the intention and determination to learn about technology and processes, send people for training, and seek domestic and foreign partners with the same investment orientation...
Regarding this project, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said: "We need to boldly undertake large projects, completing them as they come. We need to arouse national pride to promote the spirit of daring to think and dare to do, creatively applying the traditional art of people's war and guerrilla warfare in the nation's history to carry out this project."
The consistent viewpoint of the Party and State on the development of enterprises and entrepreneurs stated in Resolution 41 is "Ensuring a stable, synchronous, unified, transparent, and equal legal framework, especially in accessing resources on land, finance, and technology; protecting legitimate property rights, startups, supplementing appropriate economic sanctions to handle violations, especially, not criminalizing economic relations...".
“Equal access to resources” and “non-criminalization of economic relations” are two factors that businesses and entrepreneurs expect to be institutionalized through specific regulations and policies.
On the other hand, this is also the time for businesses and entrepreneurs to demonstrate their mettle. In reality, there are still some entrepreneurs who, instead of bringing value to the country, the people, and the workers, exploit loopholes in the law to gain benefits for themselves and their families.
Recently, a series of businessmen have been prosecuted and arrested for crimes such as fraud, stock market manipulation, bond market manipulation, and participation in bidding for large projects such as the cases at FLC, Tan Hoang Minh, AIC, Phuc Son, Thuan An...
The word "Courage" of a businessman is knowing how to sacrifice personal and business interests to serve the country and the people.
The country is “entering a new era, an era of national growth” as stated by General Secretary and President To Lam, in which the role of the business community plays an important role. They must have enough Heart - Talent - Intelligence - Courage, demonstrate steadfastness, overcome difficulties, unite, and be responsible to society and the Fatherland to soon realize the dream of national strength.
On May 9, 2024, the Government issued Resolution No. 66/NQ-CP on the Government's Action Program to implement Resolution No. 41-NQ/TW of the Politburo on building and promoting the role of Vietnamese entrepreneurs in the new period. Accordingly, the goal from now to 2030 is to have at least 2 million enterprises, of which many entrepreneurs are formed and developed as leaders of strong economic groups with potential and competitiveness in the domestic and international markets, promoting the role of leading important industries and sectors of the economy. The business sector contributes about 65 - 70% of the country's GDP, about 32 - 38% of total employment in the economy, 98 - 99% of total import-export turnover. The number of enterprises ranked in the list of enterprises with the highest brand value by prestigious rating organizations in the world increases by 10% each year. By 2030, at least 10 Vietnamese businessmen will be on the list of world dollar billionaires, and 5 most powerful businessmen in Asia as voted by prestigious international organizations. By 2045, strive to have a number of businessmen owning corporations capable of leading industrial and agricultural value chains, moving towards forming a number of Vietnamese value chains in priority industries with the country's strengths.
